Tudor City

42nd Street is a major crosstown street in Manhattan, running primarily in Midtown and Hell’s Kitchen. The street is the site of some of New York’s best known buildings, including the UN headquarters, Chrysler Building, Grand Central Terminal, New York Public Library and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Did you know that 42nd was designated by the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811 as one of fifteen east-west streets that would be 100 feet (30 m) in width, while the other streets were designated as merely 60 feet (18 m) in width? The Commissioners’ Plan was the original design for the streets of Manhattan above Houston Street in Lower Manhattan and 155th Street at the beginning of Washington Heights, which put in place the rectangular grid plan of streets and lots that has defined Manhattan to this day.

Autumn leaves felt down when I stood on the bridge and looked towards Grand Central Terminal on a late afternoon of a cold and sunny day one year ago. Oh, man, how I love this spot on Tudor City Overpass where you have that stunning view along the street, even without Manhattan Henge and the crowd watching it. (Maybe it’s one of the world’s most captured sunsets.)

When I view this picture I captured side by side with a good friend I must remember what happened during the past year. At the beginning of 2020 he noted his thoughts about the future:

“What can you see on the horizon? Do you see light and hope or darkness and despair, joy and a bright future or disaster and ruin? It’s up to us choosing the right way!”

From the vantage point of the present it seems to be a presentiment of what really have been happened since then.

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E 42nd St., Tudor City, Manhattan, New York, NY