IMRAN® In My Humble Opinion: Manhattan

Showing posts with label Manhattan. Show all posts

Saturday, August 22, 2026

Sparkling LIRR Platform & Trains ~20 Stories Beneath Skyscraper Lobbies & Grand Central Terminal Manhattan New York - IMRAN®

#IMRAN #NewYork #LongIslandRailRoad #Manhattan #architecture #transportation #trains #engineering I❤️NY!

Saturday, August 08, 2026

Historic Grand Central Terminal, Manhattan, Entrance From 42nd Street - IMRAN®

#IMRAN #NewYork #Manhattan #architecture #travel #GrandCentral

Thursday, August 06, 2026

Grand Grand Central Madison, Modern Magical Magnificent Midtown Manhattan Marvel — IMRAN®

Barely made my first actual LIRR train trip out of the new Grand Central Madison last night. After nearly four decades of calling Manhattan home, it still feels surreal to descend into this massive and grand new world carved under Midtown.

This photo is from one of the station’s signature escalators. It’s about 182 feet long, dropping roughly 90 feet below street level. It’s a part of a project that took over 15 years and cost around $11 billion and finally connected the East Side directly to Long Island.

My meetings in the city had been related to innovation for the future of public safety and law enforcement. Ironically, the etched figures you see on the glass — Lady Justice with sword and scales — are part of the station’s art program, symbolizing law, balance, and the civic institutions that define the city above.

The green‑and‑steel color scheme isn’t random either. It’s meant to echo the historic tones of the original Grand Central while giving the new concourse a modern, almost tunnel‑to-the-future feel.

A long day, a tight connection, but a moment worth capturing. Have you been there?

#IMRAN #NewYork #LongIslandRailRoad #Manhattan #architecture #engineering #LIRR

Saturday, August 01, 2026

“Rain Over Manhattan” - IMRAN®

One, I bought this raincoat the same year I started writing my first novel, “Happy Endings”, in Manhattan, in 1993. It took me 33 years to complete. I rarely used this beautiful deep blue London Fog raincoat in that time.

Two, “Rain Over Manhattan” is the title of Chapter 2 of that novel.

Three, it was pouring rain the day I was headed to Manhattan for what became an eighteen-hour workday. Long, but great. And fortunately it didn’t rain when I had to be outdoors.

Four, In a season of surprises, July of 2026 has been my favorite summer month in 31 years of living in my blessed Long Island home, and nearly four decades in New York. It has provided beautifully mild, even cool, weather — thereby minimizing the need for air conditioning at home.

I am grateful for everything.

#IMRAN #books #Manhattan #StoryTelling #memories #HappyEndings #gratitude

Saturday, July 04, 2026

Old New York Standing Tall Over Law & Order And The Lay Of The (Legal) Land(scape) - IMRAN®

Only in downtown Manhattan do you get juxtapositions like this — a neoclassical chapel holding its ground beneath a towering early‑20th‑century skyscraper. This is the Chapel of St. Paul, a landmark with roots stretching back to the 18th century, paired with one of the Civic Center’s classic high‑rise government buildings. The Latin inscription “Beati qui ambulant in lege Domini” (“Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord”) has watched generations of New Yorkers rush past on their way to courtrooms, offices, and city business.

I’ve walked through this area many times since first landing in New York nearly four decades ago. The brick plaza, the columns, the carved pediment, the skyscraper rising behind it.

It always feels like a reminder of what makes this city different. New York doesn’t erase its layers; it stacks them. Colonial-era faith, Beaux‑Arts ambition, and modern civic life all sharing the same few square feet. That’s why my new novel is also a love letter to New York.

It’s one of those corners of Manhattan, where history isn’t something you read — it’s something you walk past on your way to the next meeting shaping the future.

#IMRAN #NYC #NewYorkCity #NewYork #Manhattan #architecture #history #government# travel #hometown

Sunday, April 06, 2025

Blue Hour Manhattan Plaza 33 Ping Pong Tables Across From Macy's Herald Square - IMRAN®

Manhattan, New York City, has been my "first and forever" hometown since my first visit in 1987 and living there since January 1989l. I have always loved driving (and even keeping a car) in the city.

But I also love European cities' open spaces for pedestrians. It is interesting to see how much of Times Square, and now also Herald Square, where Macy's flagship store is, are being given more space for people to do city living. I loved seeing these table tennis "tables" (appropriately fully locked into the concrete."

I will have to play with a friend there one day. Enjoy this view of blue hour in the city at the center of the universe. This was captured at a rare moment of no one walking by on June 23, 2022.

Friday, June 14, 2024

Making Music & Memories At Columbia University Manhattan New York Apartment 35 Years Ago Today - IMRAN™

Some things never change. My lack of talent in learning to play music. My taking selfies. My still having this necktie that my late beloved mom had bought for me 40 years ago!

My Yamaha B200 synth keyboard. Even my Atari ST computer from the 1980s. And that Columbia Business School textbook. It is among ALL my books from that time I still retain. They are all still at my blessed home on Long Island, New York.

Being a Gemini, and wanting two of everything, has not changed. You can see I had two computers even in 1989, and two monitors. Heck, you can even see two of me, if you see my reflection in one of the monitors, which I still have. The monitor. I am sure I do not have that same reflection anymore, but I have a lot more reflections on life!

I do take care of my things. Even that wall poster from the New York City Tourism + Conventions' “I ❤️ New York” tourism promotion campaign, titled “New York Is Music”, from 1989 is still intact in Pakistan. My mom had it framed for me.

What did change is clearly me having far more fat and far less hair. But I remain blessed and grateful for an incredible journey. No one could have lived a fuller life than I have, from the day I was born until today - and God willing on every day - until it will be time for the grand finale of my life, when my music must fade out. Thank you for all the love all along the way.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Truth Is Black And White, Justice And (Statute Of) Liberty For All - IMRAN™

This is a screen capture of a very low resolution video I shot with a 10 years old camera while flying over Manhattan very recently. It was cloudy, it was dusk, and it was a gloomy day overall. The plane window was not that clear either and this was just a video clip I accidentally recorded for 1 second while trying to take a still photo. But, this shot was worth extracting and sharing. The simple truth is clear as Black and White, even at the gloomiest of times. Justice and (Statute Of) Liberty are for all humankind.
© 2018 IMRAN

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Radio City Music Hall Manhattan Street Scene - IMRAN™ (360° Interactive VR 4π Panorama)

(Click to see the interactive virtual reality experience.) I had stepped out of my then office on 52nd Street near Radio City Music Hall when I took shot this handheld panorama on an iPhone 4S.

Unfortunately even four years later, with PhotoShop CC 2017 the program fails to properly stitch actual Spherical panoramas.

Doing the upper view accurately would take too long so I hope you will just enjoy the street scene with some inaccurate processing above my name.

Wednesday, November 05, 2014

(Flying In) A New York, New York, State Of Mind - IMRAN™

(Flying In) A New York, New York, State Of Mind. --- Stunning Manhattan Views In Fall. Come fly in to New York City and enjoy the spectacular sights of the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge, Statute Of Liberty, New York, cruise ships, downtown ‪#‎Manhattan‬, Freedom Tower NYC, ‪#‎Brooklyn‬, the major bridges, ‪#‎Queens‬, Citifield - Mets Stadium, as well as the 1964 New York World's Fairand other landmarks you have seen in movies and on TV, on an early Fall day with the beautiful foliage showing different colors before winter sets in. Recorded with my handheld Microsoft Windows Phone Nokia Lumia 1020 with NO color editing of any kind. Click the gear button on YouTube to see it in HD or 3D.

http://youtu.be/z32yHB1LVjI

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Somebody's Watching Me - IMRAN™

Post by Imran Anwar.

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Lv LV Or Lv LV -- IMRAN™

Lv LV Or Lv LV _ IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

Love Lois Vuitton Or Leave It, one does have to appreciate the unique look and style of the LV Store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, New York.

This photo was actually stitched from 6 iPhone 4S pictures on the iPhone standing right outside the building, later imported into iPhoto on my MacBook Pro, and then processed in Photoshop CS6, before being saved as merely a 2.2 MB file.

© 2012 IMRAN
IMG_7098

Saturday, October 02, 2010

My Boat, Bay, Sun, NY Boat Basin

My Boat, Bay, Sun, NY Boat Basin - IMRAN™, originally uploaded by ImranAnwar.

Thank you all. My 25th Explore! September 16, 2010.

I've been traveling with limited access so I am sorry not to have responded to several hundred comments, dozens of emails, and have also not had a chance to comment on friends' photos

I love boating. I love yachting. I've taken both my Sea Ray SunDancers (23' and 40') to NYC from Long Island, several times over the years. Motorboating around Manhattan, especially at sunset, when the sun reflects on Manhattan's stunning skyline, is best seen from the New Jersey side. Nothing more spectacular than to see My Boat, Bay, Sun and the NY Boat Basin.

Well, technically speaking, this is not a Bay. But, the width of the Hudon River, between Manhattan, NY and New Jersey, is wider than some Bays I have boated in.

The NY Boat Basin at 79th Street, is a delightful and unexpected vision in one of the world's busiest cities. Joggers and bikers zip by you as you walk along the waterfront. The marina has a few decent sized boats, but not the mega-yachts you would expect to see line the slips.

The area is not far from where the Miracle On The Hudson flight crash-landed safely in the river.

This image of the setting sun, reflecting on the water, tinging everything with liquid Gold light, was captured near the end of Summer 2010.

The arch of the structure I took this photo from (where I also photographed the dazzling Daisy) makes a delightful curved silhouette almost as if it was done by a computer.

© 2010 IMRAN
DSC_6183PSF

loc: 40.786872N, -73.9841W

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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Mother Of Exiles, By The Golden Doors

Mother Of Exiles, By The Golden Doors

By Imran Anwar

The Statute of Liberty, in New York, is one of the best recognized symbols in the world. Less known are the full words of the poem found there. See it larger.

On a heavily clouded day in Manhattan, the often blue sky filled with shades of gray was burdened with the weight of a golden red sunset they were trying to conceal.

The light was the worst it could be for a great traditional photograph. But, as I caught the patina of Lady Liberty through the architectural frame painted Gold by the falling sun..... it provided the perfect backdrop for me to remember, and share, the words that hold so true today, and forever.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

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