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

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

© 2026 IMRAN® 

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

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

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?

© 2026 IMRAN®

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

Birthday Flight FL-NY Over BayShore & Tampa Bay - IMRAN®

Birthday Flight FL-NY Over BayShore & Tampa Bay - IMRAN® 

By the grace of God, fifty-seven years of flying. From my first flight Karachi-Lahore — on PIA as an unaccompanied child in Pakistan — to this one from TPA to NYC. Grateful beyond words. 

© 2026 IMRAN® 

#IMRAN #Florida #TampaBay #flying #travel #birthday  #gratitude 

Fun Fabulous France,Spring Sunset Shades, Paris Places Perspective (April 21, 2018) - IMRAN®

Fun Fabulous France,Spring Sunset Shades, Paris Places Perspective (April 21, 2018) - IMRAN®
It was mid-spring in Paris, and the city was bathed in the kind of light photographers dream about. At a quarter past eight, as the sun dipped toward the horizon, I stood atop the Arc de Triomphe watching the golden hour unfold across the city.
In the foreground, the slender spire of Église Saint-François-Xavier pierced the skyline, its silhouette etched in gold against the evening sky. A quiet but commanding presence, it stood as a reminder of the city’s spiritual and architectural depth.
Just beyond it, Les Invalides gleamed, its dome catching the sunset’s last rays and glowing like polished gold. Beneath that brilliance lies Napoleon Bonaparte, but in that moment, the monument felt alive—radiating history.
Far off, the Montparnasse Tower rose above the skyline, its modern silhouette softened by the amber light. Often seen as a break from tradition, tonight it looked almost poetic—like even the future was willing to bask in the past.
And beneath me, the Arc de Triomphe itself—my perch and Paris’s proud sentinel. Built to honor those who fought for France, it offered a view that stitched centuries together in one radiant sweep. That evening, Paris didn’t just whisper its story—it sang it in gold.

© 2018-2025 IMRAN®

#IMRAN #France #Paris #history #autobiography #travel #travelogue #architecture #memories #city Canon Vixia

Magnificent Fire Island, Long Island, New York, Atlantic Ocean, Winter Sunset - IMRAN®

Magnificent Fire Island, Long Island, New York, Atlantic Ocean, Winter Sunset - IMRAN®
During a winter visit to my blessed Long Island, New York home for Valentine's Day weekend with my then-girlfriend, I captured this magnificent sunset on Fire Island at Smith Point Beach Park. The image was stitched from multiple handheld iPhone photos, so some stitching artifacts are visible on the right side.

© 2022-2025 IMRAN®

#Beach, #FireIsland, #IMRAN, #iPhone, #LongIsland, #memories, #Nature, #NewYork, #Ocean, #Panorama, #seaside, #SmithPoint, #Sunset, #Tourism, #Travel, #winter

Berlin Aquarium — From Cold War Scaffolds 1987 to Peaceful Pulse 2012 – IMRAN®

Berlin Aquarium — From Cold War Scaffolds 1987 to Peaceful Pulse 2012 – IMRAN®

Aquarium Berlin, end of April, 2012. The crocodiles no longer flinch at sirens, and the jellyfish pulse in peace. But I still see the scaffolding of 1987—when West Berlin was a fortress of defiance, and I stood outside this very complex, a guest of a divided nation, predicting its impossible reunion.

Back then, as I was turning 25, the Crocodile Hall had only just reopened, scarred by Allied bombs and Cold War silence. Now, the glass glistens with quiet grace. The murals speak in color what the walls once held in tension. And the light post I framed in the foreground—whether original or reborn—marks the spot where I once stood, hoping one day they'd trace the light back to me.

I returned not to marvel at marine life, but to trace the emotional sediment of a city that once mirrored my own need to be set free from the shackles of the now-dead dictator General Zia's vile, fundamentalism-breeding regime in my motherland in the 1980s.

Over those 25 years, the two halves of Berlin reunited and healed. I too endured, and continued my journey through MySpaceTime. By the grace of God, I achieved great freedoms to be all I want to be. Although it is a surreal irony that now, in 2025, it is the United States that is losing its freedoms—to Nazi-loving, Russia-controlled enemies of democracy.

© 2012–2025 IMRAN®

#aquarium, #Architecture, #autobiography, #Berlin, #Clouds, #democracy, #freedom, #Germany, #History, #IMRAN, #memoirs, #memories, #Sky, #travelphotography, #travel

Berlin to JFK — A Flight Through Time, History, Freedom — SwissAir Passing Blessed NY Home April 2012 - IMRAN®

Berlin to JFK — A Flight Through Time, History, Freedom — SwissAir Passing Blessed NY Home April 2012 - IMRAN®

In April 1987, I arrived in (then West) Germany—not as a migrant, but as the youngest foreign journalist guest of its government. Back home in Pakistan, I had been a student political leader—imprisoned and tortured by a U.S.-backed military dictatorship that feared dissent more than it feared decay. General Zia-ul-Haq ruled with iron and ideology, his regime propped up by the CIA and Saudi oil, while the ISI grew into a shadow state.

When my German hosts urged me to visit (then West) Berlin, I resisted. I imagined a city cold, grim, and depressed—surrounded by walls, haunted by war, and suffocated by Soviet shadow. But destiny had other plans.

I flew Lufthansa to Frankfurt, then boarded a Pan Am flight from Bonn—after a weeklong stay in that working capital of West Germany—to West Berlin. That city, encircled by East Germany’s barbed wire and ideology, became the most electrifying part of my two-month European journey.

I turned 25 there, in a place where freedom had to be flown in. Tegel Airport was its lifeline, and just across the divide, in Dresden, a young KGB officer named Vladimir Putin served the Soviet hammer that kept East Germany silent.

During that visit, I met West German leaders—including their foreign minister—and boldly predicted that Germany would reunite within five years. They laughed, dismissing it as impossible in their lifetimes. But history had its own rhythm.

By November 1989, I was an American living in New York City, watching CNN as the Berlin Wall crumbled. Tears rolled down my cheeks. The laughter of diplomats echoed in memory, now replaced by the roar of freedom.

Exactly 25 years after my first landing, in April 2012, I returned to Europe—touching down at Schiphol, Amsterdam within hours of my original arrival in Frankfurt in 1987. After a conference keynote speech there, I took a train to unified Germany.

Berlin was now whole, and I loved my new stay, walking the same places I had a quarter century prior. Finally, it was time to return home.

Tegel—the Cold War portal that had once welcomed me into the caged freedom of West Berlin—was preparing to close. My flight out, SwissAir to JFK, was among the last international departures from that historic airport before it was decommissioned.

Besides Manhattan, New York and Lahore—my forever hometowns—only Berlin has etched itself into my soul. It is a city I resisted, then embraced. A city I returned to at 50. And, at 55. God willing, a city I hope to return to again for my birthdays in the future, if fate and the jetstream of time permit.

Some journeys are measured in miles. Others in meaning. This one was both.

© 2012–2025 IMRAN®

As the Airbus descended into New York airspace, I captured this moment: the deep blue waters of Long Island stretching beneath the wing, the red Swiss logo gleaming on the winglet. My blessed home lay just below, as history soared behind me. Over Bayport and Sayville—Fire Island drifting past the frame—the coordinates read 40.7320, -73.2300. The coast to my right, the archive to my left.

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

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.

© 2022-2025 IMRAN®

Setting Fire To The Rain - IMRAN™

Setting Fire To The Rain - IMRAN™

There were weather systems on the flight from Long Island, New York, to Tampa Bay, Florida, tonight. Instead of flying south along the eastern seaboard of the United States with views of the Atlantic Ocean coastline, we had to detour around a few areas. Flying into the sun heading out to the Gulf of Mexico, right past sunset over Carter’s Lake in Georgia, south of Chattanooga, Tennessee, the sunlight seemed to set the clouds on fire above — with cool darkness falling below this evening. 

© 2024 IMRAN™ 

#IMRAN #flying #aviation #clouds #travel #Georgia #sunset #sunlight #nature #weather #piloting #TravelPics #SouthwestAirlines 

Symphony Isles Holiday Lights DriveBy 3X Music Video - IMRAN™

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Symphony Isles Holiday Lights DriveBy 3X Music Video - IMRAN™

I am blessed to live in Symphony Isles, a popular neighborhood in Apollo Beach, Florida. Every year the board and various committees, plus individual homeowners, do a great job of holiday decorations.

One night every year the guards open the main gates to the town and all are welcome to drive by to enjoy the lights. Even without any traffic it took me 30-minutes of driving to go past every home.

Enjoy this 3X accelerated hyper-lapse of the drive. If I made it faster, e.g. 400%, then the lights pass by too fast. Even at 3X speed it is easy to miss the detail. But if I did not speed it up, few would have the time to watch the whole thing. So, hopefully this is an optimal balance of speed and duration.

I had wanted to compose an original soundtrack to go with the video but then it may not get done for a long time. So I used one of my existing music tracks, actually one I created for drone flight at Old Inn at Little Harbor about 4 year ago. "Big Sky At Little Harbor" is the tune, and the video is pretty awesome. You will love that too.

Meanwhile, come along for a "high speed" drive (without breaking 20 mph speed limits!) with me and enjoy the sights and lights.

© 2021 IMRAN™

#Florida #TampBay #ApolloBeach #IMRAN #Christmas #holidays #neighborhood #driving #MercedesBenz #lifestyle #musicvideo #hyperlapse #iPhone13ProMax #Apple #DJI

Gorgeous Caribbean Waters At George Town, Cayman Islands Rocky Shoreline - IMRAN™

Gorgeous Caribbean Waters At George Town, Cayman Islands Rocky Shoreline - IMRAN™

My then-GF "K" had taken me on a 4th of July holiday weekend trip to the Cayman Islands. It had been planned for my birthday a month or so earlier. 

It was summer 2013. It was hot. It was the Caribbean. It was quite beautiful. I do have to admit, the Cayman Islands are not quite as exciting or beautiful to me as the Virgin Islands, or especially places like Eleuthera, also in the Caribbean. 

This trip ended up being a lot more drama than it was worth at the time. Fortunately, it accelerated my decision to clear my life of unneeded drama on returning to the USA. However, I savor my great memories. 

Regardless of how happy I can be to be rid of a few specific people in my life, I do always cherish the (good) memories and experiences we shared. Life is too short to erase those joyful experiences just because the persons with me at those times were not worthy of being kept next to me.  

So, despite the too frequent bursts of drama, and my literally almost taking an early flight home, we did have some good times. We spent a lot of time exploring the shoreline of Grand Cayman. 

During a long walk exploring the nooks and crannies off South Church Street, George Town, we found many beautiful spots to make memories, including this magical rocky place. Smith's Barcadere sandy beach was a good place to go snorkeling, as well as swimming in the absolutely stunning blue shades of water that surrounded the area. Very few people were around. 

This is an old 3D camera video so the quality is not that great. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do to block out the irritating background sound. I did not want to kill the full audio of this clip because the sounds of water are always part of the magic of seeing a sea or ocean video. After all, it is just like having to tolerate negative people even during an amazingly positive happy blessed life!

© 2013-2021 IMRAN™

 #autobiography, #Beach, #BeachLife, #blue #sky, #bluewater, #Caribbean, #CaymanIslands, #GeorgeTown, #GrandCayman, #IMRAN, #ImranAnwar, #Lifestyle, #luxuryhomes, #memories, #rocks, #sea, #seaside, #shore, #shoreline, #Travel, #travelogue, #Turquoise

10 Years - Dusk At Shoreline Park Marina Alameda California January 2011 - IMRAN™

10 Years - Dusk At Shoreline Park Marina Alameda California January 2011 - IMRAN™

How quickly a decade can fly by. The iPhone 4 video was recorded during my stay in Oakland, California, literally 10 years ago prior to my writing these lines. 

It was mid-January, 2011. It was a complicated time in my life, as for many others.  I was recovering from the craziness that was the George W. Bush inflicted near-depression economic meltdown of 2008-2009.  But I was hard at work exploring new ideas, new opportunities, and yet experiencing life to the fullest. Today, I am writing this hoping that the country can recover from the Donald Trump inflicted economic suffering, and a near-destruction of democracy in America in the four years leading up to the elections in 2020. As I was a decade ago, I am hopeful.  

That chilly California evening I had met my friend and old Columbia MBA classmate Larry Landman, who had left the USA for Denmark back in 1991 or so but was visiting California at the same time as me. We walked around this beautiful marina in Alameda catching up while catching the sunset and dusk over the Shoreline Park marina. 

The fleet of sailboats, many with blue colors prominent, were lined up against the pink sky and the terrain in the background. I wonder if the scene there has changed much 10 years later. 

Without being presumptuous of even a day of life ahead, I also wonder what life holds in store in the next 10 years. Only the best, God Willing. 

© 2011-2021 IMRAN™

#10years, #2011, #boats, #California, #Dusk, #future, #hope, #IMRAN, #ImranAnwar, #Inspiration, #Marina, #memories, #Oakland, #sailboats, #sailing, #Sunset, #Travel, #Video

2019 Beautiful Boating Blue Bay BCI Beach BC Before COVID 19 - IMRAN™

2019 Beautiful Boating Blue Bay BCI Beach BC Before COVID 19 - IMRAN™

Even though this was just over a year ago, in some ways it looks like a different era. Mid-May 2019, I captured this video in a short live stream on my jetski bobbing on the wakes and waves of Tampa Bay boaters next to Beer Can Island's beach on the east side.

© 2019-2020 IMRAN™

#ApolloBeach, #Beach, #BeachLife, #Boating, #boats, #Clouds, #Florida, #IMRAN, #ImranAnwar, #JetSki, #memories, #sailboats, #SaintPetersburg, #seascape, #Sky, #Tampa, #TampaBay, #Travel, #Water

Red Hot Memories Of Heavenly Blue Views At Harbour Island, Eleuthera, Bahamas, Caribbean, At Romantic Getaway Spot - IMRAN™

Red Hot Memories Of Heavenly Blue Views At Harbour Island, Eleuthera, Bahamas, Caribbean, At Romantic Getaway Spot - IMRAN™ (PG13 text)
A low-resolution video taken in 2007, this has poor quality compared to what we see these days even in cell phones. But it is still enough to show the heavenly views of the Caribbean facing East at the beautiful Coral Sands resort in Eleuthera, Bahamas. The sand there is literally powder soft and pure pink.
One of my then beloved girlfriends loved to travel as much as I did. This was one of the great trips she took us on.
Of the primary colors RGB (red-green-blue), Red was the one that seemed totally absent in this scene. But that is where I come in to add color to life and love.
We made some remarkable red hot deep and intense memories as I had her desire more and more at this spot. The balcony wide open to see and to the sea, glass windows all around, sounds of other couples nearby, the ordinary balcony chair in that instant became a precious loveseat.
A throne for a precious princess to ride to glory oblivious to what public mores against public amore might demand.  And that was when the purest passionate pleasures came in unison...
I still recall seeing the blue sea and blue sky in her penetrating blue eyes as she melted in a puddle of desire. What a magical moment, leaving our mark wherever we went and came.
It is interesting how people come and go from our lives. That girl is an ex-GF for more than a dozen years but the memories are always to be cherished for a lifetime. Ironically, this is also where I met and became friends with Suzette who is here on FB and a beloved beautiful friend even today.

© 2007-2020 IMRAN™

 #Bahamas #Eleuthera #HabrourIsland #CoralSands #pinksand #beach #ocean, #travel #romance #beach #palmtrees #luxury #resort #gratitude #memories

1 Minute Atlantic Ocean Addiction Fix At Fort Lauderdale Florida - IMRAN™

1 Minute Atlantic Ocean Addiction Fix At Fort Lauderdale Florida - IMRAN™
In less than a minute, you can enjoy the beautiful colors that make any ocean, particularly the Atlantic Ocean, especially in Florida, such a powerful and emotive experience. Handheld Nikon D850 DSLR video shot from my 10th-floor hotel room across a wide expanse of sand, roads, and hotel front space, but you can see the footprints in the sand!

© 2020 IMRAN™ 

#AtlanticOcean, #Boating, #D850, #Florida, #FortLauderdale, #IMRAN, #ImranAnwar, #Lifestyle, #Nature, #Nikon, #seaside, #beach, #blueocean, #bluewater

International / Man (Of) / Mystery / Journey Part 2 - IMRAN™

Every journey continues with....

Step 2.... Spot 2...

Departing Tampa International Airport Florida.

All wordplay combinations intended.

Guess where I’m going & post in comments.

Who wants to come with me? 😄

Previous step of the story: https://www.facebook.com/IMRAN.TV/posts/10156497000566155

Next step: https://www.facebook.com/IMRAN.TV/posts/10156499087786155

© 2018 IMRAN™

International / Man (Of) / Mystery / Journey - IMRAN™

Every journey begins with....

Step 1.... Spot 1...

Leaving home, Apollo Beach Florida.

All wordplay combinations intended.

Guess where I’m going & post in comments.

Who wants to come with me? 😄

 

© 2018IMRAN™

Tiniest Technical Trouble Can Spell Random Catastrophe For A Person & Their Loved Ones - IMRAN™

I was saddened to read this breaking #news from NBC News. "One killed as Southwest Airlines' Boeing jet makes emergency landing in Philadelphia".
The cause is not yet unknown and I am no aviation accident expert, but the photos show some sort of apparent catastrophic engine failure shredding the engine and pieces of it ripping into the cabin.
I regularly fly #Southwest in and out of LaGuardia Airport so I can imagine how random this was and how it could happen to anybody.
RIP lost fellow flier that lost their life today.
I wonder if #Trump will take responsibility for this considering he claimed credit for there being no airline fatalities last year.

©2018 IMRAN™

https://www.facebook.com/MyIMRAN/posts/2153082331375413

#aviation #tragedy #accident #flying #airlines #Boeing #opinion

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

Apollo Beach Tampa Bay Florida Jet Ski Racing Sailing Boating Cruising HyperLapse - IMRAN™

I love Florida and I love boating. Combining those two is easy when I am blessed to live in Apollo Beach, on Tampa Bay.
This is a low-resolution (merely 640x480) video saved from a Twitter Livestream, using their Periscope platform. The quality of Periscope videos is much lower than FaceBook's livestreaming quality these days.
But, you can see why this area is a boating paradise for every kind of mariner, See cruise ships, tankers, cargo ships, yachts, sailboats, cruisers, boats, pontoons, jet skis and almost every form of watercraft in this one video.
It is sped up to nearly 500% so a half hour stream can be enjoyed in under 4.5 minutes.
The music track is my nTrance To The Tunnel Of Love, the title album of my music CD that you can listen to on Spotify, Google Play, Microsoft, iTunes, CDbaby, and all major music platforms.
Enjoy. Like, love, comment, share!

© 2017 IMRAN™