Aerial View of Manhattan

Series Title: The Destruction of Lower Manhattan

1966–67

Danny Lyon

(American, b. 1942)

Culture

America

Medium

gelatin silver print

Measurements

Image: 25.2 x 25 cm (9 15/16 x 9 13/16 in.); Paper: 35.4 x 27.6 cm (13 15/16 x 10 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of George Stephanopoulos 2011.236

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

Not on view

Description

A grant from the New York State Council on the Arts to photograph the demolition of sections of Lower Manhattan provided Lyon with partial funding, a letter asking that he be given access to city-owned abandoned buildings, and a ride in a Port Authority helicopter. “They were kind enough to strap me in, remove my door, and fly me over the Brooklyn Bridge,” the artist remembers. “The pilot . . . turned the aircraft on its side, with me dangling from my harness watching things in my pocket drift down to the East River a thousand feet below.” This photograph shows the west tower of the Brooklyn Bridge and, just right of center, the demolition area at Gold and Beekman Streets.