Take a Ride Through the Turn-of-the-Century Lower East Side [VIDEO]
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This unique drive-by film job is over one hundred years old. And it’s rather stunning. The found footage offers a brief glipmse of Lower East Side life shortly after the turn of the last century.
It’s difficult to definitively determine the exact neighborhood locations, but after poring over the piece for some time, our best guess is as follows…
The opening shots move along Grand Street; the camera then quickly cuts to a bustling scene on Hester Street; then we walk up Centre Street to the former Police Headquarters building at number 240; Broome Street closes out the clip.
240 Centre Street wasn’t completed until 1909, so the film itself dates to right around that time.
We often read (and see photos) of clogged streets – horse-drawn carriages, pushcarts, vendors – yet it’s obviously rare to see the moving image. We particularly love the random pedestrians waving and smiling at the camera. Or the kid who kept running to keep up with the videographer. Cool stuff.
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