That was probably the best years NYC ever saw. I remember 1959 in the City. It was good.

I was there for Halloween and for 8 days after that last November, and it was the best city I've ever been to. The people were sooo nice and helpful. They made this Aussie feel at home.

My first trip to New York City was in 1953. Went to the top of the Empire State Building & the RCA building. Saw The Today Show on the air live when it was Dave Garroway, Frank Blair etc. I think J. Fred Muggs did the weather!! Took a Circle Line boat trip around Manhattan. Remember the S. S. United States was docked near where our tour boat left. Went down the Hudson, around the Statue of Liberty, up the East River & under the Brooklyn Bridge, up the Harlem River by Yankee Stadium, under the GW

@tunisian_stats

4 ай бұрын

You are probably Dead now R.I.P

@boblackey1

4 ай бұрын

@@tunisian_stats No still here. But retired.

@tunisian_stats

3 ай бұрын

@@boblackey1 I am sorry. But Since You said your first trip was in the early 50s I assumed you were in your early 20s at that time but apparently you were a kid

@boblackey1

3 ай бұрын

@@tunisian_stats Yes I was born in 1946. But I remember the trip with my parents well. Empire State Building, SS United States, Statue of Liberty on the Circle Line, Times Square, etc etc. I'm 77 now. I've been back to NYC several times over the years. No need to apologize. I thought it was funny. Take care.

@tunisian_stats

3 ай бұрын

@@boblackey1 You too, have a great day.

I love the old buildings and especially the old neon signs. A vanishing art form. Thanks.

This was really cool to see, thanks for posting it. I'm a N.Y.C. girl, born and bred... really enjoyed seeing the city and what it was like 11 years or so before I was born. Great quality footage too. I enjoyed that immensely, thanks again.

Fascinating to see the New York of my childhood again in these pictures. A pity that so much is gone for good.

I was ten years old when this video was filmed and living in New York what memories. I often go back just to visit. New York is New York is there anywhere else?

NYC in 1959 still had the big classy nightclubs - the Stork, El Morocco, Latin Quarter, the original CopaCabana, the Empire Room, the Persion Room, live television, like Ed Sullivan and Jackie Gleason and many more. The glamor (a little frayed by 59) of the 40's and 50's was about to be trashed by the explosive changes of the 1960's. We lost the old order and civility of the 50's and before in the 60's (esp late 60's). As a kid, I saw it all happen and i remember everyone talked about it.

Great video of New York City in 1959! The color quality is Beautiful and Times Square looked better than ever! I love this video! It is timeless!

It's my honest opinion, but I believe Art Deco architecture needs a revival.

@marcchevalier3750

Жыл бұрын

nope. immigrants and colored would vandalize and call out racism/anti lgbtq etc...

This footage is nothing short of magical. Just wish I could give it more than a measly "thumbs-up"!

Absolutely the best time to have experienced. When you got your money's worth, and the coins were silver. Kids today have no idea what they have missed out on. Hard to believe, but one day these youths will look back on 2013 and say...remember the good ol days! What a lost crowd if ever there was.

@tommycasidy3031

21 күн бұрын

With technology the kids see what they missed out on. I see some of them commenting that they were born in the wrong time. 😢

Love the neon light shots especially.

@sw5114

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely!!

Although it's much shorter, Alfred Hitchcock's film "North By Northwest," filmed the same year, shows some spectacular color shots of Midtown Manhattan in its opening montage, concluding with Hitchcock himself juuuust missing a bus as his name appears onscreen as director.

Skyline looks so different yet the same. Amazing footage. Wow!

@madmaxninja08 All I know is, me and my family moved out of the city in 1991. When we were walking around the city in 1996 or '97, my dad kept remarking how much safer the atmosphere felt. I'm no Guliani fan, but you gotta give him credit for getting the place under control. But in a way, Bloomberg (whatever else you want to say about the guy) deserves even more credit, because he proved that it's possible to keep the progress going without antagonizing people the way Guliani did.

One of the saddest days was when Willie Mays and the Giants left to go to SF. Love turned into hatred when they returned to play the Mets. Through all those losing years with Stengel, Throneberry, Ashburn, Coleman, etc. until the Championship of 1969, I remained loyal to the Mets until this day from afar. Born in 46 and left for good in 66, I still say that I'm a New Yorker, with pride.

@boblewin7099

7 жыл бұрын

Exact same story for me except my 1st love was the Dodgers. Been a Metsie fan since '61 and suffered all those years until '69. Moved out of NYC in '79 but am still a Met's boy and proud to be a NYker/Brooklynite even though I live in the South. Go METS!! Hope you get the WildCard this week!!

@richardr655

7 жыл бұрын

The one irreplaceable that the Dodgers have always had was the great Vince Scully. Sad to see that era end. He was the best.

@frdjr2529

3 жыл бұрын

Born '52 in Brooklyn. Dad took me to my first MLB game at Ebbets Field in '56. Became a Mets fan in '62. We moved to LI in 1959, but my Italian extended family remained in Brooklyn for decades after. I had the best of two worlds!

John Coltrane GIANT STEPS!!!! Miles Davis KIND OF BLUE!!!! Dave Brubeck TIME OUT!!!! Charles Mingus AH-UM!!!! All of them recorded in New York in 1959!!!!

@michaelsmg1270

5 жыл бұрын

You stole my words! BLUE IN GREEN from the album Kind Of Blue, was recorded this year ! 😍

wow what a time capsule...thanks!!!

I was born in August 1959, so this video hits home. There is a book "Everything Changed in 1959" It makes a good case!!!

Wonderful footage! Thank you so much whoever posted this!

Great footage -- much of NYC in 1959 was very much the same as it was in the late 40's. This footage documents the end of an era in NYC - it was a more innocent place than it was ten years later. The City in 1969 was a completely different place. We were a different people by 1969. In 1959, we still had the original Penn Station with many long-distance trains (more than Amtrak), the big movie palaces -the Paramount, Capitol and Roxy, the Astor Hotel - All gone by 69. continued...

I visited NYC in June '59,when i was 10,with my aunt & brother.The first and nonstop impression of the city was the population density of Manhatten(Mahatten Spritiial was on the charts then).We visited the Automat,had a great sandwich;the observation deck of the Empire State bldg;Radio City(was that Mayor Wagner in the Imperial convertible?);Liberty Island;etc.....Perhaps it's fortunate i have'nt been back,I can remember it from the time of 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

NYC had by far the most beautiful skyline in the world up through the 1970s. Too many lame uninteresting, boring and cookie-cutter high rises have been built since then, sadly. This film makes me sad.

Great video! I always thought it sad that they could not have maintained the Singer Building in Lower Manhattan, and it was demolished in 1968...would have been a great NYC historical landmark

@3markaw

5 жыл бұрын

Ernest Flagg designed some very beautiful buildings and that one was my favorite. New York had recently passed the landmark preservation law but did not have confidence it would hold up in court if challenged by the developers who razed the Singer building. Rather than risk having the law struck down they chose to not oppose demolition. Later the Supreme Court upheld the law but the loss of that building and another across the street where Zucatti park is now that was also very beutiful and also the City Investing building , all for one rather average modern replacement pains me to this day.

@sw5114

Жыл бұрын

@@3markaw Yes. Singer and Penn Station should never have been destroyed. Criminal .

this was my favorite year everything came into perspective. if I had to pick my favorite yr it would be 1959

@tommytruth7595

6 жыл бұрын

If you could stay there. Because after that came the 60's when this country went down the drain.

@hankaustin7091

6 жыл бұрын

I agree Joseph.. even if for nothing else but the fabulous cars of 1959, the Cadillacs and the Imperials!

@FormerlyNYVulgarian

3 жыл бұрын

Let me guess. The 60s started the downfall of America because of civil rights?

@dg1006

11 ай бұрын

@@FormerlyNYVulgarian..ahh yeah, that’s right.

its like looking at a different world.

I know this is an odd thing to notice, but if watch the video, look at the speed at which everyone is walking, they all seem to take their time, and all seem so open to conversation, nowadays everyone is practically running everywhere, and if you stop to talk to someone you don't know, you're quickly identified as a beggar or lunatic. It's and weird rant, I apologize, but I just can't get it out of my head.

@wmbrown6

3 жыл бұрын

May've been partly that . . . but on the Times Square footage, I wonder if the film was run at 18 fps rather than 24 fps.

@danityvanityinsanity

Жыл бұрын

We live in Bizarro world now! Where bad is good, black is white, ignorance is strength, war is peace, and freedom is slavery!

@sw5114

Жыл бұрын

Not a weird rant at all!

@maxshenkwrites

Жыл бұрын

That was my thought. There are parts of this that aren't running at the right speed.

Thanks for this marvelous video. I loved it. Awesome!!!

Great video. Thank you for sharing with all of us.

WOW this footage is a jewel. Thanks for posting.

I was born in 1958 so i love this.

love the cars!!!!!!!!!

That Rambler is a beauty. The video brings back memories of my home town. Sometimes wish I should have returned after military service back to Hanover Trust where I met Teresa; the most beautiful girl I had ever met. Oh well, like two ships that crossed paths in the night. I will never forget NYC and all of the friends and people I knew. Thanks so much.

@kakashi101able

8 жыл бұрын

I would say it was good that you stayed out of the city. Around the 60s is when it went down hill. Drugs, gangs and what not!

@richardr655

8 жыл бұрын

Yeah, you're right. I left in 66 and except for a couple of visits have never been back since 68. I know it got really bad in the 70's. I lost many family and friends to drugs. Sad. At least I took positive memories with me before it went down but NYC seems to get up from the canvass more than once.

@kakashi101able

8 жыл бұрын

Just think! You probably lived in the best time period in New York! I wish I could have lived in America through the 1950s!! New York now is much better compared to the 70s, but it still seems that the 50's were better then now! I found this interesting, it is a stat of crime through the 60s and now of New York, and you'll see of how it dramatically shot up! www.disastercenter.com/crime/nycrime.htm

@azul8811

6 жыл бұрын

Agreed, but be advised that the chart you are citing is for NY State, not just NYC.

I wish I was living back in those days.

My Dad would drive into the Bronx to see the Yankee's play at the old stadium in the 1950's. He almost played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1940's. My Uncle played for the Yankees. We parked the car out on the streets because my father hated the parking lot at Yankee Stadium. It was safe to walk at night to the car.

Does anyone else ever want to take a time machine back to era's like these?

@tommytruth7595

6 жыл бұрын

Hell yeah.

@dg1006

11 ай бұрын

💯

fantastic! who would film a neon sign now?

sigh, Chinatown without hipsters....mustve been an awesome time

Excellent Quality

Love it man. Great attitude. Great generation.

This video is amazing

great quality for the 50s!

Amazing quality. I was like 4 then. 50+ years later in the blink of an eye... Oh well. Thanks for this!!

"Midnight Matinee" Pullman Standard lyrics/song on KZread completes this: DEFINITELY worth listening(and sing). PEACE!

I was born in Manhattan's French hospital, 8-8-1959 It was a very good year.

city started to get "cleaned up" in 96 under guiliani. he became mayor in 94 but it took him some time to get things done.

From 13:36-13:42 @ 46th and B'way: This was about a few months before WABC-TV took over that advertising billboard with that particular zipper, remaining there till late 1964.

this was 2 years after i was born , nice video !

This is one good find! I agree with the guys who say this looks better than a lotta videos from the 70s. But in my honest opinion, the New York of the 1930s and 40s is the most ideal.

I love NY! That looks like a cool fall day; just like I remember them in the mid-late 90’s. I now live in NJ but NY will always have my heart. I might have to move to Manhattan in the next few years. Cheap? No. Worth every nickel of it - you bet!

i was born in nov 59, on Long island east meadow hosp. grew up in Freeport ny. great place for kids to have fun .

There’s something about NYC looking better than NYC today

The powers that were should have left the skyline the way it was is 59. What a wonderful testament to art deco it was. The Manhattan Chase bldg., for those in the know, was the beginning of the end of the charm of southern Manhattan.

wow. How it's good to watch this ..

Possible suspicious Mafioso keeping an eye out in little italy @5:35. Beautiful footage by the way.

@LIFEwithBAVAN

5 жыл бұрын

Chinatown

I love you new york! Always!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i am too! i went there in 44'

amazing

For an auto history buff (like me) one of the most incredible sights occurs at about 5:30 when a '57 Rambler Custom 4 door hardtop enters, one of the rarest AMC products ever. '57 Ramblers were not particularly attractive cars and made even less so when they cobbled together a "hardtop" style out of their 4 door sedan As a result AMC, which had one of their worst years ever in '57 sold less than 500 of these for the entire year , about the same number as Chevy Bel Air hardtops made on a typical morning. Yet. here it is...

You're so right though!! It's fun to try and talk to people that you don't know when walking the streets in NY.....it's very easy to pick out who are the uptight dolts and those who are friendly and are loving life..

I want to time travel back to 1959 New York City

@pannoni1 This is a really nice historical breakdown. I would break-up 1960-1980 to 1960-1970 coffee ahop/hippe era and 1970-1980 red light/punk era, 1980-1990 Real Estate era. 1995 to today is definitely the Tourist Age.

I was born in Jamaica hospital 1953, saw & did lots of cool things as a kid. A very different world back then yet really not that long ago

I was five years old going on six. And I would start school(1st grade) for the first time in September.

Rock n Roll was in full swing!

Great video! Ignore all of the political arguments. They still think their party cares about them and looks out for their interests and not their own. The city must have been very interesting with most of the immigrants pretty fresh off the boat. Would have love to have experienced that.

The font used for the "zipper" on the Bond building (with the Pepsi-Cola display), was in use from c.1958 to the early 1960's, and again in the early to mid-1970's. From c.1965 to c.1970 or '71, the type on this zipper was the same as used on the "zipper" of One Times Square from 1965 to c.1971.

@wmbrown6

3 жыл бұрын

Let me correct that: The One Times Square 'zipper' type was on the Bond zipper from spring 1967 to 1970-71 and again to 1976-77 in alternation with that 'square, boxy' type.

at the beginning of the vid we can see how the neoclassic style still shared space with modern buildings.

Humming "Somewhere in the Night" to this.

Most of this footage is from Little Italy and Chinatown, just for the sake of accuracy, here.

If you are talking to me, I was born in 1952 in Jamacia Queens. My family has been in the NYC/ New Jersey area since 1760. So watch who you say that to.

- The dangers of NYC in the '60s, '70s and '80s were highly exaggerated by the media.... and all the vice for which those decades are (in)famous could be found in the '50s... just not so much out on display.

@pennyf9 hehe, I remember watching them on the Hudson and wanting to grow up and work on one of them.

Whoa.

Actually in the Black and Puerto Rican working class neighborhoods after the Second World War, the burgeoning heroin trade and trafficking controlled by the Five Mafia Families and a corrupt Police Department laid the basis, along with deindustrialization and suburbanization of large portions of the White middle and working class for the massive areas of abandoned apartment houses and high crime and murder rates during the city’s nadir starting in the mid to late 1960s.

@azul8811

4 жыл бұрын

Oh? And what was the cause of the dramatic increase in building fires and the incredible number of false alarms starting in the late 1960's? The Mob and the NYPD? Is that was caused that?

Is it weird for a fourteen-year old to want so badly to live back then? Cause jeesh, what I wouldn't give to live in this time period. Just everything about the fifties makes me more and more interested about it. Everything was so much different back then. I personally think it looks so much better than today. I recently visited NYC and people there are so obnoxious. Even more so then when I was around seven or eight. People just don't care like they used to.

I've noticed that about boxing too. Some of the coloured videos of Muhammad Ali are better in the 60s then the boxing videos of Tyson in the 80s.

This is beautiful including the pick of the USS United States in New York Harbor!!

Yay it shows footage of the BIGU

@SatchmoSings I can't see the building in the film. They probably broke ground a year or two after it was filmed. However, you can see a clear shot of the building duing the last few minutes of the move Working Girl as the camera pans back.

Interesting! 1959 lower Manhatten skyline-NO Twin Towers! 2013 lower Manhatten skyline-NO Twin Towers!

When I see that Pepsi sign, it makes me want one.

@jpwjr1199

5 жыл бұрын

You want to buy an advertisement?

@bojack40

4 жыл бұрын

Peter Hogan and that ladies and gentlemen was how the US brought an end to western civilization in favour of unthinking consumerism

@frdjr2529

3 жыл бұрын

My dad worked at the Pepsi plant in LIC in 1959.

Wow 1959 city new york

@TLJAWSIMIB its film, the best stuff on earth... whats left of it. Buy a film camera, shoot a roll, develop it and love it. No LCD screen can ever compare

Compared to the people in old videos from other past eras, the people in this 1950's era look stiff uptight and joyless.

@lenisbennett8285

5 жыл бұрын

You would be stiff uptight and joyless to living in a city with to many Rats,Roaches,Bed Bugs and Democrats,plus the A-Bomb.Don't forget the normal look for a Democrat is stiff uptight and joyless.

THIS IS WHEN I FIRST ARRIVE IN THE CITY THAT I LOVE

Any film in coffee houses in Greenwich Village in 1961 when Dylan first arrived.

@redonionsauce While crime didn't START in the 60s, it did skyrocket. I've seen the United States homicide rates on Wikipedia---there's an enormous jump starting around 1965 and by the 1970s it was wayyyy up there. Then it started going down rather quickly after about 1993, and it's been going down ever since. I'm worried now though---with times being the way they are, I hope it doesn't start climbing up again.

@sanfrancisco89 Yes, the Chase building was what ended the skyline of lower Manhattan; is that it with the scaffolding on the side?

Nice time tour video. It could use some music. Something like Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett or any of the Rat Pack music about New York City.

McBragg: Chess Monster says @ 48:00 depicts he main dock for the Staten Island Ferry near Battery Park !

Sorry, I'm a gal. And there are still some neon signs out there. Thanks

51 years ago...wow.

Add some music and this will be a masterpiece

2 Broadway back when it was brand new. Glad they replaced the ugly window frames in 99 to give it a modern touch.

There is a strong striking resemblance of now and then. I swear if I could go back at that time, it'll be so similar to now. At least that's what I think.

That TCR timecode is called VITS, right? 3/4" and SuperVHS can do that.

@TLJAWSIMIB Color film was freaking expensive back then :P

Not for nothing but did anybody happen to see that big ass bird that was flying thru the air,it was absolutely HUGE!!it looked bigger then an eagle,and I've never known the city to have eagles anyway,but u can literally see it's shadow on the building before it comes into view,it is a very LARGE BIRD!!