Above NY: 1980's NYC Aerials

[Radiohead]

Here are some aerial photos of Robert Cameron. Many on this board are probably familiar with his aerials from cities all over the world. These are from the mid to late 80's.

Woolworth Building. Classic architecture.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2169/1519804983_a2f74a1e1e_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2169/1519804983_59c9b4e22f.jpg

Civic Center in the center. Whoever designed the gaudy checkerboard facing on the Federal building should be imprisoned for defacing the skyline.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2202/1519803357_b2f401fe42_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2202/1519803357_397d5edc1d.jpg


Riverside Church and Grants Tomb
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2179/1520663770_2b79514cb7_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2179/1520663770_589cc08a8a.jpg

Midtown
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2408/1519806465_9f95fe625e_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2408/1519806465_3be0678cea.jpg

Central Park. Notice how the Jersey City skyline has yet to be built up.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2385/1520673184_34a680f544_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2385/1520673184_ea417d7648.jpg

West Side. Waterside Plaza in foreground...cutting edge architecture for 1974.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2030/1519812947_8d3c9db8bc_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2030/1519812947_4a2e5f1897.jpg

Amazing perspective..the BB and the WTC obervation deck
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2061/1520676326_44279e7214_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2061/1520676326_7cc416d6ee.jpg

The Bronx
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2373/1520680986_5c08f059e8_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2373/1520680986_01ca4c810b.jpg



Not Cameron's but I like this shot from the ESB observation deck
http://www.tropicalisland.de/NYC_New_York_Lower_Manhattan_from_Empire_State_Bui lding_with_long_glass_b.jpg

[antinimby]

Very enjoyable. Thanks for that trip back.

[Comelade]

Magnifique, merci

[Radiohead]

Queensboro Bridge in distance
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2131/1538137529_ea61989610_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2131/1538137529_c6d6cf64c3.jpg

NY Public Library. 500 Fifth Ave (from the 1920's) to the right
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2141/1538136173_3402fb493b_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2141/1538136173_232ee887fb.jpg


Upper West Side
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2319/1538140411_fdb2487ae0_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2319/1538140411_7831aaf404.jpg

A simpler time
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2338/1538138923_123c4fbf4f_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2338/1538138923_7f3b4b1601.jpg

[Merry]

Not aerial but interesting.


14 Amazing Photos Of 1980s New York City

http://gothamist.com/upload/2012/01/5seigelpics0112.jpg
Brooklyn Bridge circa the 1980s

http://gothamist.com/upload/2012/01/2seigelpics0112.jpg
Bushwick in 1982 (you can see the WTC in the background)

http://gothamist.com/upload/2012/01/3seigelpics0112.jpg
Coney Island Thunderbolt

http://gothamist.com/upload/2012/01/6seigelpics0112.jpg
Circa 1985, you can see the Statue of Liberty undergoing restoration in the background

http://gothamist.com/upload/2012/01/9seigelpics0112.jpg
Abandoned West Side Highway, circa 1980

http://gothamist.com/upload/2012/01/8seigelpics0112.jpg
Road to WTC, 1980

http://gothamist.com/upload/2012/01/10SEIGELPICS0112.jpg
South Bronx circa 1980

http://gothamist.com/upload/2012/01/11SEIGELPICS0112.jpg
The Bowery circa 1980

The amazing Steven Siegel (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensiegel/sets/) has been documenting New York City's five boroughs (and beyond) for three decades now. Click through for a small sampling of his photos from the 1980s, where you'll see abandoned cars overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge, a very desolate Bushwick, and even a massive hole in the Manhattan Bridge pedestrian walkway. He recently told 12 oz. Prophet (http://www.12ozprophet.com/index.php/news/photographer-steven-siegel-takes-on-the-80s-in-gritty-pre-guiliani-new-york):



I’ve been photographing the streets and subways of New York for the past 30 years. When young people today look at my shots from the 1980’s, they are aghast. To them, New York of the 1980’s is almost unrecognizable. And they are right. Some older people are nostalgic for “the good old days.” For example, they remember the Times Square of the 80’s… And what they remember is not so much the danger but the grittiness and (for lack of a better word) the authenticity. Yes, there was sleaze, but there were also video arcades, cheap movies, restaurants, and weird places. These same people resent the “Disney-ification” of Times Square and the gentrification of virtually all of Manhattan and many areas of the boroughs, and the loss of cheap housing and local stores everywhere.


We hope to share some more photos from Siegel's massive collection soon, so stay tuned, nostalgia freaks.

http://gothamist.com/2012/01/18/amazing_photos_of_1980s_new_york_ci.php#photo-1

[Fabrizio]

When young people today look at my shots from the 1980’s, they are aghast. To them, New York of the 1980’s is almost unrecognizable.

And actually, as far as urban decay goes, I think the 1970's were probably worse.

By the 1980's Columbus ave. had been gentrified. The area around Lincoln Center was getting nicer. The Marriot Marquis was completed in 1985. Soho was getting nicer. Chelsea was getting nicer.

If we're talking about urban decay and you think NYC was a mess in the 1980's (and it certainly was)... man, you shoulda seen the 70's.