THE ISLAND OF Manhattan in New York City is a very distinctive place, as anyone who has visited can attest (and for most travelling Irish, Manhattan is New York).

Viewed from a plane arriving into JFK Airport the little island is akin to a mushroom of huge office buildings, huddled together for warmth at the mouth of the Hudson river.

You might be surprised to learn that the number of skyscrapers in Manhattan has doubled in the last ten years, and it’s set to almost treble to a total of 75 in the years to come as the island goes through a period of unprecedented high-rise development.

That evolution, for good and ill, is detailed by 80-year-old writer Pete Hamill, a native of the city, in a piece in the December issue of National Geographic magazine.

Source: National Geographic

The article is illustrated by some incredible aerial views of the New York skyline by photographer George Steinmetz, who has just released a book of his own, New York Air: The View From Above.

Manhattan's skyline is undergoing dramatic change Source: George Steinmetz/National Geographic

One World Trade Center, built to replace the twin towers destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, bathed in light as the sun sets. The tower now stands as the tallest building in the US Source: George Steinmetz/National Geographic

This distorted pyramid on West 57th Street contains 750 apartments and testifies to the city’s flirtation with adventurous residential architecture Source: George Steinmetz/National Geographic

Steinmetz is a specialised aerial photographer. He uses a helicopter of his own design, something he calls a “flying lawn chair” which frees him to capture the likes of these images.

Photograph by George Steinmetz @geosteinmetz @thephotosociety Ferries of the NY Waterway converge on the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal in Lower Manhattan. The city within a city was built on landfill, much of it excavated during the construction of the World Trade Center in the 1960s. From the just released book New York Air, autographed copies available via the bio link in @newyorkairbook

A post shared by George Steinmetz (@geosteinmetz) on Nov 18, 2015 at 7:12am PST

Photograph by George Steinmetz @geosteinmetz The arboreal splendor of Olmsted and Vaux’s Manhattan masterpiece is at its finest in the fall. #CentralParkNYC From the just-released book New York Air, with autographed copies available via the bio link in @newyorkairbook

A post shared by George Steinmetz (@geosteinmetz) on Nov 15, 2015 at 7:40am PST

Photograph by George Steinmetz @geosteinmetz In 1799, a prosperous New York merchant named Archibald Gracie built a country house overlooking a bend in the East River, five miles north of the city which now surrounds it. An island in time, Gracie Mansion (seen amidst the trees at lower right) was restored and has been the official residence of the mayor since 1942, when Fiorello H. La Guardia moved in. From the just-released book New York Air, with autographed copies available via a link in the IG bio of @newyorkairbook

A post shared by George Steinmetz (@geosteinmetz) on Nov 12, 2015 at 7:35am PST

Not all of Pete Hamill’s feelings toward the glass towers he finds himself surrounded by are positive.

“The city is wealthier and healthier than when I was young,” he says.

But – hey, in New York there’s always a but – it’s architectural face is colder, more remote, less human, seeming to be sneering.

In Manhattan the new superthin, supertall buildings are blocking the sky, casting long, arrogant shadows on streets once caressed by sun.

That may be so, but the place is still a photographer’s dream, as these shots by aerial expert Steinmetz show.

The 850-foot Pier 45 at Christopher and West Streets in Greenwich Village - a top-down view from the air Source: George Steinmetz/National Geographic

The Conrad Hotel, an environmentally friendly Lower Manhattan hotel, sports a green roof with a chef’s garden Source: George Steinmetz/National Geographic

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