The very first idea for having John Starduck based in New York City I had quite some time back at the Duck Pond in Central Park. The photo background here I hijacked from uber-talended photographer
Chris Lord; he was looking across the duck pond from west to east with Fifth Avenue in the distance.
I saw a little more in the snow ...

(Photo:
courtesy of/copyright by Chris Lord. All rights reserved.)
By the by, Lord's photo reminds me a little of Adolf Fassbender's 'White Night' painting, which dates back to 1936. A piece that I can't get enough from: