At Fourth Avenue looking toward Astor Place, Arthur Leipzig took this black and white shot of the street and trolley tracks slick with rain from what looks like a cold, dreary downpour.
The image captures the strange beauty of the city under dark, rainy skies, as well as a provocative moment during an ordinary New York day: pedestrians going on their way, the glow of a single traffic light, parked cars that have accumulated snow.
Leipzig, a wonderful photographer of New York’s moods and moments, passed away last Friday.
The New York Times wrote that “his goal was to capture people — their personalities, problems and potential — at a particular moment in the rush of time; making artfully lighted and carefully rendered portraits was not for him.”
Tags: Arthur Leipzig, New York in the 1940s, New York Photo League, New York streetcar tracks, Rain 1945 photo, rainy New York photos
Ephemeral New York 
December 8, 2014 at 7:08 am |
Isn’t that 4th Ave, looking toward Astor Place?
December 8, 2014 at 7:14 am |
I think you’re right…how did I not recognize that? I only walk by it several times a week!
December 8, 2014 at 12:28 pm |
Can you update that information into the post text, so that it carries into every reblog?
December 8, 2014 at 11:20 am |
Reblogged this on The Quotidian Hudson.
December 8, 2014 at 2:05 pm |
Either 4th Avenue near Astor Place, or Fulton Street (now roughly Cadmen Plaza) in Brookl;yn
December 8, 2014 at 2:31 pm |
To me it looks like Union Square West and 15th Street. But what’s that statue on 14th St, Gandhi wasn’t up yet in 1945 or maybe planning to be? Haha!
December 8, 2014 at 3:40 pm |
Really impressive photo. Even looks like one of NY’s finest just right of the pedestrian. Nice!
December 8, 2014 at 4:34 pm |
The commentary about the photo is as beautiful as the photo. Thank you
December 8, 2014 at 5:06 pm |
Isn’t that the bull downtown, in the background?
December 8, 2014 at 5:28 pm |
The Bull downtown was set up 1989 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charging_Bull
December 8, 2014 at 5:50 pm |
This IS Fourth Avenue looking south toward Astor Place. The building on the right with the arched windows is a K Mart today. The subway entrance at the center of the photo has a replica of the original subway entrances.
December 8, 2014 at 6:08 pm |
Then what’s the white building with arched window across the street. And what’s the statue standing there? There was one before Gandi on 14th St.
December 8, 2014 at 6:13 pm |
I believe John Lynch is might be correct, looks to me that this was taken looking south from what is now Cadman Plaza from approximately Montague Street. The building with the arches is now the NY Sports Club at Court & Remsen, and on the left I can see Brooklyn Borough Hall.
December 8, 2014 at 6:15 pm |
Hopefully this shows up as Street View!
https://goo.gl/maps/3m1gs
December 8, 2014 at 6:25 pm |
Wow, thanks, the mystery deepens. Also, many streetcar lines terminated at Cadman Plaza. The tracks in the photo support the possibility that this is Brooklyn, not Astor Place.
December 9, 2014 at 12:06 am |
Cadman Plaza it is.The statue of Henry Ward Beecher is still tin the neighborhood. https://goo.gl/maps/2EXJX
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ward_Beecher_Monument
December 8, 2014 at 11:15 pm |
This is absolutely Downtown Brooklyn–Fulton Street/Court Street/Cadman Plaza looking South toward Borough Hall, with the Brooklyn Municipal building rising behind it. They look the same today. The statue in the center is that of Henry Ward Beecher, subsequently moved to just south of Johnson Street, on the plaza/Columbus Park in front of Kings County Supreme Court. I’ve seen this photo identified as such elsewhere. The buildings on the right/west side, and to the rear, south, are the SAME. The streets have been reconfigured since, and some eliminated, with the elimination of the street car tracks, and the construction of Cadman Plaza, Columbus Park pedestrian plaza and the Kings County Supreme Court building.
December 9, 2014 at 2:50 pm |
At first I thought this was Astor Place as well, due to that building on the right with the three large arched windows. That is not K-mart (the former Wanamakers store) which has many more arches. It is also not the NY Mercantile Building which has only two arches, nor the Carl Fisher building which has five. Besides, where’s Cooper Union? This must be somewhere else!
December 9, 2014 at 8:25 pm |
Hi,
It’s what is now Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn. Brooklyn Borough Hall is in the middle background and the Brooklyn Municipal Building is behind it, at 210 Joralemon Street. The statue near the subway entrance is of Henry Ward Beecher, the 19-century abolitionist preacher at the nearby Plymouth Church. The statue stands today, further north in Cadman Plaza.
Since Fulton Street was closed off, we can’t see it from the exact corner, but here is a contemporary street view from Court Street, which should clear things up.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cadman+Plaza+Park/@40.6936569,-73.9904876,3a,75y,179.21h,83.81t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sfP7Zm9k4L0Kd_HiV9B1klA!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xf86044967962ee82
December 13, 2014 at 1:24 am |
Manhattan did not have trolley wires above the tracks; electricity was collected from a slot in between the running rails. This is most definitely Boro Hall, Brooklyn.