The Barclay-Vesey Building 1927

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6119/6281603930_cf3dd315c3_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/6281603930/)
The Barclay-Vesey building (NY Telephone) from the Hudson River. Today, the new World Trade Center is across the street and Battery Park City is where the water used to be. New York. 1927 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/6281603930/) by wavz13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/wavz13/), on Flickr

Was this the one that made new yorkers 'scared' of the lack of air on streets created by the 'building in block', forcing to the eventual passing of the law that buildings should recede after the 11th floor?

Nope. That was the Equitable building, 11 years earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equitable_Building_%28Manhattan%29

The Woolworth Building would be off image, to the far right.

I don't think so. The Woolworth Building fronts directly on Broadway, the main thoroughfare in the photo, and would be located immediately across the street from (to the right of) the City Hall Post Office in the center of the photo.

I don't think so. The Woolworth Building fronts directly on Broadway, the main thoroughfare in the photo, and would be located immediately across the street from (to the right of) the City Hall Post Office in the center of the photo.

Yep! You're right! Thus that image would date some time around 1910. Sad that the Post Office was demolished. :(

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3461/3721942566_5c65fdfeed_z.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29997762@N05/favorites/page29/?view=lg

500 Fifth Ave construction, Midtown Manhattan 1930

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/3514/sophiemlove.0/0_fecf_9032e47b_orig

Wall St. 1905

http://rolandparker.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/1905.jpg
http://rolandparker.wordpress.com/graphics-library/

Impressive image quality too !

Really wonder why modern cameras don't make such a sharp picture...

(compare http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h8zcwnuVj3o/S6DwE2QYzFI/AAAAAAAArzc/CdQy-YllcjM/s1600/14+Wall+Street+alt+001.jpg )

Nope. That was the Equitable building, 11 years earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equitable_Building_%28Manhattan%29

Very true! Sorry for the mistake! :bash:

Wow all pics are impressive :eek2:
NYC has to be the oldest skyline in the world....
The last picture is impressive, both the quality and the image itself. All those guys in suits look like clones :lol:

Wow all pics are impressive :eek2:
NYC has to be the oldest skyline in the world....
The last picture is impressive, both the quality and the image itself. All those guys in suits look like clones :lol:


The guys in the photo are trading stocks at the Curb Market in the middle of Broad Street. They traded outdoors every business day year-round, even in rain or snow. The photo is one of the best pictures of the Curb Market I have ever seen. The traders finally moved indoors in 1921 when they formed the American Stock Exchange. I think one reason some of these old photos are so crisp is that the photographers used large glass-plate negatives.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7156/6834772445_84aa536663_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6834772221_1b8964978d_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6834772125_34d9f0ccab_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7014/6455266955_a59d0c30e1_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6455269913_5e43354c26_b.jpg

The guy in the leather jacket crouching on the SE corner of 1WTC roof looks French to me ? Hmmmm ? He doesn't have a tightrope in his pocket does he.........

The guy in the leather jacket crouching on the SE corner of 1WTC roof looks French to me ? Hmmmm ? He doesn't have a tightrope in his pocket does he.........

That's definitely Petit.

40 Wall and 70 Pine look so damn tall without those hideous boxes surrounding them ...

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/h5forem/NewYork-D.jpg

And so much more beautiful too!

Manhattan's scattered with ugly concrete boxes, most of them should be replaced asap.

Although I agree with your sentiments modern office space requirements call for larger floorplates than most of the icons of early- mid 20th century Manhattan...........

I love midcentury modernist boxes.





Columbus Circle


1892 groundbreaking ceremony

http://c767204.r4.cf2.rackcdn.com/d07a6036-2e5f-4845-a04c-184405272bc0.jpg
http://www.pitchengine.com/museumofthecityofnewyork/the-greatest-grid-the-master-plan-for-manhattan-18112011-exhibition-celebrates-bicentennial-of-audacious-plan


Streetcar lines being laid, 1897

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Columbus-Circle-nyc-0389.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/old-new-york-photo-catalog/upper-west-side


1899

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3165/2786854139_4364b89126_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/george_eastman_house/2786854139/)
Columbus Circle (http://www.flickr.com/photos/george_eastman_house/2786854139/) by George Eastman House (http://www.flickr.com/people/george_eastman_house/), on Flickr


1900

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3c10000/3c19000/3c19600/3c19641v.jpg
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007661252/


1907 panorama

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/pan/6a11000/6a11900/6a11901r.jpg
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007661252/


1913 looking south

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yvdyl9cT-_Y/To8v71pkiDI/AAAAAAAAJJ8/jqFdRvkF0RI/s1600/columbus.jpg
http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html


1914 looking north

http://www.timefreezephotos.com/pictures/columbus-circle-1914.jpg
http://goldenagedames.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/vintage-new-york/


Night shot, 1920

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/Columbus-Circle-at-Night-nyc-0824.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/catalog/midtown-west


1921

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5268/5734242036_54fba45aef_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/syscosteve/5734242036/)
Columbus Circle Looking South c. 1921 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/syscosteve/5734242036/) by syscosteve (http://www.flickr.com/people/syscosteve/), on Flickr

c.1930

http://manonthemove.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/cars11.jpg


Columbus Circle c.1933

http://wirednewyork.com/images/nycbw/050.jpg
http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5010


1938

http://i38.tinypic.com/2u7axs1.jpg
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3019838&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=2

Western Union Building, Lower Manhattan 1875

http://nyc-architecture.com/IM-111002/110927-GON053-01.jpg
http://nyc-architecture.com/GON/GON053.htm

And its 1930 replacement in Tribeca

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FdMipHpt0wo/TUVce4zN_MI/AAAAAAAABAY/E8ZkwhbCCKI/s1600/Irving%2BUnderhill%2B-%2BWestern%2BUnion%2BTelegraph%2BBuilding%252C%2BWest%2BBroadway%2B%2528circa%2B1931%2529.jpg
http://ars-photographica.blogspot.com/2011/03/irving-underhill-western-union.html

South St and Fulton Market area c.1915

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mlPoGU4VqSk/SxFPXGlj0RI/AAAAAAAAGoA/prQoVpk4f8Q/s1600/Untitled.jpg
http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html

City Hall Park 1905

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3033/2786856623_63a30e6071_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/george_eastman_house/2786856623/)
City Hall Park (http://www.flickr.com/photos/george_eastman_house/2786856623/) by George Eastman House (http://www.flickr.com/people/george_eastman_house/), on Flickr

Great contributions as usual, thank you!


What happened to the Western Union Building?

Great contributions as usual, thank you!


What happened to the Western Union Building?

Thanx!

The old Western Union Building didn't last long. In 1890 it was destroyed by the first major high rise fire recorded in NYC.

West Side cowboy c.1930

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Tenth-Avenue-and-West-28th-Street-nyc-0362.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/old-new-york-photo-catalog/people-and-professions

West Side cowboy c.1930

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Tenth-Avenue-and-West-28th-Street-nyc-0362.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/old-new-york-photo-catalog/people-and-professions

Nice photo. For those who don't know, the West Side cowboys rode on horseback in front of freight trains that came into the city along 11th Avenue, known colloquially as "Death Avenue" because of the many people killed by the trains. The cowboys' job was to warn vehicles and pedestrians that a train was approaching. The street-level tracks were replaced by elevated tracks in the early 1930s, but by then few freight trains were coming into Manhattan, and the elevated tracks were eventually abandoned. Since 2006, the elevated tracks have been renovated to create today's High Line Park, one of the more interesting attractions in New York.

The photo is also interesting to me because it shows the grittiness of Manhattan back then. Many middle-class and poor people lived in Manhattan, and most neighborhoods were anything but fancy. Today Manhattan is much more elegant and is affordable primarily to well-to-do people. I don't mean this as a social lecture but merely an observation. I don't know the exact location of the photo above, but it's probably in the west 40s or 50s, areas that are changing rapidly with new apartment buildings, new restaurants and other amenities.

Scanned from my own collection of old negatives and slides. Quick scans, no cleaning.

1.
http://www.oranga.com/pics2/scan30238.jpg

2.
http://www.oranga.com/pics2/scan30239.jpg

3.
http://www.oranga.com/pics2/scan30240.jpg

4.
http://www.oranga.com/pics2/scan30255.jpg

5.
http://www.oranga.com/pics2/scan30257.jpg

6.
http://www.oranga.com/pics2/scan30206.jpg

7.
http://www.oranga.com/pics2/scan30216.jpg

8.
http://www.oranga.com/pics2/scan30252.jpg

wow!

Awesome. Thanks a lot for sharing!

Which corner / buildings are shown in the first scan? Really couldn't tell from the gems I can spot there.

Awesome. Thanks a lot for sharing!

Which corner / buildings are shown in the first scan? Really couldn't tell from the gems I can spot there.

That looks like 5th Ave and 58th St. looking north along Fifth Ave with the Savoy Plaza Hotel (white building with slanted roof) in the foreground and the Sherry Netherland Hotel behind it. The Savoy Plaza was demolished in 1966 to make way for the General Motors Building. Not sure about the identity of the Gothic Revival tower at right but it too was demolished.



And Hoogbouw010's slides are always a treat! :)

Scanned from negative:

3rd Ave / E 59th St
http://www.oranga.com/pics2/scan30242.jpg

Nothing comes close to NYC, astonishing skyline. Besides London, no other city in the world can boast NYC's greatness, in my humble opinion.

I love London...but beside the last post.........lets not compare those............because there is nothing about the two that is comparable...they are both magnificent in their own way but completely different........and that's what makes the world what it is..............anyway moving on................

Britain..........>I respect your opinion by the way

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/8408/ks0sc.jpg (http://img29.imageshack.us/i/ks0sc.jpg/)

1938
http://lalettredelaphotographie.com/system/photos/30423/med_abbott_15-jpg.jpg

1933
http://lalettredelaphotographie.com/system/photos/30424/med_abbott_06-jpg.jpg

1933
http://lalettredelaphotographie.com/system/photos/30425/med_abbott_05-jpg.jpg

1932
http://lalettredelaphotographie.com/system/photos/30426/med_abbott_04-4-jpg.jpg

1936
http://lalettredelaphotographie.com/system/photos/30427/med_abbott_13-jpg.jpg

From here (http://lalettredelaphotographie.com/entries/5683/berenice-abbott-a-retrospective).

1936
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Pike_and_Henry_Street_by_Berenice_Abbott_in_1936.jpg

1935
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Huts_and_unemployed_in_West_Houston_and_Mercer_St_by_Berenice_Abbott_in_Manhattan_in_1935.jpg

1936
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Radio_Row-Berenice_Abbott.jpg

1936
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/John_Wanamakers%2C_Fourth_Avenue_and_9th_Street%2C_Manhattan._%283110616024%29.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/3110619126_077fdbc224.jpg

http://ephemeralnewyork.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/charleslane1930s1.png

http://stevesayskanpai.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/ba3.jpg

http://ephemeralnewyork.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/rhinelandergardens.jpg

http://www.screanews.us/NewYork/NewYorkBW_files/060.jpg

All from Berenice Abbott
http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Berenice_Abbott_by_Hank_ONeal_NYC_1979.jpg/220px-Berenice_Abbott_by_Hank_ONeal_NYC_1979.jpg

The New York Central cowboy in post #1766 is on 10th Ave around 28th St. The building in the distance is still there at the NW corner of 36th St.

Waldorf Astoria going up, 1930

http://www.hosttotheworld.com/omeka/archive/fullsize/construction009_37282b5711.jpg
http://www.hosttotheworld.com/omeka/items/show/278

http://www.hosttotheworld.com/omeka/archive/fullsize/construction_2627_d3612a9341.jpg
http://www.hosttotheworld.com/omeka/items/show/197

1931 "From my window at the Shelton" Alfred Stieglitz

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/photobooth/101018_stieglitz-p75_p465.jpg
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/photobooth/2010/10

Hindenburg over the NY Times Bldg. 1936

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0RBt3cSwbzo/TcgD4SpZ3vI/AAAAAAAAIqw/4EeJWXNFR3Y/s1600/times.jpg
http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2011/05/hindenburg-over-new-york-still.html


dh41Z9Bd9ag

More Hindenburg footage from the mid-'30s

(at 1:30)
lEykTo0n9yk

VMpjwRVYR70

Triborough Bridge 1937, Berenice Abbott

http://www.aqnb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Triborough-Bridge-East-125th-Street-Approach-NYC-1937-%C2%A9-Berenice-Abbott.jpg
http://www.aqnb.com/event/berenice-abbott-jeu-de-paume-paris/

8th and Broadway 1937

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Broadway-and-8th-Street-nyc-0373.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/old-new-york-photo-catalog/greenwich-village

34th St btween 6th and 7th Aves. 1937

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/34th-Street-between-Sixth-and-Seventh-Avenues-nyc-0367.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/content/34th-street-between-sixth-and-seventh-avenues-1937

Broadway and W. 115th St. 1937

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/Broadway-and-W-115th-Street-nyc-0075.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/content/broadway-and-w-115th-st-1937

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4138/4892566407_c203d5ef51_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/christianmontone/4892566407/)
1937 NYC Vintage Photo RCA Building From Empire State Building Sailors 1930s (http://www.flickr.com/photos/christianmontone/4892566407/) by Christian Montone (http://www.flickr.com/people/christianmontone/), on Flickr

Midtown skyline 1930

http://images.ewins.com/digital_asset_manager/image_resize.php?vi=457445&mdx=1200
http://popartmachine.com/item/pop_art/LOC+1139624/MIDTOWN-SKYSCRAPERS-FROM-WEEHAWKEN-LOT-12482-%3CITEM%3E


The Chrysler and Lincoln Buildings 1930

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/Chrylser-and-Lincoln-Buildings-nyc-0400_0.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/content/chrysler-and-lincoln-buildings-1930

Midtown aerial 1964

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/West-34th-Street-and-Fifth-Avenue-nyc-0995.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/tags/empire-state-building

Wartime New York: 1943


52nd St. 'Strip'
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e19fynwBG5M/TkB4nYdoa8I/AAAAAAAANv0/AEGqGygwbIQ/s1600/leoneddie2.jpg
http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2012/01/manhattan-43.html

View from 30 Rockefeller Center
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V7biM_aUdWI/TkB4nj-U0yI/AAAAAAAANv8/mHvtRjS2sSw/s1600/leoneddies.jpg


Rockefeller Center display
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vlROM7s2pbg/TkB6TuesMpI/AAAAAAAANwM/aQvzetv2GKg/s1600/surrender.jpg
http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2012/01/manhattan-43.html

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zBhT6rLLZb0/TkB4nzF6wOI/AAAAAAAANwE/5U1aUQ8mr2I/s1600/nazis.jpg
http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2012/01/manhattan-43.html


Sunbrock's Big Top Circus 50th St.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y10UQXddIhQ/TkB4nC4ZmsI/AAAAAAAANvk/JOOhBUC5y88/s1600/circus.jpg
http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2012/01/manhattan-43.html

Mulry Square 1930s

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dqXIF9MH3lk/S_Hoi2VKe_I/AAAAAAAAJ8M/Cj15u_lXNMI/s1600/screen-capture-4.jpg
http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2010/06/finding-nighthawks-part-3.html

http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/1930a.jpg
http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/

http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/1930b.jpg
http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/

http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/1933b.jpg
http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/

http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/1933a.jpg
http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/

http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/1933-Head-On-Shot.jpg
http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/

http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/1938.jpg
http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/

http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/Edward_Hopper-Nighthawks-1942.jpg
http://shadeone.com/nighthawks/

Where is Mulry square? Never heard of it.

Love that "Unconditional Surrender" sign at Rockafellor Center too.

Wonder what the part leading up to "Our Answer" said.

Where is Mulry square? Never heard of it.

It's kind of an old school locale at South Seventh, Perry and W. 12th Sts. It's the setting for Edward Hopper's famous "Nighthawks" painting from 1942.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dqXIF9MH3lk/S_lZDT9SmSI/AAAAAAAAKBU/Mt2vXMCunAI/s1600/mulrydinerbig.jpg

St. Patrick's Day 1909

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EOTXIhDH2Lo/TYFqZKuEvmI/AAAAAAAAPFM/0Lf5FCbI768/s1600/St_Patricks_day_Parade_1909.jpg
http://publicdomainclip-art.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html

Looking south from the Metropolitan Life Building c.1925

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7206/6979121205_794d246e32_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thearchiveonline/6979121205/)
South from the Metropolitan Life Tower (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thearchiveonline/6979121205/) by H.A. Dunne & Co., New Milford, CT (http://www.flickr.com/people/thearchiveonline/), on Flickr

1910

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SPEC/024.jpg
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SPEC/GAL-BW.htm

Herald Square 1909

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SPEC/023.jpg
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SPEC/GAL-BW.htm

Boys playing near abandoned sugar plant 1906

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m58Ox_3B34g/TxdNDDTqL8I/AAAAAAAAJlI/BYQkMbMA-48/s1600/gang.jpg
http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2012/01/sugar-high-yonkers-boys-up-to-no-good.html

Kent Garage, a 25 story garage for automobiles

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X1uijt479a8/T2dQax6Dg_I/AAAAAAAAJ24/rqMmj87Krhc/s1600/kent.jpg
http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2012/03/motor-hotels-manhattans-most-luxurious.html

Wartime mural at Grand Central Station

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mlPoGU4VqSk/TH0LLw-vdrI/AAAAAAAAHyk/_dRkv0WpfdY/s1600/mural+grand.jpg
http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2010/08/mural-grande-war-bonds-in-grand-central.html

Tammany Hall c.1914

Notorious den of civic corruption!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Tammany_Hall_LC-USZ62-101734.jpg
http://milonika.ilcannocchiale.it/

Lower Manhattan aerial c. 1930

http://www.archives.gov/research/american-cities/images/american-cities-047.jpg
http://www.archives.gov/research/american-cities/

(nice large size of this familiar image!)

The bustling '20s in NYC:

fGAt0ic52gc

Dirigible over west side Manhattan 1931

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SPEC/041.jpg
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SPEC/GAL-BW.htm

Midtown spires 1931

http://www.screanews.us/NewYork/NewYorkBW_files/043.jpg
http://www.screanews.us/NewYork/NewYorkBW.htm

Singer Building nearing completion, 1908

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/Liz-ONBC/The%20Thin%20Man/NYC/4a18597v-1.jpg
http://www.johnnydepp-zone.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=53507

Manhattan Bridge, 1945 Brett Weston

http://fansinaflashbulb.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/weston_brett_331_2003.jpg
http://fansinaflashbulb.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/happy-birthday-brooklyn-bridge/

Lower Manhattan Towers 1913

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5014/5486350736_36f61581d5_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30405858@N05/5486350736/)
New York, circa 1912, Big buildings of Manhattan (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30405858@N05/5486350736/) by Beast 1 (http://www.flickr.com/people/30405858@N05/), on Flickr

Fantastic additions, thanks a lot!


Damn, how I miss some of those classical beauties showcased in this thread :(

NYC really should watch its historical heritage more nowadays. Almost any lost pre-war building is a big loss for the whole of Manhattan and its unique aura.

Midtown aerial 1964

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/West-34th-Street-and-Fifth-Avenue-nyc-0995.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/tags/empire-state-building

How little some things change.

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3324/70562922.jpg (http://img62.imageshack.us/i/70562922.jpg/)

And some things/areas in Manhattan shouldn't change, really.


It's time for NYC to rise more in other boroughs, such as Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens, anyway.

Manhattan already is too crowded. Density should have a limit after all.

Well, that particular view may only change slightly as preservationists race to cap building heights around the ESB ahead of projects like 15 Penn. :cheers:

Woolworth Building 1913

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/View_of_Woolworth_Building_and_surrounding_buildings_New_York_City_1913.jpg
http://dcaligari.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

What a pic! :shocked:

Flying into La Guardia , 1961.

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/9506/55640368.jpg (http://img839.imageshack.us/i/55640368.jpg/)

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/8061/94986704.jpg (http://img27.imageshack.us/i/94986704.jpg/)

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/2910/64157054.jpg (http://img842.imageshack.us/i/64157054.jpg/)

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/6324/63575006.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/i/63575006.jpg/)

Circa 1902. Fifth avenue (the MET)
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6448/shorpy4a20604a.jpg

Circa 1905. Coney Island.
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/1184/shorpy4a12425a.jpg

Circa 1910. Singer Building
http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/573/shorpy4a18633a.jpg

Circa 1904. Coney Island.
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/4593/shorpy4a11804a.jpg

Circa 1905. Coney Island.
http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/117/shorpy4a17584a.jpg

Circa 1904. Coney Island
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/7854/shorpy4a17429a.jpg

Circa 1905. Union Square Park
http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/1183/shorpy4a10760a.jpg

Circa 1908. West 23rd Street from Sixth Avenue.
http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/4394/shorpy4a18640a.jpg

Circa 1906. Gridwold Street.
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/7338/shorpy4a13460a.jpg

Circa 1906. Wall Street
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/274/shorpy4a22927a.jpg

Circa 1905. Luna Park, Coney Island
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/734/4a12430a.jpg

From shorpy.com/.

Luna Park. :(

Coney Island has fallen far in the last century...

1905. Mott Street
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/9800/4a17658a.jpg

Circa 1904. Longacre (see below) Square
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/3913/4a06899a.jpg

Circa 1908. Times (Long Acre) Square
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/6581/4a10325a.jpg

Circa 1906. 14th Street
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/4205/4a12204a.jpg

Circa 1905. Tombs Prison (Center and Leonard Street)
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/8845/4a12617a.jpg

Circa 1905. Brooklyn Bridge
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/3294/4a12689a.jpg

Circa 1905. Coney Island
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7981/4a12418a1.jpg

Circa 1905. Fifth avenue
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/874/4a12278a.jpg

Circa 1904. City hall subway station
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/272/4a11579a.jpg

Circa 1904. Manhattan Hotel, 42th street (map of NYC 1899 Railway system here (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/1899_Manhattan_street_railways.jpg)).
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/9056/4a11678a.jpg

And on the left of the hereup picture :
http://www.shorpy.com/files/ladder_0.jpg

Circa 1900. Pell Street
http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/4225/4a09039a.jpg

Circa 1900. The Bowery
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/953/4a08188a.jpg

Circa 1900. Madison Square
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/9053/4a09015a1.jpg

Circa 1903. Grand Central
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/7611/4a07322a.jpg

Circa 1900. From Woodbridge Building.
http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/411547Circa1900.jpg

From shorpy.com

They are some really beautiful pictures of how the city once looked. Some of those buildings are truly something, although its a real shame that during the 1960's some of the most amazing ones were torn down, eg the Singer building or Penn Station :(

All Circa 1933.
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/9206/05850u.jpg

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/2291/05849u.jpg

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9537/05853u1.jpg

Folks of the time must have thought 30 Rock came from the moon! It is surely one of the greatest architectural achievements in American history.

Also, though I'm sure this has been posted around here before, it never gets old:

lkqz3lpUBp0

^ Uhm, what? Rather minimalistic Art Deco buildings have been there way before the 30 Rockefeller / GE Building, it's just the immense scale that surely must have been impressive compared to most other projects of the time.

Yes, that's what I meant.

Today this thread has reached a million views!!!

To "celebrate" this i made an album on picasa webalbums with the most beautiful/intresting vintage pictures of New York City i could find that were posted in this thread.

Enjoy :)

See here: https://picasaweb.google.com/103212274078657480387/OldPicturesOfNewYorkCity

^ Wow, what an outstanding job! Thanks a lot pal! Really great selection. Danke! :okay:


And congrats for 1mln views folks, this thread totally deserves 10 to 100 times the views!

^
Or at least 8.2 million views! ;)

How beautiful was NYC with all those trans, it gives an old feeling. Nowadays i think that feeling has been lost, it's not the same athmosphere anymore. :(

Architecturally speaking, NYC was somehow like Vienna. With palaces and castles, only 30-70 stories high. :)

Even though I've never been to NYC, I really miss some of those astonishingly beautiful buildings! New York was and it still is, one of a kind! :D

Lower Manhattan Towers 1913

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5014/5486350736_36f61581d5_o.jpg


What's the name of this building on the right, with highly decorated cupola? The one that seems to be slightly darker than rest of the buildings. Is it destroyed or replaced?

Today this thread has reached a million views!!!

To "celebrate" this i made an album on picasa webalbums with the most beautiful/intresting vintage pictures of New York City i could find that were posted in this thread.

Enjoy :)

See here: https://picasaweb.google.com/103212274078657480387/OldPicturesOfNewYorkCity

fantastic collection of photos. NYC is an amazing city, constantly evolving and whilst it's sad to see the Chrysler(sp?) and ESB no longer as prominent as they once were it's not really a loss because of the superb skyline you now have.

can't wait to visit NYC again in 2013.... it's been 11 years. far, far, far too long :ohno:

What's the name of this building on the right, with highly decorated cupola? The one that seems to be slightly darker than rest of the buildings. Is it destroyed or replaced?


It's the manhattan life insurance building. It actually has quite a interesting history you can read a blog about it here:

http://manhattanlifeinsurancebuilding.blogspot.com/

^ Thanks for the info. What's in its place today?

^ Thanks for the info. What's in its place today?

Ugh, not much, just another disgusting brutalist building :ohno:

http://i.imgur.com/iX8Ae.jpg

Wirednewyork.com

http://i.imgur.com/YBweL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/o5J9z.jpg

:cripes:


Mr. Bloomberg, tear down this box!

Well, at this location, the old tower wouldn't have much of an impact. But it's still a considerable loss for the cityscape, if more and more of such buildings vanish.

Old pics have a finite number yet they continue to turn up here.......in anticipation...we love them all !

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg151/scaled.php?server=151&filename=wowc.png&res=landing
http://www.whosay.com/ap/photos/162732

(just a warning for whatever reason they included some crime scenes from killings, nothing gruesome)

Chrysler Building begins topping out, 1929

http://adamunderhill.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/construction1.jpg
http://adamunderhill.wordpress.com/

Manhattan Bridge construction, 1908

http://dumbonyc.com/images/blog/washst_1908_964px.jpg
http://dumbonyc.com/2012/04/26/dumbo-then-and-now-manhattan-bridge-construction-in-1908/

Fifth Ave. and E. 23rd St. c.1901

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/East-23rd-Street-and-Fifth-Avenue,-1901-nyc-1359.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/old-new-york-photo-catalog/construction

Newspaper Row 1906

http://blog.strayboots.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/newspaper_row_1906.jpg
http://blog.strayboots.com/tag/riddles/

St. Paul Building built 1898 'America's Tallest Building'

http://www.officemuseum.com/IMagesWWW/Syndicate_Bldg_Left__St._Paul_Bldg_27_Stories_NY_patented_1903.jpg
http://www.officemuseum.com/office_buildings.htm

Tribune Building c.1890

http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/newspaper_towers_04.jpg
http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/34474

NY Times Building 1904

http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/newspaper_towers_01.jpg
http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/34474

View of Midtown from Fairchild Aerial Survey

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/bigs/line0984.jpg
http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/line0984.htm

Rockefeller Center 1937

http://wirednewyork.com/images/nycbw/089.jpg
http://backthen-magna.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html

Lower Manhattan from Fairchild Aerial Survey c.1931

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/bigs/line0987.jpg
http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/line0987.htm

Lever House, 1952.

http://i46.tinypic.com/34s1ox5.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/6h4vw0.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/mu7t61.jpg

February 1961. Note the recently completed Chase Manhattan Plaza and the still-standing Singer Building.

http://i46.tinypic.com/1g19au.jpg

(sorry, I thought I had the source for these, but I saved them on my computer years ago and don't remember where they came from.)

Lower Manhattan, July 1950

http://i47.tinypic.com/2i8kgt0.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/24had.jpg

July 1951

http://i49.tinypic.com/f9l208.jpg

August 1951

http://i49.tinypic.com/65u9lc.jpg

June 1957

http://i49.tinypic.com/egwqbq.jpg

City Hall and park, 1900

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7046/6862905229_07cf23880a_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30405858@N05/6862905229/)
City Hall and Park, New York. Photographed by the Detroit Publishing Company in 1900. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30405858@N05/6862905229/) by Beast 1 (http://www.flickr.com/people/30405858@N05/), on Flickr

Top of the Rock 1948

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7065/6850241821_c6160e6a2a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mutrock/6850241821/)
New York City -- Top of the Rock 1948 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mutrock/6850241821/) by mutrock (http://www.flickr.com/people/mutrock/), on Flickr

Top of the Rock 1948

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7065/6850241821_c6160e6a2a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mutrock/6850241821/)
New York City -- Top of the Rock 1948 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mutrock/6850241821/) by mutrock (http://www.flickr.com/people/mutrock/), on Flickr

It's amazing how well people dressed in 1948 for a tour of Rockefeller Center. Dress codes have certainly changed since then.

July 1960

http://i49.tinypic.com/if4h75.jpg

I'll upload more if anyone wants?

Please sir.......I want more.

It's amazing how well people dressed in 1948 for a tour of Rockefeller Center. Dress codes have certainly changed since then.

yeah, i always think that way too :ohno:

"I'll upload more if anyone wants?"

That's a great photo. Yes, more.

Equitable fire 1912


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VA6rPmzDz7Q/T3hg9hnIT4I/AAAAAAAADvM/QjT0oVwvEic/s1600/Walk%2BIn%2BNew%2BYork%2B-%2BNew%2BYork%2BVintage%2B-%2BJanuary%2B1912.%2BEquitable%2Bfire%2Bas%2Bviewed%2Bfrom%2Bthe%2BSinger%2BBuilding%2B-%2BGeorge%2BGrantham%2BBain%2BCollection%2B%255B800x600%255D.jpg

War drums 1917

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m30d1a5xe91qe99klo1_1280.jpg
http://itsjohnsen.tumblr.com/post/21746835367/your-country-needs-you-recruiting-on-23rd

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2184/2162707105_b52b5a60ac_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2162707105/)
Hall of Records, N.Y.C. (LOC) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2162707105/) by The Library of Congress (http://www.flickr.com/people/library_of_congress/), on Flickr

War drums 1917

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m30d1a5xe91qe99klo1_1280.jpg
http://itsjohnsen.tumblr.com/post/21746835367/your-country-needs-you-recruiting-on-23rd

This thread is now fully kablamo.

May 1961

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/unitednationsmay1961.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/midtownmay1961.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/4272189837_8895b49816_b.jpg

June 1961

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/centralparkjune1961.jpg

July 1961

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/airjuly1961.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/timessquarejuly1961.jpg

July 1962

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/constructionjuly1962.jpg

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/parkavejuly1962.jpg

Note: Not sure of the building being constructed.

June 1951

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/secretariatjune1949.jpg

July 1953

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/libertyislandjuly1953.jpg

August 1955

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/midtownaerialaug1955a.jpg

November 1955

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/lowermanhattanaerialnov1955.jpg

September 1957

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/timessquaresept1957.jpg

1958

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/seagram1958.jpg

March 1958

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/midtownpiersmarch1958.jpg

November 1958

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/lowermanhattannov1958.jpg

July 1959

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/financialdistrictjuly1959.jpg

January 1960

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh529/adrianchapelo/aerialjanuary1960.jpg

^
I love midcentury NY images!

There's even a thread devoted to them: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1438350

Check it out! :cheers:



This thread is now fully kablamo.

Well the poor little ol' Flatiron has to defend herself somehow!

6th Avenue 1940

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/n29_05181260.jpg
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/04/historic-photos-from-the-nyc-municipal-archives/100286/

Quite astonishing! Wow! That athmosphere i would like to live it, it's a shame i didn't catch those times...:sad2:

World Building

http://americantourismbook.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/worldbuilding.jpg
http://americantourismbook.com/

Midtown 1930s

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0lnthddQX1roep5no1_1280.jpg
http://nycpast.tumblr.com/page/10

9th Ave. El at 66th St.

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n40_mac02250.jpg
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/04/historic-photos-from-the-nyc-municipal-archives/100286/

Grimy day under the Brooklyn Bridge, 1918

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7124/6998765728_0d3115b15d_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/6998765728/)
Was New York once an industrial city? You bet! Smoky, smoggy view from under the Brooklyn Bridge with horse carts on a cobblestone street and a fire in an empty lot. 1918. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/6998765728/) by wavz13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/wavz13/), on Flickr

Smoky Queensboro Bridge, 1930

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7225/7224107788_ff48cae025_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/7224107788/)
Grim industrial view of the Queensboro Bridge and two massive smokestacks, showing the reconstruction of its train tracks looking east to Queens. New York. 1930. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/7224107788/) by wavz13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/wavz13/), on Flickr

Workman on the George Washington Bridge, 1936

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7242/7167576506_8987011ae7_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/7167576506/)
A workman taking a break between the bolts and beams of the George Washington Bridge facing the smoky skyline of 1930s Midtown Manhattan. 1936 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/7167576506/) by wavz13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/wavz13/), on Flickr

Brilliant pictures on these last posts. Many thanks from a NY-Fan!

^
You're welcome!

Harlem 1939

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WGCDn-mruYM/T703099gBqI/AAAAAAAASe0/zUsbxNbywW8/s1600/MNY20613.jpg
http://harlembespoke.blogspot.com/

I love old B+W photos, theres something very special about them.

23rd St .1900

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/det/4a20000/4a22000/4a22900/4a22948v.jpg
http://secondat.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html

The Singer and City Investors Buildings c.1910

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/GON011-A01.jpg
NYC Architecture

South St. c.1939

http://www.oranga.com/pics1/scan8843.jpg
oranga.com

1953

http://www.oranga.com/pics1/scan8818.jpg
oranga.com

Lower Broadway, 1915

http://www.sandstead.com/images/genius_of_electricity_aka_spirit_of_communication/LONGMAN_EB_Genius_of_Electricity_1915_now_known_Spirit_of_Communication_New_York_City_source_sandstead_2.jpg
sandstead.com

http://www.sandstead.com/images/genius_of_electricity_aka_spirit_of_communication/LONGMAN_EB_Genius_of_Electricity_1915_now_known_Spirit_of_Communication_New_York_City_source_sandstead_1.jpg
sandstead.com

can't remember anybody posting a link to this faboulus archive of 870,000 images

http://nycma.lunaimaging.com


here some random images:

http://nycma.lunaimaging.com/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC-24-NA/1140/mfm_126.jpg

http://nycma.lunaimaging.com/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC-30-NA/1116/bpm_0126-g.jpg

http://nycma.lunaimaging.com/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC-30-NA/1116/bpm_0129.jpg


http://nycma.lunaimaging.com/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC-30-NA/1116/bpm_0128-a.jpg

http://nycma.lunaimaging.com/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC-30-NA/1120/bpm_0413-45.jpg

http://nycma.lunaimaging.com/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC-30-NA/1121/bpm_0562-1.jpg

http://nycma.lunaimaging.com/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC-34-NA/1211/bb_0656.jpg


enjoy!

^^
Great link! Thanks! :cheers:

Broadway c.1915

http://mcnyblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/x2010_18_108-e1314210750376.jpg
http://mcnyblog.org/tag/midtown-manhattan/

8th Ave. between 21st and 22nd Sts. Chelsea c.1900

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/7254/2182328thca1900ax3.jpg
http://chelsea.clickyourblock.com/bb/showthread.php?t=1004&page=2

can't remember anybody posting a link to this faboulus archive of 870,000 images

? maybe post one a day.............I want to see them all : )

probably you won't live that long to see all fotos...and remember: in 100 years there new old pictures - those from today.

Thank You for the terrific link Johannes867!!!!!

Anyone know where or what that underground railroad is? I thought it was part of the subway but looking closer I dont' think it is.

Lower Broadway, 1915

http://www.sandstead.com/images/genius_of_electricity_aka_spirit_of_communication/LONGMAN_EB_Genius_of_Electricity_1915_now_known_Spirit_of_Communication_New_York_City_source_sandstead_2.jpg
sandstead.com

http://www.sandstead.com/images/genius_of_electricity_aka_spirit_of_communication/LONGMAN_EB_Genius_of_Electricity_1915_now_known_Spirit_of_Communication_New_York_City_source_sandstead_1.jpg
sandstead.com

Anybody know what building this is with the statue?? Thanks in advance.

Anybody know what building this is with the statue?? Thanks in advance.

It's the old AT&T building at 195 Broadway.

A bunch of NY photos posted by a Hungarian traveller from 1939 including World Fair 1939 images

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25454.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25454.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25449.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25449.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25448.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25448.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25447.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25447.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25446.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25446.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25445.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25445.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25443.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25443.jpg)

Excursion to Niagara
http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25442.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25442.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25438.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25438.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25437.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25437.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25418.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25418.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25417.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25417.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25415.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25415.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25413.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25413.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25412.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25412.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25411.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25411.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25410.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25410.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25409.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25409.jpg)

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25407.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25407.jpg)

All images are from fortepan.hu. You may switch on English when pushing the EN button in the header on the website. Most of the images are there from Hungary BTW, between 1900 and 1990.

Geil! Keep goin! :okay:

I love current day NYC, but the NYC of the 1940's was pretty indescribable, it was incomparable, it was absolutely magnificent.

I love current day NYC, but the NYC of the 1940's was pretty indescribable, it was incomparable, it was absolutely magnificent.

And what makes you say this as compared to the 30s, 50s, 60s, and 70s? WW II put a damper on the 40s.

NYC of the 40's didn't suffer from modernist ideology and its crap architecture, mainly. ;)

Few goodies.

1932:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2620/3786984254_7f31137cfa_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2566/3786890116_921018e990_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2507/3786890340_836860a528_b.jpg

1933:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2618/3792950887_f9202e5dd3_b.jpg

1934:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3471/3911091724_7647508149_b.jpg

1938:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2543/3975550580_f8973bef40_b.jpg

1943:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3481/3995635347_9b378ca009_b.jpg

I think this is a good photo to end with. I'll probably post some more later. 1947:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2427/4038456748_cd75504a0f_b.jpg

All photos were dug up and posted by erickchristian on WNY (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21249&page=6).

I love current day NYC, but the NYC of the 1940's was pretty indescribable, it was incomparable, it was absolutely magnificent.

And what makes you say this as compared to the 30s, 50s, 60s, and 70s? WW II put a damper on the 40s.

NYC of the 40's didn't suffer from modernist ideology and its crap architecture, mainly. ;)

But almost no skyscrapers were built in New York during the 40s, so what are you guys talking about? Those built in the 30s were either already under construction or already financed before the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, and thus were all built in the early 30s. Then, the 40s saw WW2. Things didn't really get going again in New York until the 60s. So what made the New York of the 1940s so indescribable, incomparable, and absolutely magnificent compared to other decades?

I think New York was at its zenith after the completion of the World Trade Center, and thus for me it was indescribable, incomparable, and absolutely magnificent in the late 70s which is when I first saw it.

Architectural standards were much higher in the 30s than at the time of the WTC's completion. In my opinion, the peak of human architecture was during this time.

Architectural standards were much higher in the 30s than at the time of the WTC's completion. In my opinion, the peak of human architecture was during this time.

That is not just your opinion either. The period leading up to the completion of the Chrysler building (the world's first supertall), and the Empire State building, is considered by many to be the Golden Age of the Skyscraper.

Am I the only one who thinks the ESB looks kinda stupid without the antenna?

Am I the only one who thinks the ESB looks kinda stupid without the antenna?

No, it does seem incomplete without the antenna. I think it should have had a spire more like the Chrysler building and thus the antenna completes the building in that regard. A spire like that of the Chrysler building would have made it taller too.

Am I the only one who thinks the ESB looks kinda stupid without the antenna?


I personally think it looks better without the antenna (but that's just me).

I love the 1943 shot. Before Chase Manhattan and other "Boxes" took over the skyline. NYC back then is like what Dubai is now... A showcase of modern high-rise buildings that the world sits back and admires.

There are only a few buildings in Dubai worthy of admiration. Anyone can build tall skyscrapers these days, but it's difficult to match the elegance of New York's pre-war high rises

There are only a few buildings in Dubai worthy of admiration. Anyone can build tall skyscrapers these days, but it's difficult to match the elegance of New York's pre-war high rises

Of course you can. Quit with the butt-ugly concrete and mirrors and use limestone and classical lines.

Pier 59 c.1950

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G3YUoNvfsNU/T4RQ6jjjFKI/AAAAAAAAKBM/A3BBJkBgHlA/s1600/1950.jpg
http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2012/04/where-golf-balls-fly-pier-59-at-chelsea.html

There are only a few buildings in Dubai worthy of admiration. Anyone can build tall skyscrapers these days, but it's difficult to match the elegance of New York's pre-war high rises

+1. Dubai's skyscrapers are pretty ordinary. NYC's pre-war skyscrapers are my favourite skyscrapers in the world, no others quite echo the grace of the Empire State or Chrysler buildings.

[U]

http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/display/25449.jpg
High resolution (http://www.fortepan.hu/_photo/download/fortepan_25449.jpg)
.

Loving the thread, where might the above picture have been taken?

The above picture is looking southwest toward Niagara Square in Buffalo, N.Y.
Buffalo City Hall is the large building in the background to the right of the
monument. Building on right with the cars parked beside it is the Hotel Statler.

^^

LOL quite true!

1947

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5202/5331194732_2db0f9dc25_b_d.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nys_archives/

Harlem

125th St. c.1900

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QBrwxJugOcg/TgUFXNK6rSI/AAAAAAAAPWE/Ql4xy3v4bI8/s1600/4a23903v.jpg
http://harlembespoke.blogspot.com/2011/06/remember-before-hotel-theresa-circa.html

High Bridge c.1900

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/det/4a30000/4a32000/4a32400/4a32413v.jpg
http://secondat.blogspot.com/2010/05/hugo-b-roelker.html

Broadway & 123rd St. c.1910

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-poleQNxxDJg/TswN8090R5I/AAAAAAAAQw8/f9GzmXFkY2o/s1600/wst123b4.jpg
http://harlembespoke.blogspot.com/2011/11/remember-123rd-and-broadway-circa-1910.html

Harlem Hellfighters return from Europe c.1919

http://www.kingsacademy.com/mhodges/03_The-World-since-1900/03_Armistice/pictures/LFE-068_Harlem-Hellfighters'-369th-infantry.jpg
http://www.kingsacademy.com/mhodges/03_The-World-since-1900/03_Armistice/03a_Peace-r.htm

1920s

http://sweetandhot.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/harlem1.jpg
http://sweetandhot.wordpress.com/tag/benny-goodman/

Very nice pictures.

It is too bad the HighBridge was changed to accommodate boats.

On the bright side, it is to be re-opened to pedestrians next year. Should have some nice views from there - especially for those with good zoom lenses on their cameras.

The above picture is looking southwest toward Niagara Square in Buffalo, N.Y.
Buffalo City Hall is the large building in the background to the right of the
monument. Building on right with the cars parked beside it is the Hotel Statler.

Cheers, City halls an impressive building.

Older steel frame buildings are magnificent, we seemed to have missed out in Aus', we've got plenty of earlier stuff when they were stacking rocks to make buildings.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7172/6823900801_2cd0d18e49_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensiegel/6823900801/)
Williamsburg Bridge 9 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensiegel/6823900801/) by stevensiegel260 (http://www.flickr.com/people/stevensiegel/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8152/7504505188_dd2fbd58b7_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensiegel/7504505188/)
WTC 100 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensiegel/7504505188/) by stevensiegel260 (http://www.flickr.com/people/stevensiegel/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8283/7504432270_f606cea864_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensiegel/7504432270/)
WTC 101 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensiegel/7504432270/) by stevensiegel260 (http://www.flickr.com/people/stevensiegel/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7020/6818601111_d30cd00fc7_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensiegel/6818601111/)
Williamsburg Bridge 8 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensiegel/6818601111/) by stevensiegel260 (http://www.flickr.com/people/stevensiegel/), on Flickr

I'm glad we're getting a new, aesthetically way more pleasing WTC as of now for NYC.

But please, let's not have a discussion about it here.

Nice photos, anyway! :okay:

^^ LOL... first you say "aesthetically way more pleasing WTC," which pretty much offends a large amount of people, and then you say "but please, let's not have a discussion about it here?" Did you ever think about imposing your second proposal on yourself before offending others and then expecting them to NOT offend you?

Anyways, it's not like I am very much offended, but many people do and can contend with your opinion.

How is a subjective opinion on some object or building offending to anyone?

Please. Stop politizing this.


All the people lost are a tragedy. But speaking about the buildings - is something different.
They might have been symbolic to many people. But aesthetically pleasing... Nah.

they were aesthetically perfect. it was perfection of specific style, but still - perfection.

the ones which are being built now - don't even mesure up to the old Twins, their simplicity, dynamic, relation between size, elevation, form and color, as materials too.

We can only agree to disagree here. :|

That's why I said: Let's just not discuss it.

Of course, so just don't start the topic :)

Yeah, well... I just couldn't halt myself from thinking aloud/writing there. ;)

View south from Metropolitan Life Tower, 1912

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/South-from-the-Metropolitan-Life-Tower-nyc-6302.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/content/view-south-metropolitan-life-insurance-company-tower-1912

Metropolitan Life Tower and Madison Square Park

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_B2Z4nv2ExxA/TPm8Z5BKyBI/AAAAAAAAHgU/t0OsZD9RQNw/s1600/23rd+street.jpg
http://thepapercollector.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html

Metropolitan Life Tower, 1909

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3180/2969237454_3252a57d1c_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/amphalon/2969237454/)
December 1909. "Met Life Building." (http://www.flickr.com/photos/amphalon/2969237454/) by amphalon (http://www.flickr.com/people/amphalon/), on Flickr




[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Metropolitan_Life_Insurance_Company_Tower_being_built_in_New_York_City.jpg[/mg]

The new North Tower with the Metropolitan Life Tower, 1930s

http://timelifeblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/00679704.jpg?w=689
http://life.time.com/culture/love-letter-to-nyc-life-photos/attachment/00679704/

Lower Manhattan c.1930

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Lower-Manhattan-Overview-nyc-1529_0.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/tags/brooklyn-bridge

The East River looking towards Brooklyn Heights, c.1910

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Brooklyn-Heights-and-the-Brooklyn-Bridge-nyc-0085.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/tags/brooklyn-bridge

Liberty Island and Lower Manhattan, c.1917

http://denverpost.slideshowpro.com/albums/001/496/album-276531/cache/liberty06.sJPG_950_2000_0_75_0_50_50.sJPG?1319873094
http://meinewunderkammer.blogspot.com/2011/10/125th-anniversary-of-statue-of-liberty.html

Terrific job there punk! :okay: I love this aerial (http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Lower-Manhattan-Overview-nyc-1529_0.jpg)!

^^
Thanks!

Window cleaner c.1950s

http://imgur.com/q0ngr.jpg

Members of the New York Fire Department attend to a fire victim.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n45_dny01026.jpg


The "Well", US Signal Corps Army Base Terminal, Port of Embarkation. Ration cases from crate cars are hoisted to warehouse bins for storage, ca. 1945-1946.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n46_mac00392.jpg


Water from firefighters' hoses freezes on the side of adjoining buildings.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n47_fdny1001.jpg


Interior view of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) subway powerhouse, 58th to 59th Street, ca. 1904.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n48_mac02529.jpg


42nd Street, looking west from 2nd Avenue. Chrysler Building at top right, "News Tavern" "Goblet Bar" at lower right, ca. 1935-1941.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n49_wpa00143.jpg


Brooklyn Bridge painters at work high above the city, on December 3, 1915.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n50_bps04596.jpg


Aftermath of a collision on an elevated rail track.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n51_dny01097.jpg


The Queensboro Bridge, leading to Manhattan, seen on May 1, 1912.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n52_bpsi1090.jpg

A view down an alley, as rows and rows of laundry hang from tenements ca. 1935-1941. Seen looking west from 70 Columbus Avenue or Amsterdam Avenue at 63nd Street.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n36_wpa00228.jpg


A crowded street market under New York City Rail Road tracks, looking south on Park Avenue from 123rd Street in June of 1932.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n37_mac01403.jpg


A night view of Midtown Manhattan, looking south from Madison Avenue and the 50's, ca. 1935-1941.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n38_wpa00263.jpg


Amid road construction, the Hudson Diner advertises "Tables for Ladies" on November 20, 1929, on Marginal Street, looking east from 125th Street.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n39_bpm04512.jpg


Ninth Avenue El trains with passengers on 2 levels of tracks, 66th Street El station in background, in October of 1933. Photo taken on Columbus Avenue, northwest of Lincoln Square & 65th Street.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n40_mac02250.jpg


The S.S. Normandie, seen from a Staten Island ship steaming through upper bay on its way to a river pier built for it, ca. 1935-1941.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n41_wpa00429.jpg


A view of the city from the Brooklyn Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge, on April 24, 1933.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n42_bps15861.jpg


Fire Boats fight a blaze at Grace Line Pier 57, West 15th St, near the National Biscuit Co. building.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n44_mac00494.jpg

Awesome pictures. The shot of midtown at night is like something from a dream.

Thanks for the great photos, desertpunk. The window washer photo is stunning. I get dizzy just looking at it.

Geil! :applause:

All of those photos are AMAZING, DesertPunk!!!

SoHo in 1976

http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1250/4607787704_6bfbd40b3a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/28547269@N00/4607787704/)
W Broadway & Broome Street, SOHO, New York. 1976 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/28547269@N00/4607787704/) by Eugene Gannon (http://www.flickr.com/people/28547269@N00/), on Flickr

That corner nowdays via Googlemaps
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/kweli76/soho.jpg

1949

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4338185531_ceb5ed56ea_o.jpg
http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5010&page=12

Skyline from Hoboken docks, c.1918

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4338198629_ef0764487c_o.jpg
http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5010&page=12

1931

http://www.dirjournal.com/info/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/New-York-City-At-Night-13.jpg
http://www.dirjournal.com/info/new-york-city-at-night/

Subway entrance City Hall, 1917

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Uvjks_sjp4w/TyYQ-sZHLvI/AAAAAAAAJEU/CtmF0LXKo1E/s1600/From%2Bthe%2Bopening%2Bceremony%2Bto%2Bwar-time%2Btravel%2Band%2Bplush%2B1930s%2Binteriors%2B%2BBlack-and-white%2Bimages%2Bshow%2Bthe%2Bearly%2Bdays%2Bof%2BNew%2BYork%2BCity%2527s%2Bsubway%2B%2B2.jpg
http://travelfwdplus.blogspot.com/2012/01/from-opening-ceremony-to-war-time.html

Nassau St. looking south from Fulton St., 1926

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5klnjXtut1rytfqio1_1280.jpg
http://bygoneamericana.tumblr.com/post/25938294677/nassau-street-looking-south-from-fulton-street

Queensboro Bridge fog, 1910

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5kkt1aZI31rytfqio1_1280.jpg
http://bygoneamericana.tumblr.com/post/25529561670/an-experimental-exposure-made-on-the-queensboro

Busy intersection at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge, Jan. 1923

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n23_bps07613.jpg
http://davidkendall.tumblr.com/post/21930827389/a-view-from-the-williamsburg-bridge-looking-west

Broadway c.1934

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m63ktktVzI1rytfqio1_1280.jpg
http://bygoneamericana.tumblr.com/post/26101134418/broadway-new-york-city

Sign truck, 1930

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5qf37mGQq1rytfqio1_r1_1280.png
http://bygoneamericana.tumblr.com/post/25523283533/truck-and-sign-new-york-1930-by-walker-evans

Skyline from Hoboken docks, c.1928

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4338198629_ef0764487c_o.jpg
http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5010&page=12

Maybe 1918 !!! is not Barclay-Vesey building 1926

Maybe 1918 !!! is not Barclay-Vesey building 1926

Yeah, I had my doubts about that date!

amazing

Henry Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan, 1935.
http://i.minus.com/icwi0F4lHVsqg.jpg

Accident on the upper roadway of Grand Central Station. 1944
http://i.imgur.com/hjI9c.jpg

28th Street Looking east from Second Avenue, on April 4, 1931.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n03_bpm05546.jpg

Meeker Avenue Bridge under construction, looking south, showing Brooklyn approach, on June 29, 1939
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n04_dpw00709.jpg

Shadows are cast beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, seen from a stable roof, on May 6, 1918.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n05_bps05149.jpg

A worker on the Brooklyn Bridge, on November 19, 1928.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n06_bps12071.jpg

Markus Mercury Wheel Club, Flushing Race Track, bicyclists ready to race in June of 1894.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n07_bpq03110.jpg

Original City Hall subway station, IRT Lexington Avenue Line, in 1904.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n08_ac02526b.jpg

Coney Island looking east from Steeplechase Pier showing Sunday bathers, crowd on beach, on July 30, 1922.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n09_bpb02297.jpg

A two-horse team street cleaner, with sprayer, squeegee, and roller at rear.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n10_dscls019.jpg

A motorman operates a trolley cars near Williamsburg Bridge, on September 25, 1924.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n53_bps09157.jpg

A Subway Road Comes up for air in Brooklyn -- in background, a view of Manhattan from subway elevated tracks, 8th Street, Brooklyn, New York, on March 21, 1938.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n27_wpa00681.jpg

Yankee Stadium, Yankees on the field during a game, ca. 1935-1947.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n28_mac02140.jpg

New York Fire Department demonstration of a steam pumper converted from horse-drawn to motor-driven, at 12th Avenue and 56th Street.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n30_dny04027.jpg

Men cut ice from Kissena Lake in Queens, ca. 1860-1900.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n31_bpq03107.jpg

Children and adults with herd of sheep in the Sheep Meadow in Central Park, New York City, ca. 1900-1910.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n32_mac02830.jpg

Part of the superstructure of the under-construction Manhattan Bridge rises above Washington Street in New York, on June 5, 1908.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n33_05059064.jpg

Manhattan Bridge, under-construction, seen from the roof of Robert Gair Building, showing suspenders and saddles, on February 11, 1909.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n34_bpsi0651.jpg

Aboard a police boat on October 10, 1934, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia hacks away at confiscated slot machines about to be destroyed and dumped into New York harbor.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n35_mac01000.jpg

Empire State Building under construction, viewed from the Chrysler Building spire.
http://i.imgur.com/3ZTv7.jpg

You continue to outdo yourself, desertpunk. Great photos.

New York 1930s and 1940s in color. See link: http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21962

You continue to outdo yourself, desertpunk. Great photos.

Thanks!

The Hotel Commodore under construction near Grand Central Terminal, 1918
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4nB03KPOlFk/TbrZzw4PQSI/AAAAAAAAIos/hYV4_ae8_78/s1600/commodore.jpg
http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2011/04/short-history-of-trump-roots-of-donalds.html

The second Grand Central Terminal 1905

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Grand-Central-Station,-1905-nyc-1098.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/old-new-york-photo-catalog/transportation?page=1

Yankee Stadium 1930

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Yankee-Stadium---Bronx-nyc-0463.jpg
http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?71363-Yankee-Stadium-I-(1923-1973)/page255

DesertPunk: You are posting absolutely phenominal pictures here. I could look at them all day!! Great work.

That ice being cut in Queens is strange. I wonder if that was rare even back then. Now it would seldom get that thick.

The Manhattan Bridge pics are great. I must confess, that is my favorite bridge. I love that steel work.

On the subway coming up at 8th avenue in Brooklyn it is amazing how everything is clearly so different from how it is now except - the train tracks themselves which look exactly the same :-) At least some things don't change.

Keep up the good work!!

I was curious about the photo of the horse-drawn street cleaner and did some research. The photo is circa 1908, when New York purchased 10 of the machines - called the Rubber Squeegee Cleaner - from Kindling Machinery Co. of Milwaukee. Kindling advertised that the units “clean a street as a rubber squeegee does a window.” New York used the machines for three or four years before replacing them with motor-powered units. It's a wonderful photo.

That ice being cut in Queens is strange. I wonder if that was rare even back then. Now it would seldom get that thick.



It's weird because they are engaged in what's obviously a commercial operation. Buyers could have been railroads, restaurants or just homemakers. Winters must have been colder back then!

Celebration on Wall Street upon the news of Germany's surrender in World War I, by W.L. Drummond, November 1918
http://imgur.com/PylcR.jpg

The face of Lady Liberty, awaiting instalment on Liberty Island, 1886
http://i.imgur.com/phaoR.jpg

JP Morgan striking photographer with cane, c.1910
http://imgur.com/8w6EQ.jpg

Shanty town in Central Park 1930
http://imgur.com/0vgA3.jpg

Perfect Place for a Cigarette, NY. 1932
http://i.imgur.com/us2ME.jpg

Children and adults with herd of sheep in the Sheep Meadow in Central Park, New York City, ca. 1900-1910.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm042712/s_n32_mac02830.jpg

'S' curve at Coenties Slip, 1930s
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm061312/n48_0wpa730b.jpg

Embarrasing - I'm a New Yorker and I can't place that.

Awesome picture. The lower Manhattan Els must have been a sight to see.

Embarrasing - I'm a New Yorker and I can't place that.

Awesome picture. The lower Manhattan Els must have been a sight to see.

The Third Ave. El there was one of the earliest NY Transit line Els, built in the late 1870s's. The neighborhood, which later spawned such notable artists as Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Indiana and James Rosenquist was brutally destroyed a century later. Little remains. :ohno:

http://prints.encore-editions.com/500/0/elevated-railroad-at-coenties-slip-n-y-a-loeffler-tompkinsville-n-y.jpg
1904

Robert Indiana at his Coenties Slip studio:
http://www.kiwiartsgroup.com/gallery/16x20/43-A.jpg
http://www.kiwiartsgroup.com/collection_silver.html

The terra cotta bears and eagles in the Coenties Slip photo were atop the Seamen's Church Institute, which was built in 1913 and torn down in the 1970s. They symbolically protected the seamen who stayed at the institute, in essence a sailor's hotel, while their ships were in port and the retired seamen who lived there year-round. The building had a lighthouse on top as a memorial to those who had died in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. This photo was taken in 1925.

http://collections-static-4.mcny.org/Doc/MNY/Media/TR1/4/5/b/f/MNY67803.jpg

Thanks for that info. Very informative.

The building is a real loss. What is the address and what is there now?

Thanks for that info. Very informative.

The building is a real loss. What is the address and what is there now?

The address at 25 South St. is now home to the lovely 125 Broad St Tower:

http://www.bloomberg.com/image/izIwx8H2QKtY.jpg

Jul. 9, 1960. Looking south from 42nd and Fifth Ave. New York City.

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/2948/p11605.jpg (http://img38.imageshack.us/i/p11605.jpg/)

Love these old photos!

1949

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2672/4038566154_e85e6ccc6d_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8534413@N03/4038566154/)
sunset aerial view of midtown manhattan looking southwest from east river january 1949 (1) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8534413@N03/4038566154/) by eralsoto (http://www.flickr.com/people/8534413@N03/), on Flickr

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2596/4038566200_8c5b67c9b7_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8534413@N03/4038566200/)
sunset aerial view of midtown manhattan looking southwest from east river january 1949 (2) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8534413@N03/4038566200/) by eralsoto (http://www.flickr.com/people/8534413@N03/), on Flickr

Lower Manhattan c.1920s

http://denverpost.slideshowpro.com/albums/001/496/album-276531/cache/liberty06.sJPG_950_2000_0_75_0_50_50.sJPG?1319840453
http://source.yeeyan.org/view/318155_c65/The%20125th%20Anniversary%20of%20the%20Statue%20of%20Liberty%EF%BC%88%E8%87%AA%E7%94%B1%E5%A5%B3%E7%A5%9E%E5%83%8F125%E5%91%A8%E5%B9%B4%EF%BC%89

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7067/7006971026_3ff64e8d3f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7594103@N04/7006971026/)
SHORPY_4a09250a1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7594103@N04/7006971026/) by Beleph (http://www.flickr.com/people/7594103@N04/), on Flickr

Midtown lights from the Chanin Building, 1930s

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nycm061312/e_s_n11_wpa00621.jpg
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/06/more-historic-photos-from-the-nyc-municipal-archives/100318/

Dismantling the IND 6th Avenue Line 1939

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Y4RYSUh6sM/T48zmjMUnuI/AAAAAAAABYU/sp4VlBFIZfY/s1600/6th+Ave.+El+-+1939+-+04.04.1939+-+Dismantle+-+01a+-+(nypl).jpg
http://blog.bryantpark.org/2012_04_01_archive.html

Above Bryant Park, 1939

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv17/bpblog/12-23-1939.jpg

Sandhogs 1939

http://transportationnation.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Photo1_Sandhogs.jpg
http://transportationnation.org/2010/11/15/queens-midtown-tunnel-turns-70-today/

The Hippodrome 1905

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6796671673_b7de952469_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/syscosteve/6796671673/)
Hippodrome Theater ca. 1905 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/syscosteve/6796671673/) by syscosteve (http://www.flickr.com/people/syscosteve/), on Flickr

View down Broadway 1907-08

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7059/7051569847_511c259720_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/syscosteve/7051569847/)
another view down bdwy 1910 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/syscosteve/7051569847/) by syscosteve (http://www.flickr.com/people/syscosteve/), on Flickr

^^ Wouldn't that last photo be around 1907? Singer was complete in 1908.

^^ Wouldn't that last photo be around 1907? Singer was complete in 1908.

Probably. The author had it at 1910 which was way past the point of construction in the photo. I would think this was likely taken in 1908, given the fast pace of building back then. Sadly no date in the glass plate negative:

http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/det/4a10000/4a18000/4a18500/4a18597v.jpg


Here is the tower in May 1907:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3418/3721058519_a3ac916bf5_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8534413@N03/3721058519/)
the singer building and city investing building under construction may 1907 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8534413@N03/3721058519/) by eralsoto (http://www.flickr.com/people/8534413@N03/), on Flickr

^^ You are probably right with 1908. I haven't ever seen photos of Singer under construction. If I had to bring back one building from back then that was destroyed, it would definitely be Singer. I love it.

^^ You are probably right with 1908. I haven't ever seen photos of Singer under construction. If I had to bring back one building from back then that was destroyed, it would definitely be Singer. I love it.

Yeah, the Singer deserved better. One more reason why the Landmarks Preservation Commission exists today.

Yeah, I've been wondering how it was demolished when it was world's tallest and there were 60 years for the LPC to make it historic. I guess that's why.

Yeah, I've been wondering how it was demolished when it was world's tallest and there were 60 years for the LPC to make it historic. I guess that's why.

The LPC wasn't created until 1965 as a response to the destruction of Penn Station. By that time, the sites for the WTC and US Steel Buildings (later 1 Liberty Plaza) were already chosen and clearance approved. The LPC refused to grant the Singer protections over economic concerns. The Singer Building began demolition in 1967. The US Steel Building replaced it by 1973. I can only imagine the amount of pressure developers put mayors under to prevent landmarking of redevelopment sites back then. I really don't think the LPC was very effective until much later but they did manage to save Grand Central Terminal.

Thanks for the information. Lucky we still have GCT.

I never liked Singer, but that Evening Mail building in the second picture was amazing...

Here's some of NYC in the 1930s and 1940s, but in color. Credits: http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21962
http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/comp/03/100/585465.jpg
Lower Manhattan from Downtown Brooklyn.
http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/comp/Y2/776/612855.jpg
Lower Manhattan from Lady Liberty.
http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/comp/IR5/819/1121321.jpg
Lower Manhattan from Southern Brooklyn.
http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/comp/Y2/776/612858.jpg
A rare night shot of Lower Manhattan from New Jersey.
http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/comp/IR13/542/614267.jpg
Original Top of the Rock Observatory.
http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/comp/IR0/292/558186.jpg
First aerial in color of Lady Liberty (1930).
http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/f96401d85e65d007_large
Times Square.
http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/b239c6bfef028db0_landing
Night shot of 40 Wall, AIG, and 20 Exchange from Brooklyn Bridge.
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/4413/nyc1953mtaerialeast.jpg
This one is 1953. Look at the grit on the tops of Empire and especially Chrysler.

More in a few minutes.

that view has changed quite a bit over the years

http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/comp/IR13/542/614267.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nJxjrQcYrfQ/TyhD1bLTawI/AAAAAAAAAt0/edkQ74SMKyU/s1600/TopRock%2BWed%2BBFREED.jpg
blogspot (http://julielaudicina.blogspot.com/2012/01/top-of-rock.html)

Some more:

http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/archives/cushman/full/P02667.jpg
One of the first skyscraper canyons.
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/cushman/full/P11560.jpg
Ignore 1CMP, and wow.
http://a.abcnews.go.com/images/US/lower_hudson_from_nj_1941_wblog.jpg
Lower Manhattan skyline in 1941.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/09/13/article-2036932-0DDE139D00000578-21_964x661.jpg
Bowling Green.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/09/13/article-2036932-0DDE1A2000000578-140_964x659.jpg
East River with Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburgh Bridges.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/09/13/article-2036932-0DDE13E600000578-396_470x676.jpg
The Lower East side.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/09/13/article-2036932-0DDE1AFC00000578-359_964x648.jpg
Railroad Station with Brooklyn Bridge in the background.

Credits to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2036932/New-York-City-photos-Charles-W-Cushman-reveal-1940s-life-Big-Apple.html.

That view has changed quite a bit over the years.


I know! It's crazy how much Midtown has developed since then. Almost all those photos were of Lower Manhattan. Same brick though, which is pretty cool.

here's another good website, it includes views from the Woolworth building

http://citynoise.org/article/10513/by/Franny%20Wentzel

http://citynoise.org/upload/41073.jpg
http://citynoise.org/upload/41087.jpg
http://citynoise.org/upload/41088.jpg
http://citynoise.org/upload/41067.jpg
http://citynoise.org/upload/41066.jpg
http://citynoise.org/upload/41069.jpg
http://citynoise.org/upload/41070.jpg

^^ That next to last photo is fantastic. The quality looks like the 1980s or 1990s. Back when the Whitehall was white :lol:.

Some exceptionally rare shots there. The ones of lower Manhattan at night blow my mind. Who knew it looked that futuristic even in the 30s?

There was a 1931 color shot of the skyline featuring the still-under construction RCA building published in National Geographic a year later. I'm still searching for it and will post here if I find it. :)

Blimps over Central Park 1931

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Blimps-Over-Central-Park-nyc-1745.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/old-new-york-photo-catalog/central-park?page=1

Union Square c.1930s

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Teohb_5Qv_w/Tkp9NAATu9I/AAAAAAAADEQ/UETumD5iCTw/s1600/bank+of+metropolis+1938.jpg
http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2011/09/bank-of-metropolis-no-31-union-square.html

Who knew it looked that futuristic even in the 30s?

That is exactly how I feel. It looks more like a city from the 1980s or 1990s!

1930

http://latimesphoto.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/la-world-trade-center10.jpg
http://framework.latimes.com/2012/04/30/one-world-trade-center-becomes-tallest-building-in-new-york/

11th Ave. & Gansevoort St. 1930

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Gansevoort-St-and-Eleventh-Avenue-nyc-0347.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/old-new-york-photo-catalog/greenwich-village

Lexington Ave. & E.65th St. 1930

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Lexington-Avenue-and-East-65th-Street-nyc-0132.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/tags/streetcar

ESB 1930

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Empire-State-Building-Under-Construction-nyc-0697_0.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/old-new-york-photo-catalog/iconic-buildings

Yankee Stadium from Manhattan 1930

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Yankee-Stadium---Bronx-nyc-0463.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/nyc-image-catalog/baseball?page=1

Blimps over Central Park 1931

http://www.nycvintageimages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/product_full/Blimps-Over-Central-Park-nyc-1745.jpg
http://www.nycvintageimages.com/category/old-new-york-photo-catalog/central-park?page=1

Wow, Harlem looks completely like a world in itself. Does it seem so to me only??

Wow, Harlem looks completely like a world in itself. Does it seem so to me only??

I would tend to agree. :)

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/harlem-cotton-club-1930s-granger.jpg
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/harlem-cotton-club-1930s-granger.html

Thought i should join the bandwagon and post some old pics aswell :)

http://i.imgur.com/3lKWF.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/OmH9j.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ERZvg.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/aNZSq.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XdmtS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JR5kI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/lFxr8.jpg

But almost no skyscrapers were built in New York during the 40s, so what are you guys talking about? Those built in the 30s were either already under construction or already financed before the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, and thus were all built in the early 30s. Then, the 40s saw WW2. Things didn't really get going again in New York until the 60s. So what made the New York of the 1940s so indescribable, incomparable, and absolutely magnificent compared to other decades?

I think New York was at its zenith after the completion of the World Trade Center, and thus for me it was indescribable, incomparable, and absolutely magnificent in the late 70s which is when I first saw it.

It boggles my mind that people like you -who are sooooo ignorant on urban issues- post regularly on SSC. And there's a lot of you guys.

New York at its zenith in the 1970s? Are you fucking kidding? The 1970s were New York's lowest point. There's been countless books and articles written about it. Hell...even here on SSC, there's an entire thread (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=402544/) dedicated to the shithole 1970s. Have you not looked at those pictures? Just because you have a penchant for tall buildings and saw the original WTC for your first time in the late 1970s, doesn't make that the city's zenith.

The WTC was built precisely as an attempt to stimulate NYC, downtown in particular...and did it succeed? It's arguable; it flooded the city with an oversupply of office space that took years to fill. And from an architectural and urban planning perspective, it was a complete disaster. Maybe they were an engineering feat, but they were ugly; their layout (which forced the closure of several streets creating a massive city-block) lacked urban functionality (if you needed to walk around them, you had a looong way to go); they stuck out like two giant alien sticks had fallen from the sky.

It's not in any way offensive to critique their design after the 9/11 terrorist attacks; no one would have wished for them to be blown up with people inside. But that doesn't mean that the original design doesn't merit criticism. Trust me...no one in New York would be offended by a critique of the original WTC towers; everyone hated them. And now that there's a need to rebuild, there's an opportunity to build something better.

And the new design is a massive improvement. The new WTC1 tower is infinitely more beautiful and graceful, although I'm not too crazy about its podium. But when you'll be looking south from Rockefeller Center, the new WTC1 tower will complement the graceful ESB; the old WTC twin towers horribly clashed. And best of all, they're reopening the original streets that were closed back in the 1960s, as vegetated pedestrian walkways. The new grounds are infinitely superior to the giant block that was there. The previous WTC was just a giant, intimidating block right in the city, blocking people's paths, people's views, etc. The new WTC complex is in conversation with the city, integrated with its surroundings, and contributing to the district.

As for the 1940s...even though nothing new was being built during that time, it was still a high point for the city. In fact, that's what made it a peak, because after the 1940s things started to gradually decline (and that decline really took off in the 1960s/70s). In the 1940s, iconic structures like the ESB and Chrysler had just been completed; the gorgeous old Penn Station (and other pre-WWII lovelies now gone) hadn't been torn down yet; the ugly 60s/70s structures hadn't been built yet; and people hadn't start abandoning the city for the suburbs yet. I would absolutely love to get on a time machine and visit the city in 1946.

It's not in any way offensive to critique their design after the 9/11 terrorist attacks; no one would have wished for them to be blown up with people inside. But that doesn't mean that the original design doesn't merit criticism. Trust me...no one in New York would be offended by a critique of the original WTC towers; everyone hated them. And now that there's a need to rebuild, there's an opportunity to build something better.


I agree with this. The original WTC was pig-ugly..although now it's almost a sacrilege to say that because of events. And you're right. Before 9/11 added lashings of nostalgia ,emotions and sentimentality to them...New Yorkers DID hate them. There was a running joke that the two towers were the boxes that the Empire State and Chrysler buildings arrived in.

In saying that. I'm not crazy about the new tower...too generically Asian in it's design for me. The Chrysler building looks like nothing else....the Empire State building looks like nothing else.....the 'Freedom tower' looks like every tall building from Tokyo to Mumbai.

^^ You know, it begs the question if some people are more concerned that the twin towers themselves were lost (and whatever symbolism they had attached to them), than for the actual lives that perished.

In any case...the current plan is actually the best of the proposals, your critique noted. And it's no longer "Freedom Tower"...it's One World Trade Center. I love the fact that there's no twins this time. I don't care for twins...such as the ugly and impersonal Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle.

I do think that WTC1, at least, is indeed a graceful tower, but WTC2 looks ugly -at least in the renderings. WTC3 will look really cool; WTC 4 sort of blah and boring.

Ideally, I would have preferred to see the tallest of the towers -WTC1- look more like César Pelli's Goldman Sachs Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldman_Sachs_Tower) (gorgeous, gorgeous building, would have fit very nicely in Lower Manhattan; although I'd improve the ground floor, and make it more street-friendly, similar to the awesome street-friendliness of Philadelphia's Comcast Center (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comcast_Center_%28Philadelphia%29)). Pelli's Goldman Sachs structure proves that glass-and-steel in the modern age can still be graceful and pay homage to pre-WWII architecture. WTC3, too, looks like it merges pre-WWII elements with post-WWII "functional" design (like the series of beams on the sides of the structure, which could actually be decorative, not structural; I don't know, but I like them).

US cities have a great pre-WWII skyscraper heritage, and I agree with you that the Americans should play up their own heritage rather than mimic Asian skyscrapers. Not that Asia doesn't have some graceful beauties of its own (Guangzhou's IFC Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangzhou_International_Finance_Center) being my favorite), but US cities -especially New York- should stick to a certain look, and the US has a great pre-WWII architectural heritage to take ideas from. And, of course, both the US and Asia have fallen victim to the so-called international style...Mies van der Rohe wannabes that still pop up long after the man's death.