New York City 1967

[Ducov]

I've seen a couple of these pictures before and love the way they record a time of great transistion. Still a lot were also new to me, that one with the general motor's building being constructed was a real find.

As for the aesthetics, well, that opening a whole can of worms. Whilst I agree that structures like On Chase Manhattan, are bold, handsome buildings, they were nonetheless very disruptive. They were huge and without setbacks so required large, windy plazas cutting of the building from the rest of the street. The Seagram, maybe not big enough to effect the skyline certainly had a huge effect at ground level with it's raised plaza.

I guess it kinda set the trend for vast boxes, without shop fronts at street level that became cities in themselves.

But it's all subjective in the end.

[Wrightguy0]

You Know if I had my way I'd tear down One Liberty floor by floor and I'd rebuild the Singer Building as a signature Hotel, but that's just me.

[zigzag]

Cool, the year of my birth.

[Junctionist]

Besides, many of those deco towers are nothing but ornate boxes with pretty "lids".

[mthq]

I think the right angle is important when determining whether lower manhattan has changed for the better or not so much.

From a ferry, as seen here, the tip just looks depressing imo:

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From these two shots however, the diversity is great:

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[LSyd]

thanks.

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[lawsond]

These photographs actually break my heart.

I see here a city of tiered architectural marvels that yearn to break free and soar to the sky, but are mercilessly overpowered by the boxes that will soon destroy the Skyline of Oz.

agreed. a terrible tragedy right up there with ripping down penn station was allowing the skyline of lower manhattan to be destroyed.
i have advocated turning lower manhattan into a "unesco world heritage site" and one by one, weeding out all the modern architecture.
it was the original skyline for the planet earth and deserves to be preserved as such.
but there's no sense of preservation yet in the u.s...nothing more than a building here or there. no european sense of a city center that needs tlc...just rip er down and build er up again.

[verticalextropy]

wow those 60s pictures are fantastic!!! thanks for them! Specially the close ups of the roofs,well everything!

How sad is to see the current downtown skyline though....
Think that the last time i stepped in NYC was in August 2001, only changing planes at JFK. I had the opportunity to go for just a couple of hours to manhattan but i decided to be a good boy

[Chicago3rd]

Originally Posted by Patrick

I just dont understand why people are so sad over the takeover of box's in NYC.

I mean, the skyline wasnt even that great

Unlike today there was nothing close to that skyline back then on this whole planet. Seems rather sad when people cannot appreciate something for what it truly was back in it's time...very sad.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by Chicago3rd

Unlike today there was nothing close to that skyline back then on this whole planet. Seems rather sad when people cannot appreciate something for what it truly was back in it's time...very sad.

Skylines grow! Building evolve! NYC in the 1930's was an amazing sight, but those times have come and gone, like the pre-9/11 skyline. And IMO I just really like diverse skyines. I mean the result of the 1960's boxes wasnt a total tragedy:


(wikipedia commons)

[Wrightguy0]

But still, nothing beats the skyline rising up to it's zenith at 40 wall. That, to me, will always remain the perfect skyline

[mrskyline]

I agree that the post September 11th lower Manhattan skyline is depressing. There is a huge void without the twin towers.

The pre-1950's lower Manhattan skyline was beautiful with the slender spired towers like City Services as the focal point. The big boxes do destroy that scale, but I think the balance will be restored with the new towers on the World Trade Center site.

[America 117]

WOW
citys really change think of how our citys will look about 30 years from now!!!

[NYC4Life]

A very strange looking Lower Manhattan without the World Financial Center and Battery Park City. Quite a contrast to the skyline of today, even without the WTC.