Dumbo Then and Now: York Street Down Adams Street

In this series of “Dumbo Streetscapes Then and Now”, we are looking at photos down Adams Street, from the north side of York Street, showing the base of the Manhattan Bridge in the background. In the 69 year old photo, circa 1938, by P.L. Sperr, Adams Street used to be a block of manufacturing companies. The ad on the side of 70-72 Adams Street says:

J.B. Currie & Son
Manufacturers and Jobbers
Motor Truck Parts
70-72 Adams Street
Brooklyn, New York
Skid Chains – Truck & Passenger
we carry complete stock of
Johnson Automotive & Industrial
Bearings – [?] – Bar Bronze

The far building on the corner of Adams Street and Front Street (where today’s Forager Market at 56 Adams Street) still stands, mostly in tact with billboard and all, then and now.

The current location of one corner of Adams and York street is fenced off from the Beacon Tower (85 Adams St) construction. The top left corner of the 1938 photo shows the clock of the Clocktower building at 1 Main Street (click on photo to show larger version of photo), but is blocked off by the 84 Front Street building (The Nexus) in the current photo.


   April 5, 1938 (click on photo to show larger version of photo)


   January 21, 2007

[UPDATE: For those who say today’s photo doesn’t match the old photo, I couldn’t take the exact angle as in the old photo. Otherwise it would have been blocked by a stop sign, the underpass of the BQE, and the construction fence of Beacon Tower. This is the point of before-and-after photos. Plus I never claimed to be a photographer.
-h
]

{New York Public Library photo of York Street, north side, east from Adams Street}
{Dumbo Then and Now: Washington and York Street}
{Dumbo Then and Now: Plymouth Street West of Pearl Street}
{Dumbo Then and Now: Main Street, South From Front Street}

2 Comment

  • As a (relatively) recent DUMBO arrival (moved to the neighborhood as a part-timer this past August), I am delighted by each new entry in the “The and Now” series. Thank you, and please keep the photos coming.

  • As a (relatively) recent DUMBO arrival (moved to the neighborhood as a part-timer this past August), I am delighted by each new entry in the “The and Now” series. Thank you, and please keep the photos coming.