Throwback Thursday: 1980s Street Life, ‘One Person Only’
Posted on May 12, 2022 at 11:22 am by West Side Rag
Photographs and Text by Stephen Harmon
I moved to the Upper West Side in 1978 and was fascinated by the street life and the people I saw. It was a time of great diversity and everyone seemed to fit in. The people I photographed throughout the 1980s had dignity and great humanity. As I look at the photos, it seems like a distant time in a distant place. A friend of mine says the 1980s is a vanished time. During that decade, I made over 500 photographs of people in the neighborhood — one person only.
FABULOUS
Photos along with the Beatles in background singing….
Yesterday
All my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
POWERFUL…THANK YOU STEPHEN HARMON
These are fabulous. I hope you’ll be able to post more here every few weeks… or at your leisure.
Till then, thank you for sharing thought-provoking visual moments from an era where people actually looked at other people instead of their phones.
Good stuff. I hope you never stopped taking pictures. Where was that diner?
And idea of the of the location/name of the dineresque interior with the red stools? Rudy
Don’t remember the name but I think the diner was on Amsterdam between 73rd & 74th.
the hollywood diner was on columbus avenue between 73 rd and 74 th streets // great french toast !!
Amsterdam Diner, I believe. Amsterdam between 73rd and 74th, east side of the street, but no longer there.
Love these! Thank you for sharing!
Oh WOW these pictures are just fabulous!! Thank you so much for sharing! I think my fav might be the lady in the blue double-breasted dress. Or the lovely doorman. Just wonderful.
outside of no internet access, these were great times.
the hollywood diner was on columbus avenue between 73 rd street and 74 th street // great french toast !
Wonderful faces!
More,more,more…just wonderful!
Very interesting pictures. I spent a lot of time studying them. One that had me puzzled was the guy at the hot dog cart. Above his head is a sign that says, FRENCH POSTCARDS-LOADS OF FUN-CBS. I wondered what that could be. A little research showed that in 1979 there was a movie, “French Postcards”. The local news used to have movie reviewers. I guess the reviewer at CBS thought the movie was loads of fun and theater management put that comment on their marquee.
FRENCH POSTCARDS was a 1979 romantic comedy with Debra Winger and Mandy Patinkin , among others
Love love love these pictures! Thank you for sharing, would love to see more. You should consider a show somewhere, maybe NY Historical Society?
Nice!
I was so happy to see the picture of the “accordion man”!
I loved hearing his music waft theough the air over 72nd st & into my apt windows . He was a wonderful gift to the neighborhood. If only the Hollywood Diner could have held on as the neighborhood changed. Lovely memories, thanks!
More please!
Omg The Amsterdam Diner on 73rd Street! My husband and I went every Sunday morning. I loved that place. thanks for the picture!!
I do miss a good diner, especially after a gorgeous black & white movie at the Thalia (maybe Bergman’s SEVENTH SEAL?)… moments fast frozen into personal history; too soon the sepia memory.
Great photographs, thank you!
Thought provoking …
Were is everybody now.
Keep showing pictures