OldNYC, a project by Dan Vanderkam  in collaboration with the New York Public Library, places historic photos from the library's collection onto an interactive map of New York. We've taken screen grabs of Google street view to show how the city has transformed over the years.

This photo was taken in September of 1939 looking west down W. 42nd Street from Sixth Avenue. In the distance is the Times Building in Times Square.

Walk the digital streets of old school New York. Image 1.

 

Walk the digital streets of old school New York. Image 2.

 

Not much is known about this photograph, which was taken on the corner of Bogart and Johnson. Now this corner off the Morgan L in Bushwick (and a few blocks from Hopes&Fears headquarters) pretty much looks the same save for a couple of horses and a bunch of grafiti.

Walk the digital streets of old school New York. Image 3.

Walk the digital streets of old school New York. Image 4.

 

Here the synagogue of the Gongregation Ahavath Achim Ansche Ungarn sits on the east side of Columbia Street just south of Rivington Street. To the left is a portion of No. 74, the tenement at the southeast corner of Rivington. Now the block is a parking lot.

Walk the digital streets of old school New York. Image 5.

Walk the digital streets of old school New York. Image 6.

 

This photo, taken in 1919, shows Wall Street on the corner of Pearl Street in the city's financial district. Road conditions haven't improved much.

Walk the digital streets of old school New York. Image 7.

Walk the digital streets of old school New York. Image 8.