Amazing Vintage Photos of NYC! 

These beautiful and educational late 19th and early 20th century photos of New York city were released recently by the NYC municipal archives, along with an astounding 800,000 others. These, however, represent the most beautiful, enriching and interesting photos of the entire number, showing New York at its best - old school.

 Sunlight floods in through windows in the main room
of New York City's Grand Central Terminal. Taken ca. 1935-1941.

Aerial view of New York City, looking north,
on December 16, 1951.

28th Street Looking east from
Second Avenue, on April 4, 1931.

Meeker Avenue Bridge under construction,
looking south, showing Brooklyn, on June 29, 1939.

Shadows are cast beneath the Brooklyn Bridge,
seen from a stable roof, on May 6, 1918.

A worker on the Brooklyn Bridge,
on November 19, 1928.

Markus Mercury Wheel Club, Flushing Race Track,
bicyclists ready to race in June of 1894.

Original City Hall subway station,
IRT Lexington Avenue Line, in 1904. 

Coney Island looking east from Steeplechase Pier
showing Sunday bathers, crowd on beach, on July 30, 1922. 

A two-horse team street cleaner, with sprayer,
squeegee, and roller at rear.

An experimental exposure made on the Queensboro Bridge,
on February 9, 1910.

Italian vegetable sidewalk stand, on Bleeker Street,
near Church of Our Lady of Pompeii, in August of 1937.

Lower Manhattan skyline at night, seen from either the
Staten Island Ferry or Governor's Island, in February of 1938. 

Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History,
West 81st St, between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West.

Red Hook Swimming Pool, Clinton, Bay & Henry Streets,
Brooklyn. Bathers as far as the eye can see.

Queensboro Bridge under construction, on August 8, 1907.

The Queensboro Bridge, showing reconstruction of tracks looking east,
on November 22, 1929.

A one-legged newspaper boy and other "newsies",
on Delancey Street, on December 26, 1906.

New York Police Department evidence photo, homicide scene.
Joseph Kellner, 404 East 54th Street, murdered in hallway, on January 7, 1916.

Powell House at 195th Street and 58th
Avenue North, Queens, on May 20, 1941 

Times Square theaters by day, in New York City.
The Times Building, Loew's Theatre, Hotel Astor,
Gaiety Theatre and other landmarks are featured in this January, 1938 photo.

An aerial view of the Statue of Liberty
in the New York Harbor, on January 27, 1965. 

A view from the Williamsburg Bridge, looking west,
showing congested traffic in Manhattan, on January 29, 1923.

Painters suspended on cables of the
Brooklyn Bridge, on October 7, 1914 

A Hooverville in Brooklyn, ca. 1930-1932.
 The area is now Red Hook Park in Brooklyn. 

A Subway Road Comes up for air in Brooklyn
- in the background, a view of Manhattan from
subway elevated tracks, 8th Street,
Brooklyn, New York, on March 21, 1938.

Yankee Stadium, Yankees on the field during a game, ca. 1935-1947.

A man reads a newspaper on New York's
6th Ave. and 40th St, with the headline:
"Nazi Army Now 75 Miles From Paris", on May 18, 1940.

Men cut ice from Kissena Lake in Queens, ca. 1860-1900.

 

New York Fire Department demonstration of a
steam pumper converted from horse-drawn to motor-driven,
at 12th Avenue and 56th Street.

 

Children and adults with herd of sheep in the
Sheep Meadow in Central Park, New York City, ca. 1900-1910.

Part of the superstructure of the under construction
Manhattan Bridge rises above Washington Street
in New York, on June 5, 1908.

Manhattan Bridge, under-construction,
seen from the roof of Robert Gair Building,
showing suspenders and saddles, on February 11, 1909.

Aboard a police boat on October 10, 1934,
New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia hacks away
at confiscated slot machines about to be destroyed
and dumped into New York harbor. 

A view down an alley, as rows and rows of laundry hang from tenements ca. 1935-1941. Seen looking west from 70 Columbus Avenue or Amsterdam Avenue at 63rd Street.

A crowded street market under New York City Rail Road tracks,
looking south on Park Avenue from 123rd Street in June of 1932.

A night view of Midtown Manhattan,
looking south from Madison Avenue
and the 50's, ca. 1935-1941.

Amid road construction, the Hudson Diner advertises
"Tables for Ladies" on November 20, 1929, on Marginal Street, looking east from 125th Street.

 

Ninth Avenue El trains with passengers on 2 levels of tracks,
66th Street El station in background, in October of 1933.
Photo taken on Columbus Avenue,
northwest of Lincoln Square & 65th Street.

The S.S. Normandie, steaming through upper bay
on its way to a river pier built for it, 
seen from a Staten Island ship. ca. 1935-1941

 

A view of the city from the Brooklyn Tower
of the Brooklyn Bridge, on April 24, 1933. 

 

 

A view of the city from the New York tower of
George Washington Bridge, 168th Street & Hudson River,
on December 22, 1936.

Fire Boats fight a blaze at Grace Line Pier 57,
West 15th St, near the National Biscuit Co. building.

 

Members of the New York Fire Department attend to a fire victim.

 

The "Well", US Signal Corps Army Base Terminal,
Port of Embarkation. Ration cases from crate cars
are hoisted to warehouse bins for storage, ca. 1945-1946.

 

Water from firefighters' hoses freezes

on the side of adjoining buildings.

 

Interior view of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)
subway powerhouse, 58th to 59th Street, ca. 1904.

 

42nd Street, looking west from 2nd Avenue.
Chrysler Building at top right, "News Tavern" "Goblet Bar" at lower right,
ca. 1935-1941.

 

Brooklyn Bridge painters at work high above the city, on December 3, 1915.

 

Aftermath of a collision on an elevated rail track. 

 

The Queensboro Bridge, leading to Manhattan, seen on May 1, 1912.

 

 

A motorman operates a trolley car near Williamsburg Bridge,
on September 25, 1924. Signs advertise almonds,
cold remedies, mustard, and stove polish.