Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York, is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in the City of New York, which itself originated at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in 1624, at a point which now constitutes the present-day Financial District.
These fascinating snapshots from Ed Sijmons that show what Lower Manhattan looked like in 1980.
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| 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) with taxis and far away Empire State Building |
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| 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) |
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| A 1951 Pontiac Chieftain in Orchard Street |
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| Advertising, wallpainting, vans on Delancey Street near The Bowery |
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| Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) and West 8th Street, looking east |
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| Battery Park, WTC, Manhattan, Hudson |
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| Brooklyn Bridge seen from Dover Street |
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| Building site near 2nd Avenue |
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| Chase Manhattan Bank on Fifth Avenue |
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| Chatham Square in Chinatown near Doyers Street and The Bowery |
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| Checker Cab on Second Avenue |
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| Chevrolet, 7th Avenue near Barrow Street |
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| Downtown Manhattan, seen from Brooklyn Bridge |
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| FDNY Fire Engine near Second Avenue, near Bowery |
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| Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, East River and Brooklyn |
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| Holland Tunnel near Hudson Street and Hudson river |
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| Lower Manhattan street scenes |
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| Lower Manhattan street scenes |
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| Manhattan Municipal Building (Centre Street) and Court of Appeals (Foley Square) |
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| Manhattan seen from Brooklyn Bridge |
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| Michael's Ice Cream in Chinatown |
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| "Miss Liberty" of the Circle Line (Ferry to Statue of Liberty) |
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| Mural at junction of 2nd Avenue and East Houston Street |
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| Mural of Dutch cocoa |
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| Near The Bowery and China Town |
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| Near The Bowery with GMC truck "Turner's" |
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| New York harbour |
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| Old houses at Hudson and Dominick Streets |
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| Orchard Street |
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| Orchard Street |
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| Paramount Building in the center with clock and globe is 1501 Broadway |
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| Park and buildings near The Battery |
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| Rent-a-Truck near The Bowery, Cooper Square |
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| Seventh Avenue in the Village near Bleecker |
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| Sol Moscot Opticians on corner of Delancey and Orchard Streets |
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| Street scenes in Lower Manhattan |
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| Street scenes near Second Avenue |
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| Stuyvesant Street seen from Third Avenue to Second Avenue |
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| The Battery with "O'HENRY's FILM WORKS" |
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| The Bowery near Bleecker and Bond Streets, Empire State Building in the distance |
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| The Manhattan Savings Bank (demolished) in Chinatown |
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| The Manhattan Savings Bank (demolished), Chatham Square - Kimlau Square |
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| Twin Towers on the far left |
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| Wallpainting by Cityarts Workshop Inc. on Forsyth Street, just north of Delancey |
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| Wallpainting near East Street |
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| Wallpaintings in East Houston Street at the corner of 2nd Avenue. |
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| Wallpaintings in East Houston Street at the corner of 2nd Avenue |
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| "WITTMAYER STUDIOS" for weddings, bar mitzvahs and portraits, 158 Rivington Street |
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| WTC reflection |
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| WTC World Trade Center seen from China Town |