New New York

Having returned from New York it is necessary for you to see my holiday photos. The first shot needs no introduction.

The actual terminus building at Grand Central has been wonderfully restored -- really, it's quite remarkable:

Alas, the same love has not been lavished on the working parts of the station, as you can see here on a ramp down to the platforms (or, as I think they call them, "tracks"):

I can't bring myself to post images of the hideous building which replaced Pennsylvania station (and in which I had a meeting. I spent the whole time depressed by the crime against architecture). But here's the main Post Office next door which, according to the plans, will be reused as a new Penn station:

Since this was a day of torrential rain, the free translation of Herodotus seemed wholly appropriate. "Neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds":

My final railway-related activity was, of course, my first-ever trip to see the High Line park:

Created from the disused (obviously) elevated freight tracks that stretch down the west side of Manhattan, there is much joy to be had here:

Not just for the tracks and industrial archaeology, but for the sheer magnificence of the viaducts -- here a section that is not yet park, but that is scheduled to become so:

The other joy of the High Line is, of course, what can be seen from it:

Unexpected vistas along previously hidden back alleys...

A formidable wall of low-rent housing -- so vast as to be inhuman...

And, of course, the inevitable upmarket architecture which is taking over parts of the meat-packing district:

My favourite has been constructed in association with the High Line -- the new Standard Hotel, straddling the track-bed and seeming to float above it.

New York is such an extraordinary city. I can't believe I waited so long for a return visit.