Friday, August 14, 2009

Mid-1980s East Village via Flickr

I came across the photography of Cactusbones on Flickr. She has plenty of LES/East Village urban landscape photos from her time here in the mid-1980s.

Her photos include:


Life Cafe



An abandoned lot on Seventh Street between Avenue B and Avenue C



Looking north on Avenue C at Seventh Street



And for grins, I tried to line up the same shot today



Thanks to Cactusbones for permission to post these photos. She has more here.
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9 comments:

  1. Jeremiah MossAugust 14, 2009 at 7:45 AM

    wow--great find. and nice job with the before and after.

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  2. NYCDreaminAugust 14, 2009 at 8:19 AM

    Agreed - very nice of her to share those! Love the "Pre-Battery Park City" photos near the WTC.

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  3. JamesChanceOfficialAugust 14, 2009 at 9:40 AM

    And thats the way it was...

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  4. NYC taxi photoAugust 14, 2009 at 1:14 PM

    wow, yeah i remember now, and it's so easy to forget why, when i was a child we never walked east to the alphabets, it would just get more and more desolate and scary. but it's just so easy to forget, as now it looks like some european wonderland. Pity that new restaurant on the corner didn't keep the old column. and yeah, great before and after match up.

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  5. AnonymousAugust 14, 2009 at 11:28 PM

    Wow. I literally said out loud -- "wow" -- when I saw these pictures. Yes, mallification is disgusting. And, no, it's not either we accept new development or we go back to these bad ol' days. But they certainly were the bad ol' days. Wow.

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  6. AnonymousAugust 15, 2009 at 1:56 AM

    Good find, as usual.

    I grew up in Alphabet City during that era. I still get occasional bouts of cognitive dissonance passing by the trendy upscale restaurants, frat-bars, and fro-yo joints. The 'hood was undeniably scary then, but it's scary now as well (albeit in an entirely different manner). Loisaida had guts and soul, for all of its horrors.

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  7. JillAugust 15, 2009 at 3:51 PM

    Great find, thanks for posting.

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  8. SherylAugust 16, 2009 at 9:53 AM

    The place has really change over my years here ... can't wait to see the next wave of changes.

    sheryl

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  9. Habib BattahApril 17, 2013 at 10:31 PM

    Wow, that shot of 7th and C is nuts. Did the place just burn down or get bombed? Or did it just collapse?

    I love how the guy is just walking by dragging his grocery cart. Like this thing just sat there broken down forever and no one did anything.

    So hard to reconcile with today's reality...

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