Manhattan Sunset From Above Countdown Timer

The thing about Manhattan from above at sunset is that it does not look real. It looks like a model of itself, a grid of blocks and towers with the windows lit up and the streets running away in straight lines, and then behind it the sky goes that impossible orange, and the river, and the far shore, and you have to remind yourself that people are actually down there, having arguments and buying groceries. The Empire State Building is over on the left, still the most recognisable silhouette in the city even now, and the towers of midtown crowd around it, every one of them with a different pattern of lit and unlit windows. Sunset is the best time for this because the buildings go to silhouette and the lights come on inside them at the same moment, so you get both at once. I was on a high floor on the west side, with the window reflecting my own face back at me, so I had to press the lens right up against the glass. It was worth the smudge. It always is. I stayed until the orange had gone and the city was just lights and glass.