In the big city you metamorphose to a city dweller as a first rule for survival. You wear your hard armor, your “I don’t give a damn” face and your “I own this place” walk to avoid the city from churning you and spitting you out. I always loved watching people sleep in the subway because I got to see their soft side, their human side.
La Liberté éclairant le monde~Liberty enlightening the world
Quite the words to be met by upon arriving in New York, words that embody the essence of the  statue of Liberty, the great lady that stands tall with her torch and tablet there on Liberty island since 1886. Liberty: the ability to have agency over your own actions, freedom, free will, determinism, aren’t these some of the promises that drove millions to pack up their things and sail to America?
In a dense city like New York, having a rooftop or access to one is as precious as gold. It the place where you can ‘breathe’, where you can see a part of the sky that is larger than a matchbox and it is in many ways like going on vacation. So many things take place on New York rooftops, parties, hide outs, secret kisses, sunbathing, art, smoking, drinking and simply chilling. Oh, and also most films like to have their chases on at least one rooftop where the actor makes these impossible jumps from building to building. I was really caught by some colorful rooftops I saw on my last trip to New York, in this case, in Brooklyn.
Below these cranes, so much history was written. The Brooklyn Navy Yard, first started functioning in 1806, was most active during world war II, when more than 70,000 people were employed to make the battle ships of the American navy. It was very impressive to look into this historical place and imagine what it would have been like during the time that the whole place was buzzing with workers burning the midnight oil.
Everyone has something to say, a message to relay, an opinion to voice, a word to put in, that’s how a city gets its unique urban color.
photo~ Dumbo~ Brooklyn
A ‘love it or hate it’ place, New York is not for everyone. It can appear as an overwhelming monster to some, where to some it feels like the home they have been seeking all their lives. Both feelings are so strong and intense that there can be no middle way where this city is concerned.
photo~ Red Hook~ Brooklyn