On another day of my January staycation (first mentioned in the previous post), my targets in Manhattan included sights in Hudson Yards and Chelsea that I never explored before. Starting with one of the newest attractions in the City – the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere called the Edge, which first opened less than a year ago in already-pandemic times.
This opening picture was taken from the top of the staircase that is reserved for those who buy a drink from the on-premises café/bar. (A naked money-making grab that I couldn’t resist falling for even at $5 for a cup of middling coffee.) The majority of the visitors stay solely on the main deck, enclosed by the angled glass panels that slightly skew the perspectives and the colors towards the marketed “feeling of floating in the sky”.
Stepping right to the edge, as it were, gives you unobstructed views northeast, east, and south.
West and north are mostly obscured by the shape of the building, although you can catch partial views from a couple of perimeter points and also from the indoor section near the souvenir shop.
This sign on the deck floor is a reminder of how high above the street level you are.
There is also a small transparent section in the deck, not very conducive to picture-taking, which stops no one from trying.
The enclosing glass panels at the edge-most point are slightly ajar which offered me this illustration of their bluish tint.
Finally, a view at the deck from a distance.
It’s that triangular jutting-out platform on the side of the tallest building in the top middle section of the shot.
As is the case with all such observation decks, the Edge is rather an expensive attraction, but I have to say that in the city well-known for a number of celebrated elevated viewpoints, it is a worthy contender for being top.