These 1990s Photos Memorialize a NYC That 'No Longer Exists'
Photographer William Meyers never considered himself a documentarian, but when he began to look back at the images he shot of the city's outer boroughs, beginning in 1990, he realized that the collection he had amassed played witness to something and were not just art. "The outer boroughs have changed so dramatically in the last decade that, to a considerable extent, the city I photographed no longer exists. However, the essence of New York has always been reinvention," Meyers says, ahead of the opening of Outer Boroughs: New York Beyond Manhattan at the New York Public Library. The exhibit, which coincides with the release of his book of the same name, will showcase 86 of Meyers's innumerable prints that simultaneously pay homage to the New York City that once was and the New York City that exists today.
- Tottenville, Staten Island: May 22, 1998.
- Hollis, Queens: October 24, 1999.
- Willets Point, Queens: July 2, 1998.
- East Williamsburg, Brooklyn: May, 1990.
- East Williamsburg, Brooklyn: May, 1990.
- Bushwick, Brooklyn: April 29, 1999.
- Bensonhurst, Brooklyn: June 4, 1998.
- Co-op City, Bronx: February 4, 1999.
- Flushing Meadows Park, Queens: September 6, 1999.
- Roosevelt Island, Queens: July 4, 1998.
- Middle Village, Queens: June 8, 1998.
- Mott Haven, Bronx: November 4, 2001.
- Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn: July 1, 2001.
- Seaside, Queens: September 2, 2001.
- Glendale, Queens: May 4, 2001.
Find more information about the exhibit Outer Boroughs: New York Beyond Manhattan here.
· Outer Boroughs: New York Beyond Manhattan [official]
· William Meyers [official]
· William Meyers Digital Collection [NYPL]
· Outer Boroughs: New York Beyond Manhattan [official]
· William Meyers [official]
· William Meyers Digital Collection [NYPL]
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