Carl Roters, a Brooklyn native whose early work depicted scenes of New York said, "New York was the only thing surrounding me, so I painted it." The habit of being inspired by his location continued throughout Roters' life-in New York City, Syracuse, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and Jackson, Wyoming.

As a teenager, Roters took an apprenticeship at the Rebele Studios of New York, where he was able to develop his skills under the influence of many illustrators and designers of the early 20th Century. He later produced a series of watercolor paintings in 1929 called "New York by Night" that included landmarks, side streets and waterfronts of the city. Roters also painted a watercolor mural for the New York World's Fair Consolidated Edison Building in 1939 that was an aerial view of Manhattan and was an area of 1,000 square feet, the world's largest mural at that time.