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Photo: Brighton Beach a Hundred Years Ago, 1925
In the 1920s, Brighton Beach was an elite resort where wealthy Manhattan residents came to relax “by the sea,” as people said back then. The main attraction was the Brighton Beach Hotel — a five-star establishment by the standards of the time. Enormous and luxurious, with verandas, dance halls, a restaurant with a live orchestra,…
Photo: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Autumn
“Architecture is the frame of life,” the museum’s architect Frank Lloyd Wright once said. The Guggenheim is one of the oldest and most visited collections of modern art in the world, and also one of the most beautiful museums in the United States. Criticism from the Public But it wasn’t always admired. For many years…
Photo: Chase Manhattan Bank Tower construction workers, New York, 1960
In the summer of 1960, nearly three thousand construction workers—fitters, engineers, electricians, and laborers—lined shoulder to shoulder in the open window openings of the new Chase Manhattan Bank Tower (today 28 Liberty Street). This photo became emblematic of an era: a time when New York City was trying to bring life back to where it…
Howard Johnson’s in Times Square: A Forgotten New York Icon
This photo of Times Square in the 1980s immediately captures attention — clean streets, bright lights, neon signs. But one detail stands out in particular: the Howard Johnson’s restaurant. It turns out that at one time it was the largest restaurant chain in the USA, and later a hotel chain. How It All Began The…
Long Island Expressway. New York, 1974
The photograph shows a section of the Long Island Expressway (I-495), taken from Queens in 1974.Only about one mile remains before entering the tunnel beneath the East River, which leads directly to 37th Street in Manhattan. The image captures a moment frozen in time — when New York was entering an era of heavy traffic,…
The History of New York in Photos: Don King at Top of the Rock, 1975
You may disagree, but I’m convinced: the words “rooftop” and “New York” were made for each other. One simply cannot exist without the other. This is a city where sky and architecture meet at every corner, as if New York itself invented the idea of conversations and meetings at altitude. The Golden Era of Manhattan…
Madonna Jogging Along Central Park, New York City, 1988
In this 1988 photo, Madonna is seen jogging along Central Park West, the avenue running along the western edge of Central Park. In the background, you can clearly spot Columbus Circle and the original facade of 2 Columbus Circle, which at the time housed the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Today, that same…