Sparkles and Shoes

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NYC Now and Then

| New York City

These past few days at New York Fashion Week events one of the most popular questions to ask people you have just met is, “where are you from!?”  The smile that brightens my face when I proudly get to say “here” may make me appear super giddy but I really am excited every time I get to utter those words.  Growing up in the suburbs it was always my dream to move into New York City city and now my dream has come true!  I have spoken with many people who were ruing over how expensive flights and hotels were for fashion week when, for me, it is just one extra stop on the subway.

To say I love this city with a passion is an understatement – from the food and museums to culture and diverse mix of people it surprises and delights me everyday.  One of the aspects I am interested in learning more about is the rich history of this fantastic city so when I came across the NYC – Grid website and the Before and After features they have done I fell was entranced.

Over the past 389 years New York City has evolved and changed so many different times to become the home of 8.3 million people it is today that it is almost impossible to describe it in a blog post or photo but I am going to try.  Here are six fantastic then and now shots of a few of my favorite neighborhoods:


The before shot is from 1905 and the after from 2013. 

Before and After: Bryant Park
The before shots are from 1922 and the afters from 2013.

Before and After: Gramercy Park West
The before shot is from 1934 and the after from 2013.

Before and After: Bowling Green
The before shot is from 1907 and the after from 2013.

The before shot is from 1894 and the after from 2013. 
The before shot is from 1913 and the after from 2013.

Is it just because I am obsessed with New York or are these comparisons not really cool?  On average, over 100 years elapsed between the before and after pictures and depending on the setting it seems everything or nothing at all has changed. Again, I must give credit where credit is due, NYC-Grid put together these before and after compilations see these photos in an interactive manner click on the link below each photo!

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  10. Love these comparison pictures. It’s amazing to see how things have changed over the years. And very, very cool that you live in NYC. I can’t wait to hear all about fashion week!

    dancingwithashleyblog.com

  15. Wow, that is such a cool comparison! I’m going to share these photos with my mom because she loves anything historic. Can’t wait to see more!

    xo, Abby @ Always, Abby

  36. Wow! It’s so neat to see the difference! I am always fascinated by New York, even though I have been there many times.

  39. these comparisons are realllly cool! i love seeing old photos of boston and comparing them to what i know now 🙂 i guess that makes us both little history dorks 😉

  41. They’re cool. That’s how I felt when we were in Waikiki when we lived in Hawaii. People were always so excited to hear you lived there. Except local Hawaiians didn’t like when we said it. They’re pretty serious about that stuff.

  42. Even though I’m in a “suburb” to NYC, I think all of us NYers take it for granted. I love then vs. now photos. We have a diner here that has old photos of a places hanging up. It’s cool to see what certain higways or areas looked like back in the early 1900s.

  46. there’s an app that you can hold up your camera and it shows an old view of where you are looking in london….they need to make one for NYC!

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