The image is divided into three horizontal bands. The bottom third consists of brown water where rows of wooden pilings stand in the foreground. Above the water, a dense cluster of skyscrapers fills the center and right side of the horizon, lit with white, yellow, and blue lights. The top third of the frame is a cloudy sky in shades of dark purple and magenta. Large, semi-transparent pink letters spelling out the city name stretch across the center of the sky, sitting directly above the tallest buildings.

The low viewpoint allows the lights from the Manhattan skyline to cast long, colorful reflections across the surface of the water. While the buildings form a solid dark mass against the sky, the individual windows and structural lights create a bright middle ground. The wooden pilings in the lower section lead the eye toward the center of the skyline, where the largest structures are concentrated. The superimposed lettering appears to float between the clouds and the tops of the buildings.