Thursday, December 8th, 2011

Click image for full-size version (bigger = better)

The collage above was sent in by photographer and MUW reader Rodrigo Maroni, who still reads MyUpperWest even though he recently moved out of the neighborhood (everyone should be so dedicated!).

It’s composed of photos taken of various neon signs on Broadway and Amsterdam, between 69th and 78th Streets. Interesting background on the image from Rodrigo:

I’ve been drawn to the neon signs for a long time. I particularly love how, despite the limitations of that technology, it can have such a wide range of uses. This collage is obviously just a small sample of that - a small sample even if you take just the neighborhood itself.

I grew up (and lived for a long time) in a city and a time where you just couldn’t walk around the empty streets at night – and even if you could, they wouldn’t be as interesting. So when I moved to Manhattan in 2007 – and to the UWS specifically – I was amazed with the possibility of doing that. The streets aren’t exactly empty – there’s the obvious flow of people and cars and night delivery trucks – but the nighttime provides such a different perspective from the lively, energetic daytime activity.

Some of the neon signs in the collage are from places that were part of my routine in the neighborhood, such as the West Side Restaurant on Broadway at W 69th St or the Maison II cleaners on Amsterdam Ave.

The night I took these pictures I originally planned to cover Broadway all the way down to Columbus Circle, but it started raining heavily and I had to cut the trip short at around 78th St. There are lots of other neon signs in the area that I still want to take pictures of – perhaps next time I’m visiting.

And finally there’s something I have to point out – there’s one sign in the picture that’s obviously not a neon. But it’s so iconic to the area (and is from a place I like very much) that I felt I had to include it anyway.

It’s a place I like too… although I liked it even more when the hot dogs were only 50 cents.

[Original file on Flickr]

Filed under: Art, Manhattan, New York City, NYC, Photos, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, UWS 2 Comments »
Tags: neon signs, New York City, NYC, Photo of the Day, Project Neon, Rodrigo Maroni, Upper West Side, UWS