"Empire o'lantern," New York, October 2009

Empire o'lantern

Every block seems to contain a symbol of New York, especially those that include a view of the Empire State Building.

"Askew view on the High Line," New York, December 2009

My favorite mistake

I didn't even know I'd pressed the shutter while walking to work along the High Line with my camera in my hand. Only when I uploaded the pics did I see this askew view. I like the result.

"High Line photographer," New York City, November 2009

307: Photographer

Choosing my Best shot of 2009 is a daunting task. I've uploaded 1,658 photos so far this year and taken dozens more than that.

I settled on this one because it is one of my best, for one thing. But it was also taken up on the High Line, which opened this year and has given me a pleasant alternative route to work each afternoon. I was hoping to choose one that I hadn't used as a photo of the day, but the reality is that the best pictures throughout the year were part of that project, so it was unavoidable.

The other finalists, in reverse chronological order:

• The new alignment at Washington Square Park
• Autumn at High Point
• Another amazing Springsteen show
• Sunset at Shake Shack in Queens
• A trip to West Quoddy Head, finally
• Fenway in May
• The new Citi Field

Day 307 of 365

Photographer

This guy and I had the same idea. Only he was on a photo walk and was well-equiped with a tripod. I was on my way to work with only a point-and-shoot. But I managed.

Day 286 of 365

'Nurse Jackie' on location

I regularly see the signs posted along sidestreets throughout Manhattan -- no parking on a certain day because of a film shoot. But I don't see the actual production taking place nearly as often -- maybe once every 10 times I see the signs. That tends to happen because I'm either off on the day of filming and therefore not in New York, or I only see the trailers lining the streets, with the actual filming taking place somewhere else, around a corner on a different street.

But a day after seeing the "Nurse Jackie" signs posted, I came walking along that same route the next day and spotted the bright lights beneath the High Line on Washington St. I stood across the street for a few minutes watching the action -- such as it was; they were filming inside the ambulance, and all I saw was someone shifting from the back to the front repeatedly over several takes.

I didn't recognize either of the actors after filming of the scene was complete, but because of the nature of the scene, I'm sure I'll be able to spot it when the episode airs.

Day 264 of 365

Reflective Manhattan

I caught the late afternoon light on a West Side high-rise next to Frank Gehry's IAC Building.

Day 257 of 365

Flying high over Manhattan

Showed a friend from L.A. the High Line this afternoon before I went into work and as I looked up before heading down to street level, I noticed the sun shining on a plane high above and the sky reflected in the windows of the Caledonia condo building.

Day 243 of 365

Stop, light

It's September. The days are growing shorter, so when I head to work in the afternoons now, the light is more golden and causes the buildings and other objects to cast longer shadows. While walking the High Line to work, I caught the sun illuminating this signpost in the Meatpacking District.

Day 192 of 365

Straight down 10th Avenue

Though I've been up on the High Line many times already, every trip until today had been south to north from Gansevoort St. But this afternoon, we entered at 14th and walked south, after a brief jaunt north to 17th. It was on the way back we spotted this view of the Statue of Liberty.

Day 179 of 365

Pipe from the High Line

A quick shot on the way into the office.

Day 174 of 365

Sun shines on Hoboken

One of the nice things about all the rain we had in June was that if the storm passed through quickly enough, we were treated to these kinds of views.

Day 161 of 365

Che Market

Another quick snapshot as I walked the new High Line Park to work.

Day 160 of 365

Tracks over 10th Ave.

[I still haven't caught up on blogging my daily photos since coming back from vacation, but they're all in the Flickr set. I'll catch up soon enough, but I just couldn't wait until I had to post this one.]

[The backlog is released and 18 days of photos have been posted, beginning with Day 142. Start there and head back here!]

Ever since I first read about the decommissioned railroad tracks built over 10th Avenue and the West Side, I've been intrigued. And once they announced that the old trestle would become the High Line Park, I've eagerly anticipated my first trip up there.

This one particular overpass has caught my eye since 2006, when I first started working in Chelsea Market. I'm standing on the east side of 10th Avenue, just north of the Market, looking west across the avenue to where the tracks used to duck into the building before emerging out the north side and continuing up to 34th St.

Many of the old entryways have been built over, like the one in this photo, so it's only bits and pieces of the rail line's past that remain. The rest is left to the imagination.

Day 159 of 365

The High Line is overhead

New signs for the new park! Taken on 10th Ave.