When I started working in New York many years ago, it never crossed my mind that I’d end up in an office uptown in Harlem. Harlem was one of those parts of the city that existed as a no-man’s land in my mind; way uptown and scary. Having worked there now, in Manhattanville to be specific, for several years, I have learned that it is certainly gritty and while not necessarily dangerous, still a place to be respected.
It is a neighborhood of former meatpacking facilities, auto body shops and old urban stable buildings. Yet, it is a very old area with its own history and beauty if one chooses to really look. The first snowstorm of 2011 prompted me to set out under the Riverside Drive viaduct. I wondered how the snowfall might have transformed the area and I wasn’t disappointed. This was one of a number of images I took that day. I really like the juxtaposition of the patterns in the viaduct against the stone wall supporting the viaduct. The snow just adds another dimension to the whole thing.
Lots to see in Manhattanville. More to come…
