Text and Photographs by Stephen Harmon
I lived in an area of single-family homes in a Long Island suburb. Unless you drove to a shopping mall, you rarely saw people on the street — occasionally, kids playing after school or a neighbor watering a lawn or raking leaves.
When I moved to the Upper West Side in the 1970s, I was astounded by how many people of all ages, colors, and genders were walking on the streets and going into and coming out of the numerous stores and restaurants, especially on Broadway. I was even more astounded and delighted to see the numerous benches and medians where people would sit — a single person reading or lost in his own thoughts, couples or friends just talking or enjoying the weather, large groups interacting or not as they pleased.
There was such a great sense of community, of pleasure in just being alive. I soon loved taking candid photos of those people, preserving on film what seemed to be a way of life. I also spoke with many of them, who happily posed for portraits after telling me how long they had been married, or that they were brothers, or that she’s my Mom. Here are a few of the very many images I have from those vanished days of the 1970s and 80s.
Editor’s note: when we commented to Steve that the photographs skewed older, he replied: “I agree – I will look again, but the young did not sit around.”
Stephen Harmon is a longtime Upper West Sider, a retired lawyer, and a world-class photographer whose work is displayed in many of the city’s museums, including The Museum of the City of New York, The Brooklyn Museum, The New-York Historical Society, and The New York Public Library.
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love the first pictures with the fairways with much smaller footprint. Is that a Longs on the Corner?
Was Long’s a pharmacy? That was on the corner of 74th. Next was a clothing store . Fariway, D’Agostino’s, Citarella, a jeans store, and then, an ice cram and cady store at the corner of 75th. We lived in the parlor floor floor-through apartment at 234 West 75th for 4.5 wonderful years, December, ’79-June, 84.
From Jane Jacobs’s The Death and Life of Great American Cities:
“This last point, that the sight of people attracts still other people, is something that city planners and city architectural designers seem to find incomprehensible. They operate on the premise that city people seek the sight of emptiness, obvious order and quiet. Nothing could be less true. People’s love of watching activity and other people is constantly evident in cities everywhere. This trait reaches an almost ludicrous extreme on upper Broadway in New York, where the street is divided by a narrow central mall, right in the middle of traffic. At the cross-street intersections of this long north-south mall, benches have been placed behind big concrete buffers and on any day when the weather is even barely tolerable these benches are filled with people at block after block after block, watching the pedestrians who cross the mall in front of them, watching the traffic, watching the people on the busy sidewalks, watching each other.”
I was in college here in the 70’s and have never left. The young certainly sat on the benches watching the world go by. We called it “the boat”
👍👍👍
How great to see these photos! Take us back to the days of no cell phones, e-bikes, etc.. Thank you West Side Rag for continuing to post this series!
Love your photos so much! I take a lot of bench sitters too, but these are so nostalgia filled.
The best batch yet! I love the mix of young and old, heavily dressed and shirtless!
These photos make Thursdays special.
Thank you, thank you. You have captured the essence of these people and the UWS. These photos are very moving to me
Terrific photos. However, I’m always afraid I’m going to turn up in one of them. 🙂
You should be so lucky! 🙂
People got dressed up before they went out and most are wearing real shoes-not sneakers.
I do that now. Even just to run to Kossar’s for a bagel!
Excellent!
Such GORGEOUS portraits! So beautiful. Your photos should be hanging in a large gallery!.
Have you thought of publishing a collection? I’d buy it in a heartbeat. Try Crown or Schocken. I adore your work
me too!
I could look at Mr. Harmon’s photos all day. I am mentally and emotionally transported back to that time with the people whose photos he captured. In these moments of our country’s life, it brings me a sense of comfort and belonging to see these people gathered together.
So, I am in tears after looking at all of the photos, particularly the last one of the couple dressed up and sitting watching the river. These times were so special and are gone but the photos let us know how great it was. Yes Mr. Steve Harmon, do make a book and I and others will buy it! I live right next to you, maybe we can have coffee at Pier 72????????????
Lily Goldstien
Brings back memories. People still sick but for some reason not the same sense of community. Maybe just the times.More alienation and fear.
Wonderful photos! I even recognize some of the faces…! Thank you.
Some of these bring to mind the Simon and Garfunkel song “Old Friends”. I love your work, thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you for the kind words!
What, people don’t sit on benches anymore?
I love how people are dressed like they have a sense of pride in themselves and people are interacting with each other as a community.
I saw that too when I was photographing them back then.
Immortalized in the movie “Harry and Tonto…” (ask your grandparents)
My partner and I lived in Raleigh, NC but from the late 80s until Covid we came to NYC multiple times a year. We loved staying at the Beacon. We felt at home on the UWS. I remember one Saturday we left NC very early. We were sitting on a bench in the middle of Broadway having pastries and coffee and it was still morning. A glorious way to spend time.
We’re still there. Though some of our benches have been taken over by delivery bikers.
Love the photos and memories of the UWS. By any chance do you have pics of Nevada Meat Market on Broadway and the W 60’s? Thanks for all of the great memories.