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Vintage New York City

by WAVZ 13

Vintage New York City photos

609 photos · 70.4K views
An aerial view of the World Trade Center, the abandoned West Side Highway and the Hudson River landfill where eventually Battery Park City would be built. On the left are the new Independence Plaza North apartments. New York. 1975
RARE view of the PATH station under the World Trade Center looking very 1960s modern with its overhead panels and recessed lighting. New York. 1986
Remember when some of the subway stations sold custard, ice cream cones, salty pretzels and watered-down orange juice in pointy paper cups? This frame from a famous 1971 movie brings back a lot of memories for me! New York.
A late afternoon view of Lower Manhattan and Battery Park from the Staten Island Ferry. Taken by my father on a Kodachrome slide in August 1951.
While waiting for our Los Angeles cousins to arrive at JFK airport, my sister comforts a little boy who was petrified of flying with a little toy mouse she kept in her purse. Queens, New York. July 1972.
By the mid 1960s, vast swaths of Manhattan's Lower West Side were abandoned and decrepit. Once bustling with busy piers, wholesalers and stores, all that was left were shuttered fossils from the past. West and Chambers Streets. New York. 1966.
Rare aerial view of the East River, Lower Manhattan, Hudson River and industrial Jersey City. 1927.
Rain and fog during the opening day of the World Trade Center. Several employees chat in the main lobby of the North Tower. New York. April 4 1973.
The Lower Manhattan skyline, including the World Trade Center, as seen from across the East River through a maze of abandoned piers in Brooklyn. March 1975
Midtown and Lower Manhattan covered in thick photochemical smog mostly caused by cars with no catalytic converters, garbage incineration and heavy industry over in Jersey City. 1966. New York
What an intense dream last night! I was back in 1930 and took the Staten Island Ferry with a girlfriend named Daphne. As the boat cruised past the Battery, we saw people strolling as well as Castle Clinton when it still contained the New York Aquarium.
Hey mac, get me to Brooklyn and step on it!! West 34th Street looking east toward Midtown, the New Yorker Hotel and the Empire State Building. Based on the cars, this is from around 1950.
An impending thunderstorm hovers over Lower Manhattan, the World Trade Center, Statue of Liberty, Jersey City and Brooklyn. Parking lots with 1970s cars and abandoned railroad tracks in Staten Island. New York. April 1986
The last old abandoned 19th century surviving building from the Washington Market era surrounded by ever encroaching modernity in Tribeca. Chambers Street to West Street and the Hudson River. New York. July 1989.
Yet more fun in the good old days. I didn't venture into the Lower East Side very often, but the few times I did, scenes like this were common. Abandoned, shuttered 19th century apartment buildings and empty fields. New York. Nov 1975.
Occasionally people ask me "what was there before the World Trade Center?" This was. A cutaway view of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Terminal buildings and their various tracks and platforms. West Street. New York. 1909.
After a LOT of trial and error, the time machine in my basement finally worked! I decided to visit Manhattan. The view from the Flatiron Building to Broadway on the left and 5th Avenue on the right. New York. Aug 1911.
Pier ruins across West Street from the World Trade Center. March 1973. Battery Park City and the World Financial Center would be built here in later years. New York
Wandering around Lower Manhattan on a rainy day I came upon these ruins of old piers across West Street from the World Trade Center. This is almost exactly where the World Financial Center exists now. New York. March 1973
So let's say we have a time machine which allows us to view Battery Park City under construction, the very end of the abandoned West Side Highway, West Street and the World Trade Center on a misty, rainy day in March 1975. New York.
The origins of Tribeca as seen from the 58th floor of the World Trade Center North Tower. After the old Radio Row buildings were demolished, all that was left were empty blocks. Independence Plaza North going up in the background. New York. April 1974
Sunset from my office in Midtown. A zoom shot brings Jersey City, the Hudson and the Statue of Liberty closer. Missing was the World Trade Center, which always hovered over everything else. Three months after 9/11, I missed it deeply. New York. Dec 2001.
The threatening clouds of an impending thunderstorm over Jersey City & Manhattan from Staten Island, where the sun was still shining brightly. Abandoned railroad tracks and a parking lot filled with colorful cars. New York. April 1986
I found this print in my Dad's collection. After retiring in 1992 from a career at the Port Authority, he and my Mom travelled a lot in the tri-state area. Here's Mom at Exchange Place with the New York skyline across the Hudson. Jersey City. May 1999.
Empty blocks north of the World Trade Center from the 58th floor of the North Tower. This is Tribeca now. The igloos were sales offices for Independence Plaza North. April 1974. New York
Hey, where's all the bumper to bumper traffic? A view of the George Washington Bridge heading into Manhattan from the back seat of my Dad's 1965 Pontiac Bonneville. Some daily drivers and an NY State Trooper police car in yellow and blue. New York. 1973.
Rumor has it that two extremely tall towers once stood at the foot of Manhattan. Their names have been lost to time. As US Representative Ilhan Omar said "Some people did something" which caused the buildings to no longer exist. New York. Aug 1996
Hanging out on Nassau Street during lunch hour with a "fly" brown Cadillac and lots of Wall Street dudes and dudesses. That's the NY Stock Exchange in the right background with a large triangular cornice. New York. April 1975
The golden setting sun illuminates the PAN AM, Chanin and Chrysler Buildings on what was then a typically smoggy sunset. Looking northeast to the East River from the top of of the Empire State Building. New York. Jan 21, 1973
The Upper West Side and construction of the George Washington Bridge. I'm confused about the machines. (the 1st helicopter flight was on Sept 14, 1939). Any guess as to what they might be is greatly appreciated. New York. Aug 1929
So, last weekend my wife and I drove down to Manhattan to visit some friends who've been renting a really sweet apartment on West 59th Street, but we soon noticed that something was... well... not quite right.
Incredibly colorful 1960s and 1970s cars at the Staten Island Ferry dock on Staten Island, New York. I see a red 1965 Mustang, a purple Dodge station wagon, a Chevy Vega, a bunch of VW Beetles, a Datsun - what can U find? May 1973
The Twin Towers hover over a swampy wilderness in Liberty State Park on a foggy, misty, ethereal morning. Jersey City. March 1991
I met these four gentlemen on their way to work as we were docking into one of the East River Ferry Piers. It was a bit awkward wearing summer shorts, sneakers and an UNTUCKit shirt. One of the guys just couldn't stop staring. New York. Aug 1911
Hanging out on 42nd St, 1980s style. XXX Video, passport photo joints, VCR and camcorder stores, several bodegas, delis, Marlboro billboard, DKNY, adult entertainment bar, film processing, Lotto. New York. Sept 1989
Just an average guy with a wind-blown tie and a straw hat crosses the Brooklyn Bridge to his job in Lower Manhattan. Trains zoom by and a Model T makes its way across the bridge in a hurry. New York. August 1911.
A lone 1971 Ford Capri navigates the decrepit old West Side Highway. With absolutely no maintenance since its construction in the 1920s, it was inevitable that a collapse took place in November 1973. April 1973. New York.
Low resolution bleak wasteland by the abandoned Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal. The World Trade Center and Lower Manhattan hover across the Hudson. Jersey City. March 1976.
Construction of the World Trade Center. These buildings became like old friends to our family over time. My dad worked there for 35 years and I used to visit often. New York. May 1968
The Sandwich Construction Company Restaurant in the World Trade Center concourse, close to the north tower's PATH station. 1975. New York
Abandoned factories and an urban wilderness line the shore of the Morris Canal from Washington Street. The World Trade Center and Lower Manhattan hover across the Hudson. Jersey City. Aug 1981.
Walked over to the window of my Dad's office on the 58th floor of the World Trade Center, pulled away the curtain and saw this. New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the abandoned shoreline of Jersey City. Feb 1977
People hurry along the streets of Manhattan on their way to work at the convergence of 5th Avenue, West 23rd Street and Broadway. The Flatiron building was only nine years old when this photo was taken. New York. August 1911
"Diamonds in the back, sunroof top, diggin' the scene with a gangsta lean" sang William DeVaughn in his hit tune "Be Thankful For What You Got" in the spring of 1974. A heavily customized 1973 Cadillac Eldorado is parked in Harlem. New York. March 1975
Three sharply dressed gentlemen on their way to work cross West 23rd Street and pass a TIP TOP Bread delivery truck driving south on 5th Avenue. The Flatiron building was only nine years old when this photo was taken. New York. August 1911
A wonderfully Dickensian view of the "High LIne" (technically, the NYC Viaduct of the New York Central Railroad) in a gritty, industrial Chelsea neighborhood which would be utterly unrecognizable to current residents. New York. November 1932
World Trade Center lobby with an old girlfriend from back in the day. New York. December 1979
It's Monday morning and back to work we go! Subway cars clattering away on the 2nd Avenue Elevated while some people drive and many walk through the smoggy city. New York. Aug 1911.
Back to 1930 we go! A view of Battery Park and Lower Manhattan skyscrapers from the Staten Island Ferry. Castle Clinton, the round building at left with square openings for cannons, still had a roof. Today, only the bottom part survives. New York.
I set the time machine's coordinates for Lower Manhattan. That's Pier A on the right (still exists and is now a restaurant after decades of abandonment), Battery Park and gorgeous ornate buildings of which only some still remain. New York. July 1930
A wealthy family cruising down Madison Avenue in their brand new car surrounded by horse buggies and trolleys. Everybody appears dour except the chauffeur who seems to enjoy his job. New York. Aug 1911
After a LOT of trial and error, the time machine in my basement finally worked! I decided to visit Manhattan. What a great experience. Blending in with the lunch hour crowd under the 2nd Avenue Elevated. New York. Aug 1911
New York Stock Market. At 3:40pm. March 1975. (not a single computer in sight!)
So... occasionally people ask me "what was there before the World Trade Center"? This was. The remaining ruins of the old Radio Row and the 19th century Washington Market. The West Side Highway was still in use. New York. 1966
A smoggy view of the old industrial Jersey City by late afternoon light from the World Trade Center Observatory. On the left, you can see the abandoned CRRNJ yards and the Morris Canal. A bit of the Colgate Plant is visible. Nov 1976. New York.
Places that Manhattan tourists DIDN'T visit. Standing in Long Island City, Queens, looking west to the Newtown Creek and some of the factories which lined its shores. One of the Greenpoint gas tanks at left. New York. 1934
Places that Manhattan tourists DIDN'T visit. Standing in Long Island City, Queens, looking west to the Newtown Creek and some of the factories which lined its shores. One of the Greenpoint gas tanks at left. New York. 1934
The very core of the World Trade Center visible in this slide taken from the Empire State Building. The classic MetLife building at left. A little smoggy, but not too bad for the times. New York. May 1971
Con Edison smokestacks gently puff away by the East River keeping the lights of Midtown Manhattan glowing on a cold winter evening in December. The Pan Am and Chrysler buildings predominate in the view. New York. 1971
More New York fun from the good old days! Deep in the Bronx on East 163rd Street, shown near the intersection with Tiffany Street. The 1970s weren't kind to New York and many other older cities. The Bronx was particularly decimated. March 1978.
An abandoned 1930s car with a pried-opened trunk and a stand of rotting old piers on the weedy shore of the East River. You can almost smell the brackish polluted water. The Brooklyn Bridge hovers over the scene on a dreary, foggy day. New York. 1958.
More cloudy day wanderings in grubby old post-industrial New York. Looking south at Lower Manhattan from the abandoned New York Central Railroad (better known now as the "High Line") from Washington Street. New York. March 1982
Looking straight down 5th Avenue past Harlem, Central Park, Midtown Manhattan, the Empire State Building all the way to the Twin Towers of the real World Trade Center. The Harlem River shimmers with oil slicks at sunset. New York. July 1984
The early days of the World Trade Center in grubby old Manhattan. A homeless man sleeps next to a 50 gallon drum of burning scavenged wood. The World Telegram sign faces the Hudson. Old Radio Row blocks were now reduced to parking lots. New York 1970
Empire State Building and the Manhattan skyline lights at night. A print made from a Kodachome slide my father took in 1952. New York
The REAL DEAL. The New York skyline at night as preserved on one of my dad's Kodachrome slides. The Empire State Building, Midtown lights, the Hudson River, New Jersey and all else which existed at that moment in time in 1954. New York.
Lots of 1940s and early 1950s cars, taxis and buses make their way though Times Square in this postcard. Note the signs for Admiral Television, Pepsi Cola, Camel cigarettes and Chevrolet. New York. 1954.
Not the best image quality, but it is what it is. The East River, the 59th Street Bridge and the FDR Drive with lots of 1970s cars zooming along looking south from the 78th Street pedestrian bridge on a smoggy day. New York. June 1973
The hulking West Side Highway closed and abandoned. Light, shadow and cobblestones on West Street. A bus drives by. No-man's land on the West Side of Manhattan by the Hudson River. New York. June 1974.
Exploring the abandoned West Side Highway on a gray day with an impending thunderstorm. Lower Manhattan, NY Telephone Company and the World Trade Center. Many of the 19th century buildings on West Street had recently been demolished. New York. April 1974
Public transportation, 1879 style. A long forgotten rainy day on the east side of Lower Manhattan showing the new technology of elevated railroads hovering over Coenties Slip against the traditional masted ships docked on the East River. New York.
OK, even I take get to take an occasional "artsy" photo. Drab light and shadow illuminated by a single bulb in a cage. Inside a school built in the late 19th century deep in the heart of Manhattan. New York. May 1989
No Triborough Bridge yet. In fact, the Hell Gate bridge didn't exist for another 10 years when this heavily retouched photo was taken in 1907. Note all the smokestacks and factories in Manhattan and Queens. New York was a heavily industrialized city.
The last old abandoned 19th century surviving building from the Washington Market era at 101 Murray Street surrounded by ever encroaching modernity in Tribeca. West Street looking south to the World Trade Center. New York. July 1989.
The World Trade Center Concourse-level escalators down to the PATH trains at evening rush hour. These were the longest escalators I had ever seen before and since then! New York. March 1975
While waiting for our Los Angeles cousins to arrive at JFK airport, my sister calms down a crying little boy who was afraid to fly by distracting him with a small toy mouse. It looks like it worked. Queens, New York. July 1972
New York looked pretty spent during the 1970s. 23rd St and the abandoned West Side Highway. A battered Ford Galaxy 500 drives by on cobblestones. April 1975
A battered Ford Galaxy 500, the rusting and abandoned West Side Highway, old cobblestones, dead trees in a tiny park. Looking south from 23rd and West Street. No artisanal bistros, millenials or snowflakes here. March 1975. New York.
A battered 1967 Ford Galaxy 500, the rusting and abandoned West Side Highway, old cobblestones, dead trees in a tiny park. Looking south from 23rd and West Street. No artisanal bistros or millennials here. March 1975. New York.
West Side Highway on a gray, cloudy day. Closed and Abandoned. Right in front of the World Trade Center. Old shipping pier ruins line the Hudson River where Battery Park City is now. June 1974. New York
New York in the 1940s. Smokey, smoggy, atmospheric view of 42nd Street and art deco towers from the Hudson River.
The view from a PATH train end-window on a trip from Newark to New York. The shoreline of the Passaic River, the Pulaski Skyway viaduct, The World Trade Center and Lower Manhattan skyline visible in the smoggy background. Jersey City. March 1977
The abandoned West Side Highway from near Canal Street looking south to the New York Telephone Company building and the World Trade Center. New York. April 1974
Just another day walking south toward the World Trade Center on the abandoned West Side Highway in Tribeca before there was a Tribeca. The brand new Independance Plaza North to the left of the Twin Towers. New York. June 1974
Wandering around the Lower West Side of Manhattan on a rainy day, I came upon Reade Street as seen from West Street. Once the heart of Radio Row, the adjacent blocks were now completely empty and home to thriving urban mini forests. New York. 1975
A slightly different perspective of 1970s Lower Manhattan on a gray rainy day. Standing at the corner of West Street looking down the battered 19th century cobblestones and urban jungle of Reade Street to Greenwich Street. New York. June 1974.
Two guys chatting over coffee as a lady looks out at the elevated West Side Highway and the rainy, dreary weather. World Trade Center North Tower lobby on opening day. New York. March 1973.
The very southern end of the Battery Park City landfill construction and the industrial Jersey City shoreline showing the Colgate Plant across the Hudson River. March 1975. New York.
Battery Park City being built taken from the fire escape on Pier A. World Trade Center on the right. 1974. New York
Battery Park City landfill construction, West Street, West Side Highway, The World Trade Center. Lower West Side as it appeared from the Pier A fire escape in March 1975. New York.
Wandering around Lower Manhattan on a rainy day I came upon these ruins of old piers across West Street from the World Trade Center. This is exactly where the World Financial Center exists now. New York. March 1973
Abandoned West Side Highway. Closed. Exit north of World Trade Center. June 1974. New York
Abandoned West Side Highway south to NY Telephone Company and the World Trade Center. I could hear and feel that thunderstorm getting really close! New York. April 1974
Building the High Line (technically, the NYC viaduct of the New York Central Railroad) in a gritty, cobblestoned, industrial Manhattan that's long gone. December 1932.
A sketch I drew in 1977 showing the way Lower Manhattan might look 100 years into the future on a quiet morning in 2077 in a post-technology world. Seagulls chirping and the Hudson flows along.
From the abandoned West Side Highway by the World Trade Center, I sketched Battery Park City, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, CRRNJ Terminal and the industrial Jersey City shoreline. 1977
The old 1930s highway paved with cobblestones and filled with sharp dangerous curves was FINALLY being torn down. The remains of the West Side Highway by the Canal Street bridge with the World Trade Center in the background. New York. Sep 1981
Welcome to Marlboro Country under the West Side Highway by 150th Street. An urban jungle back then. Today it's home to one of the world's largest sewage processing plants between the highway and the Hudson River to the left. New York. Sept 1979.
Jersey City - Abandoned, bleak Central Railroad yards and Morris Canal pier ruins. The World Trade Center looks on across the Hudson. (Liberty State Park is here now). 1974
Smoggy, orange, atmospheric view off the Empire State Building northeast to PanAm building, Chrysler buildings and East River. New York. Jan 21 1973
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