New York Daily News photographer Marc Hermann loves history and lucky for him, he has the key to the Daily News photo archive. With those two things in mind, he embarked on a project to bring the newspaper’s most infamous photographs back to life, superimposing them onto modern photos of the same location. The result is just about the most interesting “Then & Now” photos I’ve come across yet…
March 19, 1942, Edna Egbert, who lived at 497 Dean St. in Brooklyn, climbed onto her ledge that day. The News captured the distraught woman fighting with the police as she wobbled on the edge. The building is currently painted red, but remains nearly identical to the way it looked 70 years ago.
A classic case of jealousy. In this stairwell of 992 Southern Blvd. on Sept. 25, 1961, James Linares lay bleeding in the arms of his girlfriend Josephine Dexidor after being shot by her husband. The same banister still scales the length of the hallway.
The corner of Classon Ave. and Pacific St. got some serious action on July 28, 1957 when a stolen car crashed into a light pole. Strangely enough, the car was allegedly stolen by a boy released from the Brooklyn House of Detention. The boy was initially detained on car theft charges. The corner still looks the same, though new green street signs hang above the scene of the accident.
The tree that stands in front of 923 44th St. in Brooklyn is the only living witness to gangster Frankie Yale’s untimely demise on July 1, 1928. Yale’s car slammed into the steps of the Brooklyn home that day as he was shot to death from a car driving by.
Back in the 1950s, there were no North Face storefronts to be found on Wooster St. There was, however, a massive and fatal fire at the Elkins Paper & Twine Co. on Feb. 16, 1958. Six were killed by the blaze and the building was leveled, but new commercial space now stands where the Elkins Paper & Twine Co. once did.
The wreckage after the crash of United Airlines Flight 826 and Trans World Airlines Flight 266 over New York City was well documented by the Daily News back in December 1960. Over 130 people were killed aboard the planes and on the ground in Brooklyn, making it one of New York’s most tragic disasters. The crash also destroyed some buildings beyond repair. The ones that still stand can be seen in this compilation.
Passersby of 66 Court St. probably have no idea that a massive gas explosion once blew out the windows of this building on Jan. 31, 1961. Over two dozen were injured by the flying glass and falling plaster.
Sunday strolls are still popular in Prospect Park, but on Sunday July 30, 1950, this usually quiet neighborhood was shook by the suicide of Detective Michael Dwyer, seen here.
Gangster Salvatore Santoro met his end in the vestibule of 427 1/2 Hicks St. on Jan. 31, 1957. Here’s how the building looks then and now.
“New York is constantly changing and transforming, and tragedies that affected individuals’ lives are forgotten. We may stand on what was once the site of a horrific murder and not even know it, simply because life goes on,” says Hermann.
See the full gallery on the NY Daily News here.
:::
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
.
