In the early 1940s, New York City was alive with energy despite the uncertainty of wartime.
The streets were filled with men in military uniforms alongside office workers in sharp suits and women in smart dresses and hats. Streetcars and yellow taxis wove through busy avenues, while neon signs and theater marquees lit up the night in Times Square.
From bustling marketplaces to quiet residential blocks, the city reflected both resilience and style at the dawn of a new decade. Below is a collection of vintage photos capturing street scenes of New York in the early 1940s.
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| Amsterdam, New York, October 1941. (Photo by John Collier) |
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| Collier's House at PEDAC, exterior from below, New York, July 15, 1940. (Photo by Gottscho-Schleisner) |
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| Looking south along west side of Greenwich Street toward Battery over elevated structure (demolished Fall), New York, September 7, 1940. (Photo by Stanley P. Mixon for the Historic American Buildings Survey) |
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| Broadway from Bowling Green, New York, December 1941. (Photo by Arthur Rothstein) |
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| Children of Dan Sampson, who moved out of the Pine Camp expansion area in August, waiting in the family car for the school bus near South Rutland, New York, October 1941. (Photo by Jack Delano) |
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| Children playing in Washington Square, New York, December 1941. (Photo by Edwin Rosskam) |
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| Defense motive in advertising, Elmira, New York, October 1941. (Photo by John Collier) |
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| Defense motive in outdoor advertising, near Elmira, New York, October 1941. (Photo by John Collier) |
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| Dressing window in Amsterdam, New York, October 1941. (Photo by John Collier) |
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| Elevated train structure and buildings, Lower Manhattan, New York, December 1941. (Photo by Arthur Rothstein) |
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| Evening in Washington Square, New York, December 1941. (Photo by Edwin Rosskam) |
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| Ice man, New York, December 1941. (Photo by Arthur Rothstein) |
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| Junk men with waste paper, New York, December 1941. (Photo by Arthur Rothstein) |
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| Pine Camp military area, near Watertown, New York, August 1941. (Photo by Jack Delano) |
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| Railway crossing in Chatham, New York, October 1941. (Photo by John Collier) |
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| Trucks on highway en route to Utica, New York, October 1941. (Photo by John Collier) |
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| Vladeck Houses, view from Madison and Scammel Streets, New York, July 14, 1941. (Photo by Gottscho-Schleisner) |
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| Taxi driver, New York, 1942. (Photo by Albert Fenn) |
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| Dancing and music on Mott Street at a flag raising ceremony in honor of neighborhood Italian boys in the Army, New York, August 1942. (Photo by Marjory Collins) |
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| 2 Drinking fountain in Central Park on Sunday, New York, September 1942. (Photo by Marjory Collins) |
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| Elba farm labor camp. Red Cross workers who fed the migrants on their first day in camp, New York, September 1942. (Photo by John Collier) |
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| Looking north south on Broadway at Times Square, New York, September 1942. (Photo by Marjory Collins) |
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| Third Avenue elevated railway at 18th Street, New York, September 1942. (Photo by Marjory Collins) |
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| Third Avenue elevated railway station at 8-30 a.m., New York, September 1942. (Photo by Marjory Collins) |
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| Tomato harvest on Nesbitt's farm. West Virginia crew of pickers en route to the muck fields, Batavia, New York, September 1942. (Photo by Marjory Collins) |
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| Under the Third Avenue elevated railway, New York, September 1942. (Photo by Marjory Collins) |
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| A dairy truck on 44th Street, New York, March 1943. (Photo by John Vachon) |
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| Children, recruited for farm work, waiting outside the U.S. Employment Service to start work for the summer, Oswego, New York, June 1943. (Photo by Marjory Collins) |
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| Interracial activities at Camp Nathan Hale - free periods, Southfields, New York, August 1943. (Photo by Gordon Parks) |
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| Italian-American fruit stand at First Avenue and Tenth Street, New York, February 1943. (Photo by Marjory Collins) |
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