35 Fascinating Photos That Capture Street Scenes of New York City in the Early 1980s

   

“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