In search for fodder for this here weblog, I've been known to scour the `net, looking for rarified images of the New York City of my youth, specifically of neighborhoods or storefronts that had particular resonance for me. I've pretty much exhausted all of my own photographs, so I started respectfully mining the fertile frontiers of Flickr for other pictures of a New York City of a since-vanished age. I'm not alone in this hunt. Some of my favorite local blogs like EV Grieve, Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, The SoHo Memory Project, Bowery Boogie and many, many others do this as well. In doing so, we've set up a de facto community of NYC bloggers that is often lambasted for being stuck in the past and/or accused of glorifying eras of Manhattan-living that were not all that history has made them out to be. Fair enough, but while I may indeed look fondly back at the NYC of my childhood and adolescence, I'll be the first to suggest that it had its myriad downsides (like, say, getting mugged on occasion). That said, compared to the antiseptic, venomously exclusive and gentrified Manhattan of today, it was a veritable hotbed of possibility.
Anyway, blah blah blah. The reason I'm waxing rhapsodic about all this now is because this evening, from the standpoint of a nostalgia-crazed NYC blogger, I just hit fucking PAYDIRT. You may remember a post of mine the other day wherein I spoke about Rocks in Your Head, a since-vanished record shop in SoHo. For some reason, I wanted to find another pictures of same. One or two Google image searches later, I came across a shot of Rocks In Your Head I'd never seen before. At first, I couldn't pinpoint a date on it (though I would later), but looking at the vinyl featured in the window (including Tattoo You by the Rolling Stones, Pretenders II, Penthouse to Pavement by Heaven 17, Beauty and the Beat by the Go-Gos, Dark Continent by Wall of Voodoo and Half Alive by Suicide), I'd have to say it was 1981. I traced the photo back to to its original website, and I was floored.
The image in question comes from the New York University Archives: Guide to the Washington Square Park and Washington Square Area Image Collection, 1850-1990. I was all fired up to post a bunch of their images here until I read the fine print.In a nutshell, you're ostensibly supposed to get written permission before publishing them. While that hasn't really stopped me in the past, I feel it would be a sort of churlish and disreputable move on my part to post them here now. But, by the same token, I feel that I ABSOLUTELY MUST SHARE THIS AMAZING FIND with the kind folks and kindred spirits who regularly read my blog. This is truly the biggest cache of amazing downtown NYC photographs I've ever encountered. It almost makes me want to overlook New York University's tireless expansion. That they've amassed such a collection is to their credit.
So, what are you waiting for? Yes, you'll see images of Washington Square Park from every conceivable era at every conceivable angle, but the REALLY GOOD STUFF requires scrolling about halfway down until you get to Series II: Washington Square Area. After this point, you'll find BREATHTAKINGLY RARE shots of stuff like...
- The Astor Place subway station
- The Broadway area around the NYU environs circa the 60s, 70s and 80s.
- The old Bleecker Street Cinema
- Vintage shots of Bleecker Bob's, Folk City, Tower Records, Rocks in Your Head, Tio Pepe Cafe, Arch Cafe, Cafe Figaro, The Captain's Table, The Cookery, Lone Star Cafe, Andy's Cheepees on 8th Street, and SO, SO MUCH MORE.
You have no idea how exciting I find this collection. Again, I'd love to put some up here, but I want to be respectful of the archivist's wishes. GO CHECK IT OUT AT ONCE!
WOW! I had to tear myself away from this collection to tend to other business, but will have a closer look as soon as I have more time. There is a photo entitled, "Bleecker Street Between Greene and Mercer" that shows that part of Bleecker Street in 1955, before Washington Square Village and The Silver Towers were there. I never knew what that block looked like before the "superblock" took over. Thanks for the tip, Alex. And, as an archivist, I thank you for your respect for the profession and its practices.
Posted by: Yukie | January 21, 2012 at 09:44 PM
Absolutely stunning collection...gonna take a while to get through all that, but what I've made it through so far is just amazing. Link of the week for sure, thanks!
Posted by: NYCDreamin | January 22, 2012 at 07:43 AM
Yay! Thank you! I love browsing through photos of Ye Olde NYC in all its reincarnations.
"That said, compared to the antiseptic, venomously exclusive and gentrified Manhattan of today, it was a veritable hotbed of possibility."
Yes. Exactly.
Posted by: Shelly | January 22, 2012 at 10:01 AM
I'm calling in sick all next week.
Nicely done, Mr. Smith!
Posted by: EV Grieve | January 22, 2012 at 02:12 PM
Whoa! Paydirt indeed. Thank you so much for posting this.
Posted by: BabyDave | January 24, 2012 at 12:59 PM
Thank you!!
Posted by: Goggla | January 24, 2012 at 03:57 PM
"While that hasn't really stopped me in the past, I feel it would be a sort of churlish and disreputable move on my part to post them here now."
As long as you are making it clear (and citing) that the photos come from the NYU Archives, you should feel free to post them, that's why they put them up in the first place!
Posted by: jb | January 25, 2012 at 08:51 AM
Indeed, JB. I've since reached out to them, and they gave the all clear (see post that follows this one), but I have been asked in the past to remove stuff that I'd picked up (and cited). I just wanted to be careful in this instance.
Posted by: Alex in NYC | January 25, 2012 at 09:21 AM
Gotcha, saw your latest post right after my comment.
Happy photo hunting!
Posted by: jb | January 25, 2012 at 11:06 AM
This is too good!
Don't know who said it, but I quote it frequently,
"The thing about a city is it's never done."
And you have unearthed quite the record of it.
Posted by: Ilene | February 29, 2012 at 01:02 PM