Retail density

[106 East 14th Street, Manhattan, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view.]

What led me to this address? No. 106 was the original home of the Munson Lunch Company, the company behind the diner in this tax photograph and several other Manhattan diners. I wondered if there might be some trace of the MLC in this photograph. No soap. But I stayed for the great retail density: it’s as if all the furniture in a room has been piled in one corner, leaving nothing but empty space — and, in this street scene, FOR RENT signs. Today 106 is a twenty-story apartment building.

The photograph is very large. Do click through for its many details.

When did you last see vertical pivot windows? Outside of a tax photo, that is.

Related reading
More photographs from the NYC Municipal Archives (Pinboard)