As many great cities lay in ruins after World War II, New York City assumed a new global prominence. It became the home of the United Nations headquarters, built 1947–1952; inherited the role from Paris as center of the art world with Abstract Expressionism; and became a rival to London in the international finance and art markets. Yet the population declined after 1950, with increasing suburbanization in the New York metropolitan area as pioneered in Levittown, New York.
Midtown Manhattan, fueled by postwar prosperity, was experiencing an unprecedented building boom that changed its very appearance. Glass-and-steel office towers in the new International Style began to replace the ziggurat-style towers (built in wedding-cake style) of the prewar era. Also rapidly changing was the eastern edge of the East Village close to FDR Drive. Many traditional apartment blocks were cleared and replaced with large-scale public housing projects.
These fascinating photos were found by Mark Susina that show what New York City looked like in the 1950s.
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| New York City, circa 1950s |
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| New York City street scenes, circa 1950s |
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| New York City, 1952 |
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| New York City, 1952 |
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| Lackawanna Car Ferry, New York City, circa 1953 |
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| Lever House, New York City, 1953 |
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| Lever House, New York City, 1953 |
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| New York City apartment building, 1953 |
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| New York City apartment building, 1953 |
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| New York City, 1953 |
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| New York City, circa 1953 |
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| Outside the United Nations General Assembly building, New York City, circa 1953 |
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| Statue of Liberty, New York City, circa 1953 |
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| Times Square, New York City, 1953 |
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| Times Square, New York City, circa 1953 |
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| United Nations Building, New York City, 1953 |
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| United Nations Building, New York City, 1953 |
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| United Nations Building, New York City, circa 1953 |
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| View looking north from the Empire State Building, New York City, 1953 |
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| New York City, circa 1955 |
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| View from the Empire State Building, New York City, circa 1955 |
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| Rockefeller Center, New York City, circa 1956 |
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| Rockefeller Center, New York City, circa 1956 |
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| Theodore Roosevelt Equestrian Statue, New York City, circa 1956 |
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| Woman and son from the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City, circa 1956 |
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| Woman and son, New York City, circa 1956 |
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| Loew's State Theater, Times Square, New York City, circa 1957 |
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| Times Square, New York City, 1957 |
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| Coney Island, New York City, 1958 |
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| Coney Island, New York City, 1958 |
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| Coney Island, New York City, 1958 |
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| Coney Island, New York City, 1958 |
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| Coney Island, New York City, 1958 |
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| Coney Island, New York City, 1958 |
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| Coney Island, New York City, 1958 |
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| New York City, 1958 |
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| New York City, 1958 |
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| New York City, circa 1958 |
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| 3rd Avenue and 52nd Street, New York City, December 1959 |
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| Best & Co., New York City, 1959 |
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| From the Empire State Building looking north toward Central Park, New York City, 1959 |
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| Harbor cruise, New York City, 1959 |
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| Horseshoe Bar and Grill, New York City, 1959 |
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| New York City Subway, December 1959 |
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| New York City, 1959 |
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| New York City, 1959 |
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| New York City, December 1959 |
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| New York City, December 1959 |
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| Soviet National Exhibition - New York Coliseum, 1959 |
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| White Rose Bar and Harmony Grill, Peter Minuit Plaza, Whitehall Street, New York City, 1959 |