March 13, 2012

A Time Traveling, Time-Lapse Trip Through NYC In 1968

The NY Times City Room Blog is one of my favorite sites to find strange odds and ends about life in "The City."  Over the weekend, they posted a clip from an experimental film (remember experimental film?!) by Hollis Frampton in which he shot a time-lapse journey through the city. Making his trek on a weekend in 1968, Frampton starts at the Brooklyn Bridge then heads up Broadway, through Union Square, Madison Square, Sixth Avenue and ends in a teeming Central Park.

What is most surprising to me about this filmed time capsule is how little the essential streetscape of the city has changed, especially in lower Manhattan.  I could see and identifying many of the buildings along the journey, though certainly the signage and some facades have been altered.  However, what's most remarkable to a New Yorker is the strange lack of people on the sidewalks, not to mention the abundant availability of parking on the street.