Photo of the Day: A View to the Bridge

“The bridge” in question, in this photo from a couple of days ago, on a clear, late autumn afternoon, is the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge—which many residents of the tristate area like myself still think of as the Tappan Zee Bridge. You can see it in the background, in the upper left-hand corner.

I took this shot from a hill overlooking Veterans Memorial Park in Nyack, NY—a good vantage point to see so much of the Hudson River in Rockland County.

Photo of the Day: A Hero and His Bridge, Pittsburgh PA

Forty-seven years ago this coming Tuesday, Roberto Clemente, Hall of Fame outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, died in a plane crash on a mission to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Pittsburgh renamed its Sixth Street Bridge crossing the Allegheny River to honor this stellar player and humanitarian in 1998.

While visiting the city this past October, I photographed this bronze statue of Clemente with the bridge in the background. The statue, by the way, created by sculptor Susan Wagner, stands just outside PNC Park, the Pirates’ home.

Too often, our society boosts its most boastful, selfish and cruel members. It’s worthwhile to remember someone like Clemente who embodied the exact antithesis of that tendency during this season ostensibly devoted to giving.

Photo of the Day: West End Overlook, Pittsburgh PA

I took the image accompanying this post in late June, on a weekend visit to Pittsburgh. Although the vantage point from which this is taken is formally called West End-Elliott Overlook Park, locals have reduced that mouthful to West End Overlook. 

Whatever you want to call it, this is the best spot to view where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers unite to form the Ohio River. The Native-Americans who inhabited this area first knew enough to take in the area from this bluff, and—now that the smoke that once belched from the city’s factories has gone—the view still can’t be beat.

Quote of the Day (John Bannister Tabb, on the Endurance of a Bridge)

“O, teach thy power to me,

Calm mid all storm to be,

  And evermore,

Over Time's restless tide,

World-weary feet to guide

  From shore to shore!”—American poet (and Roman Catholic priest) John Bannister Tabb (1845-1909), “The Bridge,” in Poems (1882); also featured in American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century, Vol. 2, edited by John Hollander (1993)

(I took the accompanying picture of the Brooklyn Bridge more than two years ago.)

Photo of the Day: Walkway, Brooklyn Bridge, NY

I took this photo about seven weeks ago, when I spent an afternoon exploring Brooklyn Heights and Brooklyn Bridge. I don’t get down near the latter much, but whenever I do, it fills me with awe.

Photo of the Day: Brooklyn Bridge and Beyond, NYC

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most iconic, beautiful sights in the United States. A few weeks ago, on my way to the Brooklyn Bridge Park, I made sure to photograph the hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge that inspired it and that New Yorkers and tourists come to and marvel at.