The Gates
01 / 20
I had been watching the installation of "The Gates" for some time. I was so pleased that Mayor Bloomberg had authorized it. It was something that a person with a real understanding of human needs would do.
02 / 20
On the day of the "unveiling" Fiona and I went to the apartment of our good friend on 102 and Central Park West. From here you could see all the gates across the park.
03 / 20
The idea was to unfurl the banners like dominoes. Above you can see the first one. I would have thought that there would have been more people. From our vantage point the roofs were packed.
04 / 20
There was a team of "unfurlers". After it started I went down and followed them around for a while.
05 / 20
The next two shots are from the roof of my building on 66 th street. The photos don't really do it justice.
06 / 20
07 / 20
Somewhat out of sequence, this is the team unfurling the banners. They were trained to do it in a certain way.
08 / 20
A few weeks later, notice the leaves on the trees are gone, Fiona and some friends went walking in the park. It was an exciting and magnificent experience. The ever changing views, changing sizes of the gates, wow.
09 / 20
If you look carefully, just to the right of the two trees, you can see the building I live in. I have been taking the east side train to 68 th street and walking through the park on my way home from work as often as I was able to.
10 / 20
This is Bethesda Fountain. I cant remember having seen so many people in the park this late in the year.
11 / 20
On one of my walks home I passed through the fountain and saw this group of people. It looked like a group of Druids, white robes, candles, chanting.
12 / 20
It was a sunny, cold, windy day and the experience of it all was overwhelming. the gates spread out for as far as you can see in all directions.
13 / 20
This is a better picture of the building. Not as good of the gates.
14 / 20
The snow came..... I don't know if Christo planned this but the snow took it to a whole other level. This picture was taken at night. The white snow and orange banners in the silence was defining
15 / 20
I couldn't make the next group of shots up but I wish I could bottle the experience.
16 / 20
We had a lot of snowstorms during this time and I spent a lot of time in the park taking photos.
17 / 20
18 / 20
19 / 20
West drive looking south.
20 / 20
The lake across from the Plaza hotel. What an experience this whole thing has been.