In ’77, New York was emerging from the fiscal crisis of 1975, when the city came dangerously close to bankruptcy. Crime rates were high, many neighborhoods were losing population, and large tracts of waterfront and industrial land sat vacant or underused.
The recently completed World Trade Center towers dominate the skyline. At the time, they were among the tallest buildings in the world, standing 1,368 and 1,362 feet tall. Yet despite their immense scale, the surrounding area still contained vast stretches of undeveloped land, parking lots, warehouses, and decaying piers.
The photograph also highlights a forgotten aspect of Manhattan’s history: before luxury towers, waterfront parks, and billion-dollar real estate developments transformed the West Side, parts of Lower Manhattan retained an almost industrial frontier atmosphere. Land that would be worth millions of dollars today could sit nearly empty.
Added Fact: In the late 1970s, New York City’s population had fallen below 7.1 million after peaking at nearly 7.9 million in 1950. Many experts believed the city’s best days were behind it. Instead, New York would experience one of the most dramatic urban revivals in modern history, growing to more than 8.8 million residents and becoming one of the world’s most valuable real estate markets.
