NYC Skyline by Mike Downey

Gigapan Epic 100, Nikon D5000,...

NYC Skyline taken from the rooftop deck of the Le Parker Meridien Hotel. Unfortunately the manager forced me to stop shooting before I could complete the Gigapan, so the central park area is cut off.

One of New York City's major east-west thoroughfares, 57th Street runs east-west in the borough of Manhattan, from a New York City Department of Sanitation dock on the Hudson River at the West Side Highway to a small park overlooking the East River built on a platform suspended above the FDR Drive. It is two blocks south of Central Park between Fifth Avenue and Central Park West. 57th Street is notable for prestigious art galleries, restaurants and up-market shops.

Over the course of its two mile length, 57th Street passes through several distinct neighborhoods with widely differing mixes of commercial, retail, and residential uses.

The first blocks of 57th Street, from its western end at the Hudson River waterfront to 10th Avenue, are home to low-rise industrial properties, several automotibile dealerships, and small-scale residential buildings. Much of south side of the block between 11th and 10th Avenues is occupied by the CBS Broadcast Center, which is the network's primary East Coast production facility.
View from the river shows the vast array of high-rises and skyscrapers in Manhatten.
Looking up the canyon street from the Hudson River

From 10th Avenue to 8th Avenue, larger residential buildings appear. Beginning at 8th Avenue and continuing east through the core of Midtown Manhattan, the street is dominated by very large commercial and residential towers, such as at the Hearst Tower at the southwest corner of 57th Street and 8th Avenue. This stretch of 57th Street is home to several large hotels such as Le Parker Meridien and well known restaurants such as the Russian Tea Room (both between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue), and the offices of several magazines including The Economist and Newsweek. The corner of 57th Street and 7th Avenue is home to the city-owned performance venue Carnegie Hall.

East of 6th Avenue, the street is home to numerous high-end retail establishments including Van Cleef and Arpels, Tiffany and Company, and Bergdorf Goodman. The stores located at 57th Street's intersections with Fifth and Madison Avenues occupy some of the most expensive real estate in the world.[4]

Commercial and retail buildings continue to dominate until Third Avenue, where the street rapidly returns to a preponderance of large residential buildings. As it continues from here through its final blocks leading to its terminus at Sutton Place, the street consists of a nearly unbroken stretch of increasingly upscale apartment buildings with doormen, awnings, and small commercial establishments such as drug stores, bank branches, and restaurants.

57th Street ends at a small city park overlooking the East River just east of Sutton Place.

Notable buildings include 300 East 57th Street by architect Emery Roth.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/57th_Street_ (Manhattan)