Scale and The City

I arrived in New York this morning around 5:30 and was greeted by an amazing sunrise. I have flown to and from New York area airports on numerous occasions however this one struck me as unique. Seeing something from overhead provides a shift in perspective. I recall thinking of New York and the surrounding boroughs as overwhelming leviathans. This morning, however, I looked out the plane window and was shocked to see what I could identify as the island of Manhattan, the Hudson River, and Long Island stretching off into the Atlantic. Perhaps it was the early morning light but everything looked like I was over a map of lights with the buildings removed. The strange trick of light made everything appear to be 2-D, like on a map. This experience made New York City seem much less daunting. Interesting how “stepping out” of an environment can make it virtually “snap” into scale.