HAMBURGER STAND OFFERS CUSTOMERS A QUICK BITE WHILE WAITING FOR THEIR SUBWAY TRAIN ON THE 42ND STREET STATION OPERATED BY THE NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT AUTHORITY… 07/1974
Pickerell, Jim, 1936-, Photographer. From the EPA’s DOCUMERICA series.
Hop off at your local subway hamburger stand for National Hamburger Day!
Happy 130th to the Brooklyn Bridge!
When it opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Designed and built by German-born John A. Roebling and his son, Washington A. Roebling, the bridge connected New York and Brooklyn. The remarkable design used Roebling’s patented system of steel wire cable construction. Its graceful limestone and granite towers, pictured here, took 5 years to build.
- Photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge Across the East River, 04/1974. From the EPA’s DOCUMERICA Series
- Plan of One Tower for the East River Bridge, 1867
- Pedestrians on the upper deck promenade of Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, ca. 1910
BICYCLISTS IN CENTRAL PARK. ON SUNDAYS THE DRIVES THROUGH THE PARK ARE CLOSED TO MOTOR TRAFFIC, AND CYCLISTS BECOME LORDS OF THE ROAD, 05/1973
From the Records of the Environmental Protection Agency. (12/02/1970-)
The DOCUMERICA program captured images of a changing America; here, cyclists take over Central Park for the day. During the 1970s, New York and other American cities experimented with ways to make transportation cleaner and more efficient.
Nowadays, cyclists have more time to enjoy being “lords of the road”; Central Park is closed to motor traffic except during the weekday rush hour.
Source: http://go.usa.gov/2ZNG
VOLUNTEER GARDENER TENDS TINY FLOWER PLOT ON 62ND STREET BETWEEN PARK AND LEXINGTON AVENUES IN MIDTOWN MANHATTAN. THIS STREET IS ALWAYS GRACES BY ATTRACTIVE, WELL-CARED-FOR PLANTINGS, 04/1973
From the Records of the Environmental Protection Agency (12/02/1970-)
April showers bring May flowers, but it looks like this volunteer gardener is getting a jump on May! Some streets in New York City are adorned with flowers in Spring.
Source: http://go.usa.gov/2vJm
(Suzanne Szasz, photographer)
Also reblogging because I can’t resist the vintage Volvo P1800… -D
The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center officially opened 40 years ago on April 4, 1973. At the time of their completion they were the tallest buildings in the world.
These photos, taken shortly after the World Trade Center was completed in the early 1970s, are part of the DOCUMERICA series, a program sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency to photographically document subjects of environmental concern in America during the 1970s.
Find more images from DOCUMERICA at “Searching for the Seventies: The DOCUMERICA Photography Project,” now open at the National Archives in Washington, DC.
Photograph of a Young Jewish Boy with Elders at a Passover Ceremony, 4/16/1951.
In this 1951 photograph, a seven-year-old Jewish boy asks the traditional Passover questions during a Seder dinner with elders Joseph Blantz, 91, and Hannah Skolnick in New York, New York.
Chag Pesach Sameach/Happy Passover!
via DocsTeach
Photograph of a Broken Fire Escape after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, 03/25/1911
One of the deadliest industrial disasters in United States history, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City left 146 workers dead in 18 minutes on March 25, 1911.
Locked doors kept the workers from escaping; there was not enough water to put out the flames, and firemen’s ladders were too short to reach the upper stories. Many of the young women and men working there leapt out the windows and fell to their deaths onto the sidewalk outside. Others were crushed in the elevator shaft or when the fire escape collapsed.
The fire led to sweeping reforms in labor laws and safety standards, providing a boost to labor unions, and was a pivotal event in the career of future labor secretary Frances Perkins.
(Last year’s post has additional photos of the fire and the victims, a few may be considered graphic.)
The National Archives at New York just reopened at a new location earlier this month:
Congratulations to the National Archives at New York!
Our colleagues in New York City officially opened their new location to the public today. They are now at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at One Bowling Green.Researchers and visitors are welcome from Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., as well as the first Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Please go visit them in this new beautiful space!To learn more about the records available for research, exhibits, and educational programs, visit http://www.archives.gov/nyc/
In honor of the 100th anniversary of New York City’s Grand Central Terminal (February 2, 1913), a few scenes as it looked nearly 40 years ago, circa 1974, courtesy of the EPA’s DOCUMERICA project.
Mrs. Battaglia, Tessie (age - 12 years), Tony (age - 7 years), 170 Mulberry St. Rear house, 5th floor. Garment workers. Husband crippled by a fall, tends to basement. Mrs. Battaglia works in shop except Saturdays, when the children sew with her at home. Get 2 or 3 cents a pair finishing men’s pants. Said they earn $1 to $1.50 on Saturday. Father disabled and can earn very little. New York. 01/25/1908
From the series National Child Labor Committee Photographs taken by Lewis Hine
Lincoln Tunnel opens December 22, 1937
After 3 1/2 years of work, this Public Works Administration funded project welcomed cars on December 22, 1937 with a toll price of fifty cents. Today you can travel through the tunnel for between $13 and $8.25. It was the second tunnel to link New Jersey and New York City, with the Holland Tunnel opening 10 years earlier.
APPROACH TO LINCOLN TUNNEL, 05/1973 from the series DOCUMERICA: The Environmental Protection Agency’s Program to Photographically Document Subjects of Environmental Concern, 1972 - 1977
November is Historic Bridge Awareness Month
Pedestrians on the upper deck promenade of Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, ca. 1910
The Brooklyn Bridge is a perennial hit — but what’s your favorite bridge?
Shadowy Towers of the World Trade Center rise behind St. Paul’s Chapel in this Documerica photograph.
Historic Trinity Church on lower Broadway at the foot of Wall Street. Behind loom the towers of one of Manhattan’s newest giants, The World Trade Center. 05/1973.
New York City celebrating the surrender of Japan. They threw anything and kissed anybody in Times Square. 08/14/1945
Victor Jorgenson, Photographer. From the General Photographic File of the Department of the Navy
(Yes we posted this last year too, but who can resist this photo?)
Track Map for the New York & Harlem Railroad Operated by the New York Central Railroad Company, 06/30/1917
