Through the tinted glass you can see Upper Manhattan; down below, the
traffic on Riverside Drive crawls through this desolate area of dark
high-rises, housing projects, and barbed wire.
I didn't find any meaning for "down below" in trusted online dictionaries, although I find the link below:
Does 'Down below' mean the same thing as 'Bottom'?
but I still don't understand the exact meaning of the phrase "down below".
So could you please explain it to me?
The fuller text is here:
His twelfth-floor office is simply furnished but inviting […] On the
windowsill are photos of his family and colleagues. Through the tinted
glass you can see Upper Manhattan; down below, the traffic on
Riverside Drive crawls through this desolate area of dark high-rises,
housing projects, and barbed wire.
Best Answer
This is a description of someone looking at, then out a window on the 12th floor. At eye level, he can see the other buildings of Upper Manhattan. If he looks down below, towards the street, he can see the traffic.
Down below is a general description that means something is some unspecified distance lower. You could achieve the same meaning with "below" by itself but "down below" emphasizes distance, in my opinion.
It would be very natural for looking out an airplane window: