September 15, 2011 – Looking West
Sunset over the City. Unretouched, no filters.
New York City at Sunset
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Category Archives: New York
The Coney Island of Yesteryear – The Original Coney Island, Luna Park and Steeplechase Park In A Vintage Film
Coney Island in the Late 1930’s Early 40’s
On so many levels this is extraordinary. The time is somewhere between 1937 & 1941 based upon the rides shown at Luna Park at Coney Island. The original Luna Park closed in 1944.
When I first saw this film I re-watched it three times. What would it be like to experience the original Luna Park? This film gives you an idea.
Where is the time machine?
Old New York in Photos #11 – Broadway & The Post Office 1898
Broadway Street Scene Looking North From Fulton Street, 1898
A scene of New York life, just before the turn of the century. Two things to note:
1) Everyone wears a hat. Continue reading
Old New York in Photos #10 – Rapid Transit 1905
Crosstown Rapid Transit, 1905, New York City
It probably made the crosstown trip faster than we currently do.
I like the sign in the background – Milk, Cider, Cream Soda, Buttermilk, Lemonade 3¢.
And I love old handwriting:
Tuesday A.M. Dear Mamma, What do you think of this for rapid N.Y. Please send my letters to Aunt Emma’s. Came Monday, will write to-day Love, Evan(?)
According to Appleton’s Dictionary of New York in 1905, there were 7-8 mail deliveries per day and the postal service made a profit. Continue reading
The Death of New York Rock Radio
WRXP-FM (101.9) Becomes All News WEMP-FM
Commercial FM album rock radio is dead. Period.
That slow death began when WPLJ-FM flipped to CHR in 1983. It has been in a steady decline since then. The WRXP-FM flip to all news in August confirms that no station programmer can succeed in New York in the capturing of a dedicated rock listening audience large enough to satisfy the bosses. These behemoth, chain radio station owners care about three things and they are: ad dollars, ratings and demographics.
The remaining rock commercial stations in the tri-state area: WAXQ-FM (NYC Classic Rock) , WBAB-FM (Long Island Rock) and WDHA-FM (Dover, NJ Rock) play the same rotation of old songs, with few new artists mixed in, so how is that going to attract new listeners? Satellite radio (narrowcasting), ipods and streams have hastened that death.
But the real underlying reason is, is that kids are not being introduced to rock n’ roll for the most part, except through the few parents who know how important it is to explore music with their children. Otherwise they will listen to the junk that all their friends listen to. Rock n’ roll has lost a generation of listeners that I fear cannot be recovered. The few young people who do listen to rock, are the exception.
New York City, Traffic Enforcement Agents And Some Rain
In Honor of Labor Day – A Photographic Essay in Hard Work
Date – July 2011
Time – Morning Rush Hour
Weather – On and Off Light Drizzle
Lots of traffic coming off the FDR Drive and many vehicles moving northbound on York Avenue. The NYC traffic enforcement agents are usually directing traffic here.
61st Street and York Avenue
Yet on that same corner – 61st Street and York Ave. It’s dry under here.
Shooting the breeze.
One block away on 61st Street and First Ave.
and finally – 60th Street and First Avenue…under the Queensboro Bridge.
‘Nuff said.
Happy Labor Day.
Old New York in Photos #9 – Coney Island Ring The Bell
Hit Bell, Win Prize
Coney Island July 5, 1946.
Before the mall-ification of New York, Coney Island had lots of things to do besides the rides. One was this common amusement which was found at lots of carnivals and amusement parks. To test your strength you would swing a large mallet, hitting a levered board with a weight attached to a pole. Hitting it as hard as you could would drive the weight up the pole. If you hit it hard enough, the weight would go the top, anywhere from 10-15 feet from the ground and strike a bell. Doing so would entitle you to a prize.
It was a great way to impress a date, Continue reading
Old New York in Photos #8 Fifth Avenue North From The Plaza 1930
Fifth Avenue Looking North from The Plaza (59th Street) 1930
Two way vehicular traffic is probably a shocking thing to see on Fifth Avenue, but in 1930 it was the norm. We’re looking north from 59th Street. The Sherry-Netherland Hotel is on the right. Continue reading
The Garage Antique Flea Market Closing (Make That – Closed)
Famous Chelsea Flea Market Hub To Close And A History of The Chelsea Area Flea Markets (see update)
UPDATE November 2014: The flea market has finally closed three years after we reported the imminent closing and demolition is underway. The remaining outdoor flea market on 25th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway charges $1 admission for a sub-par experience. Below the update is our original story on the history of the flea markets in the Sixth Avenue corridor.
UPDATE December 24, 2011: The flea market thankfully remains open. Dealers don’t seem to know what the future holds. Speaking to several exhibitors they have not been told how long they will remain. So keep your fingers crossed, maybe Extell will not build until market conditions improve.
According to a dealer at The Antiques Garage at 112 West 25th Street, the last stalwart of what was once a thriving antique center in Chelsea, is closing in the near future.
The Antiques Garage which has over 100 dealers selling all sorts of merchandise every Saturday and Sunday will be torn down and replaced by a hotel and condos. The developer, Extell Realty bought the garage in 2006 for $42.7 million. The dealers who exhibit have been told that Extell will soon begin demolition and this month is to be their last.
In the mid 1980’s the parking lots and vacant lots in Manhattan from 24th to 27th Streets, just east and west of 6th Avenue, had developed into a weekend cornucopia of junk and treasure. Lower end antique dealers, second hand junk collectors, and abandoned storage unit scavengers set up shop, providing the public with endless browsing and purchasing opportunities. You could find everything from mundane items to rare and valuable objects. Continue reading
Old New York in Photos #7 – Tiffany Mansion & Pulitzer Mansion
Two Homes With Different Fates
The Louis Comfort Tiffany Mansion (above) circa 1886 at the corner of 72nd Street and Madison Avenue designed by McKim, Mead & White.
The Joseph Pulitzer Mansion (below) 1903 at 7 East 73rd Street (just off of Fifth Avenue) designed by Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White.
Louis Tiffany’s home was built starting in 1882 by his father Charles Tiffany, but the elder Tiffany never lived there. The 57 room mansion took three years to complete.
Right around the corner, Joseph Pulitzer, owner of The New York World newspaper also hired the architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White in 1900 to build his home which was completed in 1903.
Pulitzer lived in the house Continue reading