Photography

Check out Belvedere Castle in Central Park, the Conservatory Garden or Harlem Meer.

Don’t sleep on Fort Cockhill or Muscota Marsh. There’s Grant’s Tomb and a few statues/parks along RSD and Columbia University campus if it’s open. The Manhattanville Campus with the overhead subway and viaduct will always be open.

you didn't ask this... but as someone susceptible to having his fingers go numb, i wanted to share this.

Consider getting heavy gloves that will allow you to still operate your camera.

i got a pair of these, which are fine all by themselves for days with 40 to 50 degree weather. the fingers allow u to use the touchpad on the back of a camera or a cellphone

https://us.photographygloves.com/collections/photography-gloves/products/power-stretch-pro-liner-with-touch

i didn't buy any of their outer layer mittens... i have an old pair of generic photography mittens that allow me to fold the fingers back to operate controls. I wear the thin liner gloves underneath the mittens. Fold the mittens back over fingers when not actually shooting.

you must have a strap on your camera.

Keep in mind Central Park is about 50 blocks north to south. If you're in the middle on the west side there's the American History Museum, the Dakota (where John Lenon was killed but also interesting architecture) in the park is strawberry fields and the bow bridge.

If you're on the east side there's the Metropolitan museum which is worth seeing.

If you're on the south end you've close to Times Square, MoMA, and Rockefeller Center (should have the ice skating ring up) and there's a lot of interesting store fronts on 5th avenue there. There's also Grand Central Terminal and the New York Public Library, which have great architecture.

At the south end of Manhattan: there's Chinatown wander around but find Doyles St. There's Pier 17 which has a great view of the Brooklyn Bridge. There's the 9/11 memorial. There's Battery Park. If you want a photo of the NYC skyline, you need to get outside the city. Easiest way to do this is take the Staten Island Ferry out and back, or go to the Statue of Liberty if it's your thing. You'll get better views of the skyline from the water or from NJ.

But the reality is people and interesting things are everywhere. Sometimes a boring scene comes to life the way the sun reflects off a high-rise building and highlights something. Sometimes there's just an interesting mix of people. Take the touristy shots everyone else takes, but sometimes you get an opportunity in a boring place to see something that no one else has seen or been able to photograph because it's only happened just now in front of you.