Empire State of Mind

Skyline of ESB with Yankees ColorsLast night, I went to game 1 of the 2009 World Series. On my way to the Subway, I noticed that the ESB was illuminated with Yankees colors. Luckily, I had my camera with me, since I was taking it to the game. When I went up to the roof, I was greeted by pink skies, a beautiful skyline, and a Halo around the spire of the Yankees ESB. I am not superstitious - well, I claim not to be. But, this "omen" gave me hope for a successful World Series for the Yankees, and even though they lost last night, I remain confident.

Tonight, I went to game 2 of the World Series. Jay-Z and Alicia Keys sang Empire State of Mind before the game.

Opening Ceremony: World Series Game 1, 2009

A Comforting Site and Depth Perception

A view from Bobst Library, Washington Sq. Park

When a test looms, and I need to go into "cram mode," I often visit Bobst Library. These study sessions, often encompassing my entire day [of course with many needless breaks], would be hectic and stressful for the normal medical student. Not for me - I have the ESB in my sight at all times. No matter what happens, no matter how I fair on the latest exam, I always can count on that glorious view to greet my eyes when I next visit this library. Often, I tell my med school friends that I think we are the luckiest medical students in the world - just look at our marvelous surroundings! Of course, they usually don't agree with me, and would rather ask me a neurotic question pertaining to the exam, but I am confident that I am not alone in my enjoyment of my dear city and skyscrapers!

Depth and Size Perception

There is it, peaking out from the tall trees and seemingly relatively more massive buildings, that tiny little majestic facade and minuscule spire. The Empire State Building, viewed from the confines of Bobst Library, New York University's flagship for learning, appears smalls and insignificant. Part of the fascination I have the the ESB is that it looks entirely different in stature, in color, in shape, in grandeur, and in importance depending on where you view it from. Yet, the keen observer would note the location and angle versus the distance, and would recognize the sheer size of the structure they are looking at.

Interestingly, a group of people called the Mbuti Pygmy tribe of Eastern Congo, lack both depth and size perception! You see, by living in the confines of a dense jungle for their entire lives, these people are unable to assess the size of objects over a distance. In fact, they have never even been exposed to a site "in a distance," as described here by the famous Colin N. Turnbull in 1961! When viewing a buffalo in a far away field for the very first time, a Mbuti child asked what type of "insect" it was - because it looked so small in the distance, but the concept of distance was non-existent for this child! Keep reading, it gets better! The Mbuti people are also immune to mathematics and are unable to count even to the number 4. They cannot add 1+1 [I found this in another source]. How incredible is it that these people exist on our Earth, unharmed by the poisons of society and unable to perform even the simplest calculation, yet are unbelievably adept in survival [probably more than the average westerner]!

Yankees Colors for a 27th time??

ESB with Yankees colors after a Subway Series victory over the Mets

I hope to see these colors shine brightly over the city of New York in the next week after my beloved Yankees win the 2009 World Series. I say hope so I do not jinx the possibility, but I would really love to add a Yankees color'ed ESB to my repertoire of ESB pictures!

This is actually quite a comical story - it happened last year, when the ESB was lit up on one side with Yankees colors and the other with Mets colors. After the series, the victors [Yankees of course] earned the ultimate prize - a full Yankees color display on the ESB. The funny thing is, the Mets actually SPLIT that weekend series with the Yankees, and so people got upset when the Yankees colors only were displayed. The NYTimes wrote a detailed article about this event.

Tonight was the last night of "Alzheimer's Association, 2009 Memory Walk" lighting on the ESB. On Friday, during the rain storm, I managed to get a nice hazy shot of the Purple/Purple/White color scheme. Tonight, I got a crisp shot. Looking forward to the Halloween colors!

-AYM

ESB, what it means to me.

Yellow Submarine

Who: My name is Alon. I am a second year medical student at NYU School of Medicine. When I have the luxury of venturing outside into the night [which is quite frequent, by the way] I am without fail greeted by the shining beacon that is the Empire State Building [from here on out, I will refer to it as ESB]. It stands there, humbly, shyly often, but always with a message of goodness and a promotion of awareness for different causes.

How: My good friend Ajay spent the past month with me, working at the radiology department here at NYU. As a 4th year medical student from GW, he has both a lot of time on his hands, and also comes to NYC without the perspective of "seeing the ESB every single night," like I do. He often commented on the changing colors, and wondered if anyone else cared, or even bothered to look up anymore.

"I look up every single night," I said. And so it began, with a nudge from Ajay - "Why don't you document it? Take a photo every night or something...?" - The ESB Photography project.

Why: I have always been interested in photography and have used my travels to expand on this hobby. I have seen the Taj Mahal, and Macchu Picchu, and the Eifel Tower, and the Roman Colosseum, and the painted colors of the spires in Bryce Canyon, and the Kenyan Savannah filled with glowing green eyes of Impalas at night, and billions of stars glowing above the sand dunes of the Sahara desert, and the unreal aqua colors of the Canadian Rockies glacial lakes, and the juxtaposed praying of Jews and Arabs alike in the Old City of Jerusalem [the list goes on]. But sometimes, its nice to know that I have one of the most inspiring, prolific, and majestic structures ever created by man in my own backyard - the ESB.

What: So, here we are, living in New York City, together, but alone, noisy, but peaceful, smelly from the sewers but fragrant from the restaurants, sad about the Knicks but thrilled about the Yankees, with our heads mostly down, but my head always up, and often, looking at the ESB.

I will take a photograph of the ESB every single night [with exceptions] for the next year. Exceptions are: when I am traveling, and when the ESB lights remain the same for consecutive nights [this often happens]. Then, I will alter and arrange the photographs in different ways to create art. ESB Art.

-AYM