“In many ways, New York City is a very different place to how it was in the 1970s and early 1980s. I first visited Manhattan in 1982 when parts of the city looked semi-derelict. It was edgy and sometimes dangerous, but the city also had a character that has been buried by property developers and chain stores.
Hanging-out in Greenwich Village record stores, braving the subway, not making eye contact with anyone and watching movies at St. Marks Cinema are all in the past. But great cities like New York and London never stand still for long, they are constantly changing.”
London-based photographer Paul Wright took these fascinating photos of New York City's street scenes when he visited there in 1982 and 1983.
Entrance to the Empire State Building, New York City |
Facing north on Fifth Ave., at 54th St., NYC |
Facing north on Sixth Avenue, at about 42nd St, NYC |
Greenwich Village at the interection of W8th Street and 6th Avenue, looking south |
Looking up at the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, NYC |
Lush Life was a restaurant and jazz club on Thompson Street at Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, NYC |
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, New York City |
Manhattan from Liberty Island, New York |
NYC street scene |
NYC street scene |
NYC street scene |
Reflected buildings, New York City |
Saint Marks Place, New York City |
St. Marks Cinema in Manhattan’s East Village, on the corner of St. Marks Place and Second Avenue |
St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City |
Statue of Liberty, NYC |
The Back Fence music bar on Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, New York |
The Dakota apartment building in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City |
The entrance to a New York City subway station |
The Hotel Chelsea neon sign, West 23rd Street, NYC |
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City |
Twin Towers from Liberty Island, New York |
View from the Empire State Building, New York |
View from the Empire State Building, New York |
View from the Empire State Building, New York |
View from the Empire State Building, New York |
View from the enclosed observation deck of the World Trade Center, New York City |
Yellow Cab driver, New York City |
A protest against Iranian's religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, New York City |
Chelsea Hotel on West 23rd Street, NYC |
City Diner, New York City |
Dog on a fire hydrant, New York City |
East 17th Street & Broadway, NYC |