January 2002

Spotlight: New York City

New York City
by Michael Goldberg

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January 2002—Spotlight: New York City

New York City
by Michael Goldberg

This photo journal by Michael Goldberg contains both photos and prose. All photography was taken by the author, and all prose was written by the author. Click on the images below to open Michael's photo journal in a new window.

The things that draw many people to New York City—the manic energy, the in-your-faceness, the 24-hour-theme-park vibe—can be overwhelming to those who live and work here (the ones who can't leave after a three-day, two-night excursion packed with hot dogs, "I Love New York" T-shirts, and Letterman ticket stubs), no matter how steely your resolve is not to let it get to you. Very often you're desperate for quiet interludes void of gargantuan, retina-scorching signs and video screens and the maelstrom of cell phone-addled fashionistas at every turn. It's a need rooted not in bitterness, but in the feeling that you're losing a sense of yourself, that you're being forced to meld into your surroundings. Late nights in a deserted subway station. Unpopulated midtown streets and sidewalks on a cold, gray Sunday afternoon. A near-empty ferry ambling across the Hudson to (or from) New Jersey. These are the cherished, fleeting moments when you can take stock of just who you really are and what you're doing here.

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