If you want to see a nostalgic NYC blogger light up like a pinball machine, present him or her with a cache of vintage NYC pics.
Yesterday, Jeremiah Moss of Vanishing New York did just that, by introducing his readers to the photography of Hank O’Neal, largely concentrating on the New York City of the 1980’s. Jeremiah and I have found a few collections like this one over the years, but this was is staggeringly good.
The “oh WOW” factor runs high amidst O’Neal’s pictures, as he’s captured myriad distinctive sights from our since-completely-gentrified city. You really need to spend some time going through them individually, but I pulled out a few selections from his collection that hearken back to some posts here in Flaming Pablum.
Fist up, here’s a great shot from 1981 of the former exterior of the performance art space, The Kitchen on the the corner of Wooster and Broome down in SoHo. I scribbled some stuff about same here and here.
Here’s a shot of the “face behind the bars” — somewhere on West Broadway, I believe — that I wrote about here.
Here’s a shot of long-lost punky vinyl outfit Wowsville on Second Avenue just south of St. Marks Place. My friend Rob and I once unsuccessfully tried to purchase a massive Ramones print here, which ended oddly. I wrote about Wowsville here and here.
Here are a couple of shots of XOXO, formerly across from the Mars Bar on First Street, which I wrote in greater depth about here and here. Note the signature Missing Foundation graffito on the front (rife among O'Neal's shots of the L.E.S.)
Here’s the original site of Downtown Music Gallery on East 5th Street (then adjacent to the Scratcher). I wrote more about this great shop here and here.
Here's a quick shot from since-torn-down One Union Square. I love this shot as it features two Rock Hotel flyers (Murphy's Law and Circus of Power). I wrote more about the Rock Hotel here.
Lastly, here’s a passing shot of a bar on Avenue A called the Notell Motel, which was just down a door or two from Brownie’s (now Hi-Fi). I don’t believe I’ve ever posted about it, but I once interviewed three members of Killing Joke at the Notell Motel. For that alone, it remains a special place for me.
This is just a smattering of images from O'Neal's page. Go soak it up, specifically his albums about New York City, the East Village and his massive collection from the Lower East Side.
For more great vintage NYC pics, but sure to also check out....
Gregoire Alessandrini's New York City 1990's
Manel Armengol's pictures
The New York University Archives
....and my own Flickr page.
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