Angels of an Upper West Side apartment house

These lovely figures decorate the facade of the Evelyn, at 78th Street and Columbus Avenue—one of the city’s oldest apartment buildings, built in 1885.

Hard to believe that just 25 years ago, the angels may have been in the sights of a wrecking ball!

Huddling by the stove at the 72nd Street El

Berenice Abbott took this February 6, 1936 photograph of subway riders warming up in the El station at 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue. El tracks lined Columbus from 1879 to 1940.

The paneled windows, wooden turnstiles, and decorative border along the interior wall are some rather old-fashioned touches for a public train station. And when was the last time you saw a pot-bellied stove in the subway? Gives the photo quite a homey feel.