My recent New York to London flight featured both good approach paths and nice weather, so I snapped a few shots. Here's New York, taking off:
And London:
I was going to include a quote here from Gotham, an epic and impressively readable history of New York City, regarding how communication and travel times between London and New York decreased during the 17th and 18th centuries, but can't find the quote readily now... So, short version: things got faster.