Let our old, historic photos of NYC take you back to a time when art deco was in its infancy, New York subway rides were a nickel, police walked the beat, NYC doctors made house calls and phone calls were made in telephone booths. Read More

Many of these pictures of old New York emphasize the new art deco buildings that were emerging over Manhattan, dominating the older buildings that preceded them. These buildings, inspired by designs of the popular art deco movement in New York and Chicago, created an intriguing contrast between old and new. The Victorian and cast iron architecture familiar to New Yorkers at this time, succumbed to the new look of art deco design, resulting in a permanent change to the skyline of Manhattan.

Our photographer Joseph H. Sachs (1901-2000) draws us into this time period with photos of NY that entice us to become not just an observer, but also a participant, with a feeling that you are almost living the times of the early 1920s and 1930s in New York City.

Please feel free to browse the many photos we have of Old New York and please contact us with any questions you may have.

Interested in purchasing prints of these fabulous photos of New York in the Swing Era? Visit our Old NYC merchandise site! Here you can purchase photos, t-shirts, mugs, mouse pads and an assortment of additional items. You will also find photos of old New York not shown in our current site.