The Mid-Atlantic USA from the Sky

New AirVūz contributor Aran77 brings us this incredible aerial tour of New York City during the Covid-19 lockdown.  In Spring 2020, New York City became the epicenter of Covid-19 in the United States; due to social-distancing measures, its streets became nearly empty. In this video, you will see an eerie sight of some of New York City's most iconic locations that would normally be congested with crowds and bursting with traffic turned into a desolate ghost town.  This video won the Lockdown category at the 6th Annual NYCDFF.

Thedronalist put together this fantastic 2019 reel of his best footage from across New York City.  The video opens with a great shot of the World Trade Center complex just outside of the Financial District.  From there, you will be taken all over Manhattan in a series of jaw-dropping sequences - Columbus Circle, the statue of Liberty, the East River bridges, Times Square, the Empire State Building, the triangular Flatiron Building, the West Side Hudson Yards project, the Chrysler Building, Washington Square Park, and more.

AirVuz content creator and pilot Chris Dantonio used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone to create this magnificent video of the Philadelphia skyline at sunrise.  If you see the shot which begins at the :30 mark, you'll see a shot of City Hall - it's the building with the clock and the statue on top.  Until the 1980's, by unwritten agreement, no building was permitted which exceeded the height of City Hall: 167 meters (just under 550 ft.).  As you can see, lifting this restriction has fundamentally transformed the city's skyline.  

Many millions of inhabitants of the Greater New York City area actually live across the Hudson River in New Jersey, which connects to Manhattan via several bridges and tunnels.  One of these New York satellite cities is Jersey City, which sits just south of Newark and across the bay from lower Manhattan.  In this video, AirVuz contributor and drone pilot Axlfro gives us a brief aerial tour of this city on the west side of the Hudson, which is the second largest city in the Garden State after Newark.

The Inner Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland was once one of the busiest shipping ports in the United States.  As shipping technology progressed, the port's shallow waters could not accommodate the larger ships, and the port was relocated to deeper waters further east.  Eventually the Inner Harbor area was redeveloped into an entertainment/mixed use district.  Airuz contributor and pilot Eyes in the Sky used DJI Phantom 4 drone to create this aerial view of the Inner Harbour area, with downtown Baltimore in the background.  

For a first upload to AirVuz, MagicAerials created this beautiful video of Atlantic City, New Jersey, one of the USA's first cities which was developed for recreation.  Situated in the middle of the famed Jersey Shore, roughly an hour's drive from Philadelphia and twice that distance from New York City, Atlantic City reinvented itself with the passage of legalized gambling in the 1970's.  Casinos aside, it's a legendary spot for boating, boardwalk-wandering, and an afternoon on the beach with the family.  

When it opened in the early 1950's, Chesapeake Bay Bridge was the longest over-water span in the world at 6.9 km (4.3 mi.).  Now a dual span bridge, it connects Maryland's eastern and western shores of Chesapeake Bay.  Contributor Eyes in the Sky used a drone to create this impressive aerial video of this impressive steel span, officially known as the Gov. William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge.  The bridge was the filming location for a high profile scene in the 2006 movie Mission: Impossible III.

Norfolk is a medium-sized seaport city in the southeastern corner of the mid-Atlantic state of Virginia, near the opening of Chesapeake Bay.  It is a quintessential Navy town, and is the headquarters of the US Atlantic Fleet, one of the world's most powerful naval groupings.  Top contributor and pilot iDroneU used a drone to film this port city.  In this video, you will get some incredible bird's eye views not only of the city's downtown but of several US Navy ships in their berths in the harbor.  

The Jersey Shore is a roughly 225 km (around 140 mi.) strip of the Atlantic Ocean coastline of New Jersey, running from Perth Amboy (a bit south of New York City) to Cape May Point.  Since the late 1800's, the Jersey Shore has been a prime getaway spot for residents of some of the USA's most densely populated areas around New York City and Philadelphia.   In this drone video by AirVuz contributor calladrone, you'll be treated to gorgeous sunsets of two of the Shore's most well known spots: Ocean City and Avalon.

AirVuz contributor and drone pilot lleeyyooww created this highly cinematic video of Bayonne, New Jersey.  Bayonne is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area.  It sits at the southern tip of a peninsula on the west side of the Hudson River, east of Newark, south of Jersey City and immediately to the north of Staten Island.  The video features some awesome shots of the Newark Bay Bridge, one of the city's most recognizable landmarks.  The bridge connects Bayonne to the "mainland" of New Jersey to the west.  

A great way to lose yourself in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York is to lightly row down stream and see where the current takes you. That's th3venture's approach in this fantastic aerial adventure through this storied region with his crew. Seeing them explore the region's many natural and recreational attractions, from kayaking, to hiking and camping, will inspire you to hit the great outdoors with your drone.  The Adirondacks cover a portion of northeastern New York State and are considered part of the Appalachian system.

AirVuz contributor and pilot Inmotionaerial created this beautiful drone video of Union City, New Jersey.  The city sits directly across the Hudson River from new York City.  It is more or less bisected by New Jersey Route 495, which runs into Manhattan as the Lincoln Tunnel.  Like most of the cities on the New Jersey side of the Hudson, Union City is part of metropolitan New York City yet maintains a distinctive look and feel.   Part of Hudson County, Union City has a population of about 66,000 in 2018.

On the south shore of the far (eastern) end of Long Island in New York there's a string of small town and villages known collectively as the Hamptons.  With improvements in transport, the Hamptons have become in effect the summer playground for the world's wealthiest city.  Houses which are used perhaps 6-8 weeks per year routinely change hands for many millions of dollars.  In this video by AeroVision, you'll get a bird's eye view of some of the mansions which line up on this fabled stretch of beach.  

Vetter Cinema Productions created this beautiful drone video of the Kodak Tower, one of the most important landmarks in Rochester, New York.  Completed in 1914, the 104 meter (340 ft.) building was the home of Eastman Kodak, which once dominated the camera and film industry and employed thousands in this city on the southern shore of Lake Ontario.  It was the tallest building in the city for fifty years.  It's still the headquarters for Kodak, which went through a bankruptcy restructuring in the early 2010's.

The Hudson River is most closely associated with its end-point in the harbor of New York City.  In contrast, its upstream sections are far less well known.  Originating with runoff from the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, the great river runs a course of just over 500 km (315 mi.).  It's divided into an Upper Hudson and Lower Hudson, the divider being Federal Dam in Troy.  In this video by Utcinema, you'll get a bird's eye view of the valley of the Lower Hudson, at the height of the Fall season.  

Contributor and drone pilot Chris Bonanno used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 to shoot this aerial video of the campus of Princeton University in New Jersey.  Located roughly midway between New York and Philadelphia, Princeton was founded by Presbyterians in 1746 and is a proud member of the Ivy League.  In recent years, Princeton has dominated the  US News annual ranking of national universities, appearing #1 18 times in 20 years.  The campus was immortalized in alumnus F. Scott Fitzgerald's debut novel, This Side of Paradise (1920). 

Check out this stunning drone video of Lake George in northeastern New York State, compliments of AirVuz contributor and pilot Greatsouthbayimages.  The lake is at the base of the Adirondack Mountain range, which runs through parts of the state.  With a surface area of over 120 square km (around 45 square mi.), it's one of the largest lakes in the region outside of the Great Lakes.  The lake is a popular summer getaway destination from New York City; depending on traffic, it's a 2-3 hour drive.

Check out this amazing drone video of an amazing sight not far from Washington, DC, compliments of top AirVuz contributor Jeff Walrich TK-421.  Mallows Bay is situated on the Potomac River, about 50 km (30 mi.) south (downstream from) the USA's Capital city.  The bay is home to hundreds of ships which had been put into service by the Emergency Fleet Corporation, set up in the immediate aftermath of the USA's decision to enter World War I in April, 1917.  The hastily-built ships were scuttled here in the 1920's.

Baltimore, Maryland in the Mid-Atlantic USA has deep roots as a port city.  While the city's Inner Harbor area has been converted to other uses (in part because it was not deep enough to handle the deep drafts of large containerships), the port still remains one of the top 20 in the country, and it is the largest dry bulk port on the East Coast.  In this drone video, top contributor Jeff Walrich gives us an epic aerial view of the harbor landmark known as the Sugar Shack, the country's largest terminal for receiving sugar. 

Allentown and Bethlehem lie in the heart of the Lehigh Valley of eastern Pennsylvania.  The larger of the two, Allentown is actually the third-most populous city in the state after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.  The area was extremely hard hit by the downsizing and eventual closing of the Bethlehem Steel Works, once one of the largest steel mills in the world.  In this drone video by contributor Chris Bonano, you'll get an aerial view of the region, immortalized by Billy Joel's 1982 Allentown.  

Contributor Chris Bonano used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone to create this mini-aerial tour of Columbia University in New York City.  The university was founded in 1754 as King's College.  A member of the Ivy League, Columbia is considered one of the top 8-10 research universities in the USA, and its professional schools are amongst the best in their respective fields.  With a total enrollment of about 33k (of whom about 25% are undergraduates), its campus is located just north of Central Park on the West Side of Manhattan.    

Check out this aerial video of the New York state capital of Albany, compliments of AirVuz contributor Chris Bonanno and his DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone.  The city sits on the banks of the Hudson River, about 220 km (around 135 mi.) north of New York City.  It's the center of a region known as the Cultural District of New York, which includes the nearby cities of Troy, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs.  Albany is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited settlements from the original thirteen US colonies.  

Baltusrol Golf Club is home to one (actually, two) of the finest golf courses on the USA's East Coast.  Located in Springfield, New Jersey (a bit west of New York City), the club dates to 1895.  Its two current courses both opened in 1918.  Since then, the two courses have hosted a dozen major tournaments, including five US Open Championships.  Both the Upper and Lower courses regularly appear in the Golf Digest Top 100 list.  Check out Baltusrol from above in this drone video by contributor Chris Bonanno.  

Situated on the banks of the Hudson River, the town of North Tarrytown, New York was immortalized in a short story called "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow".  Published by Washington Irving in 1820, the story told of a decapitated spectre called the "headless horseman" who haunted the hills above the town.  The association was so enduring (and so helpful to property values) that the town voted to officially change its name to Sleepy Hollow in the 1990's.  Here it is from above in this drone video by Chris Bonano. 

Chris Bonanno used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 to create this aerial video of Trenton, New Jersey.  This historically important city is the capital of the Garden State.  The video features footage of the downtown area along the Delaware River, including the impressive gold-domed capitol building.  It also includes footage from the area known as Washington's Crossing just upstream; this was the spot where George Washington led his troops across the Delaware in 1776, a pivotal moment in the USA's Revolutionary War. 

Chris Bonanno created this drone video of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the group eight elite colleges known as the Ivy League.  Situated across the Schuylkill River from downtown Philadelphia, Penn's current enrollment is about 21.6k students, of which a bit less than half are undergraduates.  Ranked #8 among national universities in the 2019 US News & World Report survey,  the school is especially well known for its graduate programs; its Wharton School was the first post-graduate business school.  

For a few days in mid-August, 1969, a dairy farm near Bethel, New York hosted a music festival billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music".  Featuring acts like Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, the Who, Joan Baez, the Band, and many more, the festival came to be known for the name of a nearby town: Woodstock.  In this drone video by contributor Chris Bonnano, you can get a bird's eye view of the Woodstock site, which was also used for a disastrous Woodstock revival concert in 1999.  

Check out this fantastic edit of drone footage of Wilmington, Delaware, compliments of AirVuz contributor Cooper Neel.  The largest city in the first state admitted to the American Union, Wilmington lies at the confluence of two important Delaware River tributaries.  One of the only spots in the USA to have been colonized by Sweden, Wilmington became one of America's most important cities for shipbuilding and later (through hometown DuPont) explosives.  The historic city is now considered part of Greater Philadelphia.   

In this video, award-winning contributor Majestic takes the city dronelapse genre to a new level with a stunning aerial tour of New York City.  The video opens with a shot of the skyscrapers around Times Square on the west side of Midtown.  From there it will take you to the downtown Financial District and the adjacent World Trade Center at golden hour, back to Midtown, around the East River bridges connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn and Queens, and much more.  It's easily one of the best drone videos of the Big Apple we've seen anywhere.  

Check out this drone video of the most famous lighthouse on Chesapeake Bay, compliments of AirVuz contributor and pilot Santiago.  Thomas Point Shoal Light is situated on the western side of the bay, on the approach to the harbor of Annapolis, Maryland.  First lit in 1875, it's the only lighthouse of the screw-pile design which is still in place in its original location.   Automated since 1986, Thomas Point Shoal has been designated as a National Landmark since 1999.

For many decades, Bethlehem Steel Co. was the second-largest US steelmaker.  Its massive original plant on the Lehigh River just east of Allentown, Pennsylvania employed over 35,000 during World War II, when its output of steel plate was critical to the Allied war effort.  Its products also helped to create some of America's most well-known infrastructure, such as the Golden Gate Bridge. In this drone video by Chris Bonnanno, you'll get a bird's eye view of the plant, which ceased operations in 1995.

Check out this DVOW nominated film of New York City's Queens Plaza, compliments of AirVuz contributor and pilot thedronalist.  The Plaza marks the western end of Queens Boulevard, a major thoroughfare which runs through the city's second-largest borough by population after Brooklyn.  The site of a major subway station, the plaza was built in connection with the construction of the Queensborough Bridge over the East River into Manhattan, which lies just west of the plaza and was completed in 1909.

Top contributor onewheeldrone brings us this beautiful drone video of the Great Falls of the Passaic River, one of the best-known natural landmarks in the Mid-Atlantic state of New Jersey.  It's located in the town of Paterson in Passaic County, one of the more distant New Jersey counties of Metropolitan New York City.  Standing 23 meters high (about 77 ft.), it's one of the larger waterfalls in the eastern USA.  A National Historic Landmark District, the waterpower here helped to power New Jersey's early industrialization.

The Bear Mountain Bridge crosses the Hudson River between New York State's Orange and Westchester Counties, about 45 minutes north of New York City.  When it was completed in 1924, its main span of just under 500 meters (a bit over 1.6k ft.) was the longest in the world.  It held the title for less than two years before being surpassed by the Ben Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia.  The first suspension bridge to use concrete decking, you can check out the Bear Mountain Bridge from above  in this excellent drone video by onewheeldrone. 

AirVuz contributor and pilot Chris Bonano used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone to create this aerial of one of the most famous factories in the USA.  It's the GE Power Systems plant in Schenectady, New York.  The original factory was built in 1887 for the Edison Machine Works, the manufacturing arm of the great inventor Thomas Edison.  In 1892, in a reorganization orchestrated by the banking house JP Morgan, Edison's companies were merged with competitor Thomson-Houston to form General Electric.

Check out these fantastic aerial views of the beaches of Ocean City, New Jersey, compliments of AirVuz contributor and pilot aerialsbyandre.  Ocean city is a prominent town on the fabled Jersey Shore, the name for the roughly 225 km (around 140 mi.) stretch of New Jersey's Atlantic Ocean coastline between Perth Amboy and Cape May.  Ocean City is particularly well-known for being a family-oriented resort town; very much unlike Atlantic City (a short distance to its north), Ocean City prohibits the sale of alcohol within its city limits.  

The Bear Mountain Bridge spans the Hudson River in New York State, about an hour's drive north of New York City.  The bridge has a total length of just under 700 meters (around 2.45k ft.).  When it opened in 1924, the Bear Mountain Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world.  It didn't hold the title long, though - in less than two years it was surpassed by Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Bridge.  Check out the Bear Mountain Bridge from above in this drone video by Chris Bonanno, shot with a DJI Mavic Pro 2. 

Get an aerial tour of a storied stretch of the USA's Mid-Atlantic coastline in this excellent drone video by new contributor JD Drone.  The video starts in Atlantic City, which lies roughly in the middle of the New Jersey shore.  Here's you'll see some of the giant casinos which grace the waterfront of the largest US gambling center outside of Las Vegas.  Then it's on to Philadelphia, which lies roughly 100 km (about 60 mi.) to the northwest.  Here's you'll be treated to shots of the Ben Franklin Bridge, the Museum of Art, and more.  

Top contributor Zekedrone created this beautiful springtime drone video of a spot in the middle of New Jersey.  While many identify the state with the heavily populated areas around New York and Philadelphia, central New Jersey presents a completely different landscape.  Here, the state's nickname of the Garden State is much more apparent to the eye.  The spot filmed is called Holland Ridge Farms, and as the name suggests it's a tulip farm.  It hosts one of the largest tulip festivals on the East Coast.

Top contributor Jeff Walrich combined aerial footage from a DJI Mavic Pro 2 with stabilized ground footage to create this beautiful video of historic Fort Frederick, Maryland.  Situated on the Potomac River about a two hour drive northwest of Washington, DC, Fort Frederick was built at the outset of the French and Indian War in the mid-18th century.  It was used as a POW camp during the Revolutionary War, then garrisoned by Union forces in the Civil War to protect key infrastructure in the area.  

Annapolis is the capital of the Mid-Atlantic state of Maryland.  It lies at the mouth of the Severn River as it empties into Chesapeake Bay, about a half hour drive south of Baltimore.  The national capital in the immediate aftermath of the Revolutionary War, since 1845 it's probably been best known as the home of the US Naval Academy.  You can check out historic Annapolis from above in this drone video by First_Fire13, which also includes footage of surrounding sights such as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  

The construction of offshore wind turbines represents one of the most complex of modern civil and engineering challenges.  These gigantic windmills have generation capacity of 8 Gigawatts or more, nearly triple the potential output of even the largest land-based turbines.  With hub heights of over 500 ft. (150 m), building these behemoths requires very specialized equipment.  In this drone video by LYFTED MEDIA, you'll see an offshore turbine under construction off the coast of Virginia on the USA's Eastern Seaboard.  

The USA state of New Jersey has a long Atlantic Ocean coastline, which stretches from just south of New York Harbor to Delaware Bay, the estuary of the Delaware River.  Known colloquially as the Jersey Shore, this is a legendary getaway spot for denizens of New York and Philadelphia, the two giant cities which sit to its north and south, respectively.  Among the other attractions of the Jersey Shore is its very active surfing scene; get a glimpse of it from above in this drone video by zekedrone.   

Camden, New Jersey is one of the most important cities in the Greater Philadelphia area.  Located across the Delaware River from Central Philadelphia, Camden has a rich industrial heritage.  Following years of decline, the city is in the midst of a US $1 billion renovation of its waterfront.  In this drone video by Latitude 360°, you'll get a bird's eye view of one of the centerpieces of the redevelopment: the new headquarters building for American Water Works, the USA's largest privately-owned water utility company.  

Located in the between the two "forks" of Long Island, New York, a bit over 100 mi. (around 175 km) due east of New York City, the quaint village of Sag Harbor (which is actually split between the towns of East Hampton and South Hampton) has evolved into a prime summer getaway for the rich and famous.  In addition to multi-million dollar homes, that means multi-million dollar yachts, and lots of them.  Check out some of the Sag Habor resident and visiting yacht fleet in this excellent drone video by AirVuz contributor HamptonsDrone.  

Check out this visually stunning look at the city of Atlantic City, New Jersey being overtaken by a cloud formation at sunset.  Situated near the middle of the stretch of Atlantic Ocean coastline known as the Jersey Shore, Atlantic City evolved from a beach getaway to the gambling capital of the USA's East Coast.  The video brilliantly shows the newest and most prominent addition to the cityscape: the Ocean Resort Casino.  Opened in 2012 at a cost of $2.4 billion, it filed for bankruptcy two years later.    

The Delaware River is one of the most important waterways in the Eastern United States.  The river rises in the Catskills Mountains of New York and runs south, forming a portion of the Pennsylvania/New York and then the entirety of the Pennsylvania/New Jersey border before running through Philadelphia and thence into Delaware Bay.  In this drone video by MagicAerial, you'll get an aerial look at the great river as it flows past Port Jervis, NJ, near the spot where the three states come together.

On a map of New York State, the town of Montauk is one of the easiest to recognize.  It sits at the far end of Long Island, which extends for about 190 km (just under 120 mi.) east from the East River and is home to well over 7 million people.  Situated at the tip of the island's South Fork (the longer of its two eastern branches), Montauk is far removed from the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens and the adjacent Nassau County.  Check out its beautiful beaches from above in this drone video by mbird1985.  

Cruise along the fabled New Jersey Shore in this excellent first person view (FPV) drone video by AirVuz contributor and FPV pilot LUK.  The video was filmed over Belmar Beach, which is located towards the northern end of the New Jersey coastline, just south of the entrance to Sandy Hook Bay.  The video does a great job of incorporating some stabilized shots from a DJI Air 2S into the mix to give you a wider view of the scene.  This video was picked for the FPV Pilots to Watch list in December of 2022.  

Check out this excellent drone video of one of the USA's largest churches, compliments of AirVuz contributor cubanfly.  It's the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, and it's located in Newark, New Jersey.  Construction of the great structure began in 1898 but was halted after several years due to a design problem.  Re-designed in the French Gothic style, construction resumed in 1913, although it wasn't completed until the late 1920's and wasn't actually dedicated until 1954.  It's the fifth-largest cathedral in North America.  

In this segment of the Drone Dish, Tyler catches up with top contributor Jeff Walrich (profile: Jeff Walrich - TK-421).  Hailing from the Baltimore, Maryland area, Jeff has emerged as a multi-talented drone pilot and aerial videographer.  His cinematic videos feature footage from some of America's great cities and unusual sights), and lately he's picked up the fine art of flying micro-drones as well.  His videos are featured in the Mid-Atlantic as well as numerous city collections on AirVuz.