Gothamist: New York City, Circa 1930

west side Michael

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:03:03 -0500

This old New Yorker wishes to remind you that most heating here was made by someone shoveling coal into a furnace ,The East River had slums amongst the city animal slaughter houses and gas works now the fancy UN area. Many apartments shared bathrooms,Some we lived in did not have hot water,i.e."coldwater" flats. The cop on the beat on your block was a self employed worker,supreme court and jailer. Neighborhoods were segregated by nationality and race until the idea of public housing projects came about. Yeah! we did all go to Central Park at night to sleep when it was hot as it was safe. A cheap thrill was walking to Times Square just to see the lights.

Knarf

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:47:40 -0500

Wow - - and to think this guy holds the copyrights to all these phenomenal photos! Even Margaret Bourke-White's stuff!

HUGO_MEGO

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:39:27 -0500

#21 Future Taliban, Sorry taliban boy but cult leader Obama is top dog now. Welcome to Barack HUSSEIN Obama's Amerikka where the president is liberal and open minded but against gay marriage.

NannyState

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:57:22 -0500

Who doesn't love this stuff! Thanx Jen and a thousand more! And babyhitler, there was air conditioning back then and for two+ decades before, but for most ordinary NYers, the only place to enjoy AC was at the movie palace. That's why movies got so big: it was the AC!

Wza

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:41:33 -0500

Great photos!

Gwinny

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:10:21 -0500

weird, now they are back.

Gwinny

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:02:17 -0500

... hey, where did the photos go??

Gwinny

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:28:28 -0500

Also, Future Taliban: not sure who you mean by "you azzholes" -- but it's really a stretch to New Yorkers for Bush. I don't have the stats for 2000 on hand, but the city voted 81% for Kerry in 2004 and has been a solidly Democratic city for a long time.

Shinobi Shaw

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:04:05 -0500

The economic crash was not Bush's fault (he did exacerbated with his idiocy though). It was the Bankers and The Federal Reserve that are responsible for what's coming. Bush was a puppet, the Presidential position is a puppet position for the Bankers.

Future Taliban

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:57:53 -0500

Hoovervilles, breadlines, massive unemployment. Good article to help get NY'ers psychologically ready to relive those days all over again. Courtesy of GW Bush, whom most of you azzholes voted for not once but twice. SUCK ON THAT NOW.

Cobalt

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:06:54 -0500

Especially love the first photo with all of those fresh Art Deco skyscrapers. The Chrysler building, the Daily Plan... er News building and all.... now that's architecture!

babyhitler

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:30:01 -0500

people don't realize that if you went back in time there would be no goddamn air conditioning! that's the deal breaker. I think I could live without internet but no air conditioning would kill me.

Gwinny

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:26:15 -0500

matty: you are such a n00b. personally, I long for gay NY of the 1890's.

lanciano

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:03:41 -0500

Man, I love old new york! Great pictures! I hope that straatis has permission to post those or that they're in the public domain. There might be some disgruntled people out there.

hortenz

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:01:57 -0500

There's a really good website for all types of olde timey pictures. Here is a link to the New York section. http://www.old-picture.com/new-york-index-001.htm

donner

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:43:24 -0500

My man in pic #6... has a serious pair.

chuzzlewit

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:36:03 -0500

so that's what were headed for? that looks quaint, bring on the crash! PS will the pitbulls all have a ring around one eye and only bite the cops and lanldords?

JacqueMehoff

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:29:08 -0500

didn't people used to throw garbage out their windows back then? that's the reason why woman walked near the curb as to not get hit by garbage. by "people" I don't mean what's referred to as those people nowadays. I think they called them the "n" word back then.

mocanlagunas

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:28:30 -0500

If you could go back in time to see how it was back then, you wouldn't want to really live there... I would buy some real estate, but other than that, no thank you...

mdowning

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:24:54 -0500

nice shots. thanks for posting.

babyhitler

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:20:41 -0500

amazing town. I see king kong in the background

driftwood

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:19:11 -0500

Yeah, people call it classy just because it was a different age. People want to look back at the 30's (or several other eras), look at the graphics on signs, architecture, the old cars, and the fedoras, and call it classy. That's all a nostalgic perception of a long gone age...But I'm sure there were sewage problems, camps of impoverished people (as gothamist says), trash everywhere, racism, etc...And I don't think those things equal classy. I'm sure that in 50 years people will look back at the 2000 NYC as some sort of classy New York utopia.

Qraymond

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:18:48 -0500

Awesome pictures-- thank you!

bagelman

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:17:36 -0500

great photos, but i don't see the great depression in them. also, i wish the city still had streetcars.

spnder

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:16:36 -0500

Great pictures. From that picture of c-town, it appears that men were required to wear hats...

Landor

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:13:25 -0500

The city is starting to look sepia again.

MonkSalve

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:52:45 -0500

Now we live in "fake" classless New York. What that means, I don't know.

miz coaster

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:49:52 -0500

That is the city my father was a child in. He used to shine shoes in front of Katz's Deli. Beautiful Pictures... thx Gotham!

matty

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:49:01 -0500

THis was back when new york was "real" and "gritty" not like today. Man I wish I could go back to the three-oh

fugothamist

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:48:06 -0500

this city used to have class