Before the construction of Stuyvesant Town this is what the area looked like.
The news caption reads: Continue reading
This photograph was taken by the Department of Bridges official photographer, Eugene de Salignac.
For over three decades until 1934, de Salignac took thousands of photographs for his job with the city. Many show an artistic eye and were compiled in New York Rises: Photographs by Eugene de Salignac (2007) Aperture. Continue reading
This photograph by Percy Loomis Sperr shows the Ninth Avenue El looking north from the west side of 23rd Street.
We can see the entire corner from 23rd to 24th Street has been cleared in preparation for the construction of the London Terrace apartment complex. London Terrace has 14 buildings stretching from Ninth to Tenth Avenues. Continue reading
This stereoscope view of lower Manhattan was taken from the St. Paul Building at 220 Broadway around 1900.
The development of steel skeleton buildings enabled skyscrapers to be constructed towards the end of the 19th century.
The 25-story St. Paul Building stood at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street. Continue reading
This magic lantern slide offers a clear view of the oldest existing bridge in New York City, High Bridge which opened in 1848.
High Bridge spans the Harlem River from the Bronx to Manhattan. It was constructed to connect the city with water from the Croton Aqueduct. A pedestrian path was built and became a popular spot for New Yorkers to visit and take in the rural landscape.
Below is the 19th century hand-colored version Continue reading
Our photograph was taken around 1905 by the Byron Company (1888-1942), a partnership of Joseph Byron and his son Percy C. Byron. The Byron’s and their employees took thousands of photographs in and around New York City from the 1880s until the 1940s.
This view looking down Fifth Avenue from between 25th and 26th Street at the edge of Madison Square Park shows the Flatiron Building in the hazy background. Continue reading
This 1935 photograph is from city street photographer Percy Loomis Sperr.
We are looking east from First Avenue and 67th Street and shows the land that would soon be the site for Memorial Hospital for the Treatment of Cancer and Allied Diseases.
This plot of land stretching from York Avenue to First Avenue between 67th and 68th Street was donated to Memorial Hospital by John D. Rockefeller. This neighborhood today houses numerous medical institutions.
Over the ensuing decades, every visible building along 68th Street; the tenements, a blacksmith shop, auto repair shop and ambulance company would be demolished for expansion of hospital buildings.
The large building complex with the tower Continue reading
For over 150 years Coney Island has attracted visitors to sample its beach, cuisine and amusement parks.
This magic lantern slide photograph shows an attraction that was more of a curiosity. Though It was only in existence for 11 years, hundreds of thousands of people came to see the Elephantine Colossus.
It was not a ride, but Continue reading
It’s 12:20 in the afternoon according to the clock at Grand Central Depot as horse drawn vehicles congregate nearby.
We are looking north from 41st Street and Park Avenue. This contemporary colored magic lantern slide is from around 1895. Continue reading
Our Detroit Publishing Co. photograph is from 1906 and shows Eighth Avenue looking north. It is at this juncture the Ninth Avenue elevated completes its turn from Ninth avenue to Eighth Avenue at 110th Street and proceeds uptown.
As usual there was a postcard issued that almost certainly came from this photograph. The advertising and perspective are exactly the same, but the postcard contains many alterations.
For dramatic effect Continue reading