New York City: Memories of Time Gone By

Nice collection. Interesting longevity by Kate Smith (shown in photo with the Bambino) who still sings a "God Bless America" duet before key Philly Flyers games. ;)

Noo Yawk was a dirty, filthy. horrid place when I first went there in the fifties. It was a dirty, filthy, horrid place when I went back (voluntarily!) in the sixties. It was a dirty, filthy, horrid place when I was forced to go there on business in the seventies. I imagine that it's still a dirty, filthy, horrid place today.

Keep Manhattan. Just give me that countryside!

NYC has always been a vermin-infested warren of huddled masses and the wretched refuse of teeming shores.

What, not 'delightful'?

Reminded me of the movie "Once upon a time in America" with Robert De Niro.

A classic for those who haven’t seen it, and like these pictures.

I have seen pictures of many late 19th century cities including NOOO YAARK, Paris, London...even TRANA and it is readily obvious why the contempory doom-sayers cited removal of dead horses and horse $hit was at crisis levels.

The spider web of early utility posts and wires seems bizarre now....

It is easy to understand the priority by NOOO YARK and London to install subways....

Chicago's alternative EL (elevated rail) lumbers on...cheap and nasty.

GTA Mayor Ford's preference for subways makes a lot of sense after seeing Calgarys C-train and Chicago's obsolete EL...both of which congest trafic that subways leave unaffected.

London's tube provided more than readily exploited shelters during the blitz but primarilly a mass trasit system immune to bombing.

In a few weeks I am going on a short holiday to Manhattan with my wife. Really looking forward to it.

Very poignant. Whether or not you like new York, that's the way it was.

Here are some terrific photos of late Victorian era London, plus some of other places around the world at that time.

sasquatch has a very true point about pre-automobile Western cities. Dead horses and horsesh*t everywhere were really far worse than subways, el-lines and the early decade or two of the at-first-smoggy automobile.

Despite Daniel Day-Lewis' admirable efforts, Scorsese's Gangs of New York didn't really stay in my head at all, but this sequence, at the very end, is gorgeous.

Ghostly Images that of a past. Its remarkable really.

I won a trip to NYC through the Calgary Herald in 2005. I was very pleasantly surprised at how clean and beautiful the city was compared to when I was last there in 1984. One side effect of 9/11 was the presence of young, handsome police officers on virtually every street corner. Also, the city was in a beautification mode with flower planters everywhere. There was very little garbage/debris on the streets. Enjoy your visit minuteman!

A beautiful look at the king of cities. I note some other commenters have inaccurate and outdated images of the place... it is really a spectacular city and generally quite clean, safe and pleasant.

"Noo Yawk was a dirty, filthy. horrid place when I first went there in the fifties. It was a dirty, filthy, horrid place when I went back (voluntarily!) in the sixties. It was a dirty, filthy, horrid place when I was forced to go there on business in the seventies. I imagine that it's still a dirty, filthy, horrid place today."

JohnPeg, it is time for you to re-visit the Big Apple. I think you might be pleasantly surprised. It is still big and noisy but not dirty and not the least bit inhospitable and it smells no worse than any other big city.

I visited the actual website to view the gallery and this was the message for the last two days when I tried
"Due to overwhelming demand, the New York City Municipal Archives Online Gallery is unavailable at present. Maintenance activities are underway to address this issue."