Matt Weber (Street photography), Old New York, Times Square

“The Deuce” 1985

This is one of the first pictures I took that has some historical significance. Driving across “The Deuce” in my taxi, I was still 26 years old. That’s half a lifetime ago. I would probably have had my doors locked and been fairly alert, as the block was loaded with some pretty scary people. Now a quarter century later, the block is clean and almost safe for the tourists 24 hours a day. I want to lament the changes, but when I remember how bad the place was, I have to admit that nostalgia can even make us miss a cesspool like the old 42d Street. I was threatened several times, not for taking anyone’s picture, but merely for carrying a camera down that block. Fifteen year old prostitutes and their pimps were nothing but sad, and people selling fake drugs didn’t make me think “The Deuce” was where it was at. It’s just now, many years later that the new sterile version has made many of us wish for the days, when not being mugged on “The Deuce” was a major accomplishment…

© Matt Weber

Matt Weber (Street photography), Kids & Teens, Old New York

NYC 1989

The Amsterdam projects were among NYC’s first. I’m pretty sure Robert Moses had a hand in their coming about. Built in 1947 they were a partial answer to all the troops that had come home after the war and needed affordable housing. I think they may have been better off leaving the tenements alone, because the projects eventually became isolated neighborhoods within a neighborhood. To this day, you have people who barely leave the projects to shop and it creates a weird type of personality disorder. Just knowing that your entire existence is based on government handouts could make the people feel a bit depressed as the affluent flutter about the perimeter. Rich people walking their kids to private school, pass the projects full of welfare recipients and crack dealers, who glare back unhappily. I know that some people will use the cheap rent to launch a better life for themselves, but most will spend all their days in these experiments from the laboratory of Moses and his minions…

One last gripe about NYC’s housing projects…If they had just put in larger windows, these buildings wouldn’t resemble the virtual prisons which they are. A little more light could have made a difference…

All Photos © Matt Weber

Matt Weber (Street photography), Kids & Teens, Old New York

“The City Game” 2005

If you’ve grown up in a city in the northeast, you remember what it’s like. Playing with someone else’s ball that’s worn so bad, strings are coming out of it. It’s cold out and you’re wearing a t-shirt and then someone lets a pass slip through their fingers. Now you have to wipe the yellow dog piss snow, or something a lot worse off the ball and you look for some newspaper. Fingers numb, starving, throat dry from no water fountains, you keep playing till all you have are those old greenish streetlights, barely making it possible, for you to know if you’ve hit your last jump shot…

All Photos © Matt Weber

Matt Weber (Street photography), homeless, Men of New York, Old New York

“The Summer of ’88”

I have a pal who swears this summer will be brutally hot. Of course he’s not a meteorologist but if he’s right, nobody suffers a heatwave more than the homeless (and the elderly) Back in the old days, hydrants were open all over the city and at least if you had a bar of soap you could stay somewhat clean. The kids were happy too. These days the sprinklers are on, but they pale compared to the hydrant’s at full blast. I’m not for wasting water, but I’ve noticed that in some parks, the water fountains are becoming scarce. Not everyone can drop a two spot on a bottle of Poland Spring…

All Photos © Matt Weber

Matt Weber 9/11 Related, Old New York

World Trade Center 1988

I keep finding pictures of these buildings which at the time of exposure, seemed pretty ugly to me. I’m happy I took the few pictures I did. I sometimes wonder if building another 100+ story building at the site is a smart idea. I understand the desire to replace the twin towers with something magnificent, but at the same time, it seems like the new tower will be shouting “I dare you to knock me down!” Maybe a few 50-60 story towers would have been wiser…

All Photos © Matt Weber