{"id":372136,"date":"2026-10-13T17:36:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T17:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/372136\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T17:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T17:36:19","slug":"vintage-gotham-a-street-photographers-pictures-of-new-york-city-1969-to-1990","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/372136\/","title":{"rendered":"Vintage Gotham: A Street Photographer&#8217;s Pictures of New York City 1969 to 1990"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThey are already memories once I press the shutter. These memories are at once mine and ours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Jeff Rothstein, New York<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485668\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Daily-Dose-of-New-York-City-Imagine-walking-the-streets-of-Second-Avenue-in-Manhattan-on-a-spring-af.jpeg\" alt=\"New York 1971\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1432\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daily Dose of New York City- Imagine walking the streets of Second Avenue in Manhattan on a spring afternoon in 1969<\/p>\n<p>Jeff Rothstein has been photographing New York City since the early 1970s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are already memories once I press the shutter,\u201d says Jeff, a Native New Yorker. \u201cThese memories are at once mine and ours. Mine because they are what I have witnessed and captured with my camera. But they will be shared by all of us who know or have known the city intimately or casually or even remotely and vicariously. The photos are a record of history through a local eye. Many are evocative of the time and place of bygone eras, imbued with a timeless quality\u2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I look at Second Avenue in 1969, I\u2019m reminded of how the East Village existed in that rare space between the fading immigrant era and the rise of counterculture. This corner held onto the last threads of the old Jewish and Ukrainian communities \u2014 storefronts with hand-painted signs, longtime residents, and the lingering smell of old bakeries and caf\u00e9s. Yet you could already sense the shift as younger artists, musicians, and newcomers began filtering into the neighborhood. \u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485672\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Gyros-at-Canal-Street-Wooster-Street-New-York-City-in-1990.-I-\u2764\ufe0f-Gyros.-Photo-by-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"Gyros at Canal Street &amp; Wooster Street, New York City in 1990. I \u2764\ufe0f Gyros. Photo by Jeff Rothstein.\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1634\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gyros at Canal Street &amp; Wooster Street, New York City in 1990. I \u2764\ufe0f Gyros. Photo by Jeff Rothstein.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485681\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Ninth-Ave.-W.-13th-St.-1985.-Photo-c-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"Ninth Ave. &amp; W. 13th St. 1985. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1339\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ninth Ave. &amp; W. 13th St. 1985. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485680\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Foster-Ave-and-E-19-St-1979.-Photo-by-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1610\"  \/><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flashbackshop.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ART-ADVERT.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Foster Ave and E 19 St, 1979. Photo by Jeff Rothstein.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485679\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Looking-southwest-from-Orchard-St.-1986.-Photo-c-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"Looking southwest from Orchard St. 1986. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1625\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Looking southwest from Orchard St. 1986. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485678\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Hester-St.-Lower-East-Side.-1989.-Photo-c-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"Hester St., Lower East Side. 1989. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1369\"  \/><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flashbackshop.com\/collections\/all-t-shirts\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/t-shirt-ads-sep25.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hester St., Lower East Side. 1989. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485677\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Tribeca.-1990.-Photo-c-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"Tribeca. 1990. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1624\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tribeca. 1990. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485676\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1980s.-Fulton-Fish-Market.-Orient-Point-Shellfish-Co.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"525\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">1980s. Fulton Fish Market. Orient Point Shellfish Co.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Tribeca-1990.-Photo-c-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"Tribeca, 1990. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1352\"  \/><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flashbackshop.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ART-ADVERT.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tribeca, 1990. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485674\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/John-Winston-31-years-old.-With-Yoko-NYC-1972.-Photo-Jeff-Rothstein.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1187\" height=\"847\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Lennon and Yoko Ono<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485673\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Orchard-St.-1988-Photo-c-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"Orchard St. 1988 Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1342\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Orchard St. 1988 Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485671\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/W.-4th-St-off-Sixth-Ave.-1983.-Photo-c-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"W. 4th St off Sixth Ave. 1983. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1357\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">W. 4th St off Sixth Ave. 1983. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485670\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1971.-St.-Marks-Place.-2-young-adults-outside-the-Gramaphone-Record-Store.-Jeff-Rothstein-photograph.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"512\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">1971. St. Mark\u2019s Place. 2 young adults outside the Gramaphone Record Store. Jeff Rothstein, photographer.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485669\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SoHo.-1981.-Photo-c-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">SoHo. 1981. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Orchard-St.-1989.-Photo-c-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1359\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Orchard St. 1989. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485666\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/MacDougal-St.-1986.-Photo-c-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"MacDougal St. 1986. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1373\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">MacDougal St. 1986. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485665\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/A-man-with-his-Saxophone-in-front-of-22-The-Cube-22-Alamo-Sculpture-at-Astor-Place-East-Village-New-.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1596\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man with his Saxophone in front of The Cube Alamo Sculpture at Astor Place, East Village, New York City in 1986. Photo by Jeff Rothstein.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485664\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Midtown-East.-1984.-Photo-c-Jeff-Rothstein.jpg\" alt=\"Midtown East. 1984. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1357\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Midtown East. 1984. Photo (c) Jeff Rothstein<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-485663\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Hebrew-Religious-Articles-at-45-Essex-Street-Lower-East-Side-New-York-City-in-1988.-Photo-by-Jeff-Ro.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1628\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hebrew Religious Articles at 45 Essex Street, Lower East Side, New York City in 1988. Photo by Jeff Rothstein.<\/p>\n<p>All images copyright Jeff Rothstein.<\/p>\n<p>Buy prints and books of Jeff\u2019s great work at his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jeffrothsteinphotos.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">site.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThey are already memories once I press the shutter. These memories are at once mine and ours.\u201d \u2013&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":["post-372136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}