You Can't Go Home Again

This photo from about 1918 can be any street in many neighborhoods in NYC. People walking, kids playing, tenements, framed houses, garages, Belgian blocks, sewers, etc.. The difference is you can’t see these streets or buildings today because they’re GONE. They didn’t just put up new buildings, they wiped out the whole neighborhood.

This is a view of East 15th Street from Avenue B to Avenue A. In the 1940’s, the area from First Avenue to Avenue C and 14th to 23rd Stretts was razed displacing 11,000 people and eliminating 600 buildings, 500 stores and small factories, three churches, three schools, and two theaters. The old Gashouse District was essentially eliminated to build the Stuyvesant Town - Peter Copper Village development that is there.

A classic example of urban renewal that was all too common in New York City.

NYPL 1918 - East 15th Street looking West from Avenue B to Avenue A. That’s the Second Avenue El in the distance on First Avenue