New York 1979

A reader sent in a link to another cache of scanned photos featuring the old city, this one of 1979. Photographer M. Joedicke's collection includes many shots of empty streets, crumbling industrial riversides, and dusty old trucks. Here and there, a barely recognizable scene appears--the west side piers, a piece of High Line, a parking lot off Times Square.



Taken as a whole, it's a portrait of a dreary, desolate city where few humans dare (or bother) to tread.


a peek at the once lovely Terminal Diner

The images conjure up a town populated by cigarette advertisements and leaky fire hydrants, where the buildings sag and the paint jobs peel. These photographs might just leave the taste of car exhaust and gutter rain in your mouth.

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