This magic lantern slide shows Madison Square Park looking north and east from 23rd Street. All the vehicles seen in the photo are horse drawn and the surrounding buildings give us a clue to a date of 1900. Continue reading
St. Paul’s Chapel and Broadway. photo: Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum of Photography, University of California at Riverside
If the clock on the tower of St. Paul’s Chapel is accurate, it is a couple of minutes before noon on a weekday. Looking at the pedestrians shadows, the clock is probably correct. Hundreds of people stream by Fulton Street while a trolley is coming down Broadway. One thing you might notice besides the fashion of the day, with many men wearing light-colored straw hats, is that there are few women present. One hundred years ago, the central business area around Wall Street was still the domain of a predominantly male working force.
Here is the same scene taken seconds apart with a tighter focus. The policeman directing traffic can now be clearly seen.
The 30 foot obelisk Continue reading
This photograph taken by William Roege can be narrowed down to the autumn of 1913. Though photographer Roege engraved the year within the photo, he did not write an exact date.
We are looking at the east side of Broadway at 40th Street and the main clue to the time of year is the Empire Theater marquee which announces the appearance of actor John Drew.
John Drew
Drew was one of the turn-of-the-century’s big stage stars and the uncle of actors John, Lionel and Ethel Barrymore. Continue reading
The Ninth Avenue Elevated train tracks took a dramatic “S” turn at 110th Street to continue along Eighth Avenue. This part of the El system were very elevated, at certain points rising 100 feet above street level. Because of its phenomenal height Continue reading
My mother and father tell of practicing “duck and cover” in school.
The drill was to supposedly protect oneself from a nuclear bomb. As if crouching under a desk would have done anything to shield you from an atomic blast. Continue reading
This photograph was taken by the Savastano Photographic Studio on December 5, 1937. We are looking north up Broadway from 14th Street and University Place. Continue reading
This photograph taken by Percy Loomis Sperr on August 31, 1934 shows a mostly desolate section of the west side of Manhattan. 38th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues has still not been absorbed by the Hudson Yards building boom.
There has been great change, but there are many vacant lots and Incredibly nearly 90 years later, Continue reading
This barren scene is Sixth Avenue (renamed Lenox Avenue in 1887 and additionally named Malcom X Boulevard in 1987) just north of Central Park.
As the northern boundary of the city kept expanding the grading and opening of streets continued further north. Continue reading
This street of upper middle class gentility is 38th Street looking east from Fifth Avenue.
Our stereoview photograph was taken by E & H.T. Anthony & Co. about 1870.
Besides the horse drawn wagon Continue reading
The Labor Day weekend is over now and those who went to the beaches found it crowded on three mostly sunny and hot days.
Though the costumes and people are different, 111 years ago on August 3, 1912 New Yorkers also sought the surf at Brighton Beach. This photograph is by William Davis Hassler, and is now in the collection of The New York Historical Society.
A few things to note. Hassler’s camera Continue reading