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Eyes on the Street

Alternative Uses for Curbside Parking Space, Circa 1941

5:11 PM EDT on May 18, 2007

This striking color photograph was snapped on Broome Street near Baruch Place (a street that vanished beneath the Bernard Baruch housing project) on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, September 27, 1941. The photo is part of the Charles W. Cushman collection at Indiana University. A tip of the hat to Kevin Walsh's outstanding Forgotten New York web site for pointing this out.

What would we call this street scene today? An art installation? Political demonstration? Nuisance? Danish?

Enjoy a bigger version of the photo, right here.

Aaron Naparstek
@naparstek.bsky.social

Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.

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