NYC newcomers like me are no doubt often struck by the sheer art of Manhattan. The city is filled with function and people, but at certain angles, especially under a certain afternoon light, you get to see up close architectural details from old building plans of the past when folks actually spent time on the so called un-useful exterior of buildings. Zoom your perspective out, the Manhattan skyline from, say, the Hudson Bay on the way back from Liberty Island, is glimmering in greens and blues in cool random patterns.
A little bit like an acrylic painting, there are also all kinds of detectable rough lines when you look up close at parts of every skyscraper, but from a distance Manhattan's sleek. On our trip to the Statue of Liberty I was more struck, I have to admit, by the art of it than the symbolic meaning of the statue. I didn't expect Ms. Liberty to be quite as high (305 feet from ground to torch), quite as green, and not surrounded by such a pristine patch of park grass or on top of such an interesting 'star' fort (the largest mass of concrete then ever laid).
Historically, we know Ms. Liberty is supposed to represent an invitation to and a beacon of the new world, promising liberty, self-expression and hope, but up against a bright blue sky as you stand underneath, you are in awe of the colors and the reach of the torch toward the clouds. Artistically, it's a perfect compliment to the city across the bay, which also has been built not just for the sake of function, but as a symbol of the possibility to seek limitless success. Add to it that Ms. Liberty is in fact a 'Ms.' and not a 'Mr.' and there's also a strong sense of gender equality associated with the statue, something that our family is built to look up to.
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