new york city by night

I love New York City in all it’s moments in between. 

Early in the morning the streets are cold but the sun shines warm in between the buildings. There are cars and people on the road but they are silent and pre-coffee. There is a peculiar calmness in the air that you don’t expect. The city never sleeps but on occasion it slips into a quiet, beautiful lull for a few moments before the day begins.

We rose early on a few occasions to experience this quiet bliss, once was when we caught an uber somewhere downtown in New York to join the line that wrapped around the block at Ansel Adam’s Bakery. There we were waiting to try our first - and in this case - famous cronuts. While we were waiting, we watched the dogs in the park playing fetch with their owners. The line moved at the slowest pace, but we were eventually inside marvelling at the beautiful hand drawn & written chalk menu and all the wonderful pastries. It reminded me of a scene out of the Grand Budapest Hotel.

In the day the summer sun was at it’s hottest and the streets at their busiest. We would walk through the sea of people on 5th avenue to get to our destinations, and we ate a giant slice of pizza on the streets in the heart of Times Square. The deafening sounds of police and fire brigade sirens echo through the streets - and as they get stuck in traffic and you try to outrun the sound by walking faster. 

At dusk, we were walking in the rain and I felt a sudden surge of appreciation and a strange sense of nostalgia for being in New York City. The streets doused in the soft last light of the day and the building lights just starting to shine made the city look magical. We went to Broadway to watch The Book of Mormon the musical and it was great. We saw Jason Alexander walking on the streets, saw the glow from Times Square anytime we were anywhere near it and visited Gallows Green - a whimsical rooftop bar jungle. On our last night in New York City we headed to Top of the Rock to watch the sun set and the lights in the city turn on just one more time. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend our last moments in this city.

photos from the window of our uber.

walking through madison square park.

looking like a real tourist to stop and watch the squirells every time we spotted one.

first glimpses of the flatiron building.

sights exploring new york city by foot.

i couldn't have wished for a better last night in new york city than by spending it watching the sun go down and the lights turn on at top of the rock.

All photos edited with my new L.A. Lightroom Preset. New colours for video also available now! The below video was edited with the Waves Premiere Pro Preset.