Commerce Street, New York, 1880-2011

‘I live on a street in New York that has, surprisingly, not changed all that much since the 1840s. The bend in the street makes it very easy to block and use as a location shoot for movies and TV, so I’ve been able to capture the street in many incarnations going back to the 1880, mostly via Hollywood’

- Simon Coconino

1880s

1890s

1904

1940

1950s

1961 'Blast of Silence' screen shot

1979 'Lathe of Heaven' screen shot

1988 'Bloodhounds of Broadway' screen shot

1988 'Bloodhounds of Broadway' screen shot 2

1988 'Bloodhounds of Broadway' screen shot 3

1988 'The House On Carroll Street' screen shot

1990 'Mo' Better Blues' screen shot

1990 'Mo' Better Blues' screen shot 2

2001 'You Stupid Man' screen shot

2003 'Sex and the City' screen shot

2005 'Adam' screen shot

2011 'Pan Am' screen shot

2011 'Glee' screen shot

…

This capsule was curated by Simon Coconino

August 26th, 2024

3 comments to Commerce Street, New York, 1880-2011

• Daneisha

  August 26, 2024 at 1:55 pm

  This is too cool. Something awful happened to that tree between 1904 and 1940.

• LeVraiConnard

  August 26, 2024 at 4:16 pm

  Hie,
  There are french signs on the 2024 ‘Sex & The City’ screenshot !
  Weird. I guess it means they used the street to pretend they were in Paris.

• Jason

  August 31, 2024 at 10:48 am

  I can’t believe the lack of trees in the 1940 image! I lived in the West Village in the BBC blocks as well.

  There was a fantastic Saturday Night Live skit in the past few years that used this block to great effect as well… I laugh harder just knowing it was my corner of the world.

  Great work -