New York in the 1970's - awesome pics!

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addyguy

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Some may have seen this thread, but on a site about New York, a member has posted a TON of pics of all parts of New York from the 1970's - great period shots of cars, fashion, and scenery in New York from years past:

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3260/2576018073_dcc87fdaaf_o.jpg&imgrefurl=http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php%3Ft%3D16970%26page%3D3&usg=__zkIp4W4jarUIQJMdqSmeWvkLObo=&h=538&w=800&sz=109&hl=en&start=2&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=J3JsxVkHq1e45M:&tbnh=96&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%25221970%2527s%2BNew%2BYork%2522%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26tbs%3Disch:1
 
Yeah, it's actually a pretty amazing site - you won't find that many clear period shots of a city like that in one place anywhere else.

It's got everything - shots of WTC going up, shots of Times Square, shots of car shows from the 1970's, shots of the slums in and around the cities....if you're a car fan, almost every shot has tons of cars in it, showing clearly what folks were driving then.
 
Nice 4x5 (inch!) film shots. NYC has always been a haven for interesting street-level photography, and it's nice seeing this stuff come to light.

I like the grit, probably romantically. Kind of a shame it's so cleaned up now.

The cars are cool, but NYC is an alien landscape for them. I would not be fond of constantly paying for parking and worrying about vandalism. And the craziness of attempting working on something myself. Edit: these guys figured it out. Though to be a 3rd shift taxi mechanic...

You guys missed this Exxon oil billboard: (And I wonder if "dirty Harry" got demoted to vespa street patrolman
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I agree that with the traffic and parking problems, owning a car would be a nightmare in NY - but obviously, from these pics, LOTS of folks were up for the challenge!

I LOVE the shot of the on-street 'ghetto' car repair! Great stuff!
 
Terrific collection of pics!

But I'm -so- glad not to live in that festering hive. :) And just think, the edges of the metro area have metastasized even further in the last 40 years...

Yeah, yeah, I know, progress and all that. Driving from Manhatten to Montauk, I ponder on the difference between progress and change.
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
I agree that with the traffic and parking problems, owning a car would be a nightmare in NY - but obviously, from these pics, LOTS of folks were up for the challenge!

I LOVE the shot of the on-street 'ghetto' car repair! Great stuff!


I was living in Times Square in the 70's...I needed the car to go to upstate New York everyday...Coming home at 1AM every night was no fun to have to find a parking space...I finally caved in and found a outdoor garage where I could park it myself...A few of us used to wash our cars buy a hydrant.

Bottom line is I really loved living there and never even thought about of moving upstate...I really did not mind the commute...On weekends I would walk everywhere I wanted to go or use mass transit.
 
Originally Posted By: GeaugaFletcher
Driving from Manhatten to Montauk, I ponder on the difference between progress and change.


Yes, at the start of that eastward journey it is almost impossible to imagine that you will eventually run into empty, pristine, pine barrens and farmland.
 
Awesome pics. It's interesting to see the world before I existed, but during a time that my parents did see. It would be cool to time travel for a day or two.
 
If you're a 'car watcher' looking at the pics, you'll notice almost EVERYTHING on the road is a full-size American Sedan.

No pick-ups, no SUV's, and very, very few imports (mostly VW's).

Just street after street FULL of 2-and 4-door American sedans and station wagons, all with iron pushrod V-8's underhood (some I-6's)....what a change from today!!!
 
Those cars also all had chrome bumpers, and most of them were dinged and tweaked in some way. Saw a few missing marker lights etc too. NY has inspections so you figure they'd pick up on it eventually...

Also all the trucks had mad max style metal grates extending up from the bumpers to cover the headlights and radiator. Must have been a rugged corner of the world.
 
cool pics.. its amazing how NYC has changed from one of the most dirtiest cities in the world to one that is much cleaner. crime rate dropped, not as trashy, etc etc..
 
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