Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
The Lower East Side may look very different today, but much of its history still exists through the work of photographers like Weegee, Lee Sievan, Andreas Feininger, and Bill Witt who preserved fleeting moments of everyday life across the rapidly changing neighborhood.
For Lower East Side History Month, we revisited several streets photographed during the 1940s, pairing historic images from ICP’s collection with the same locations nearly 80 years later.
Images:
Bill Witt, [Greeting at $2.00 Shoes, Lower East Side, New York City}, 1947, Gift of Gary Witt, 1996 (3.1996)
Lee Sievan, [Orchard & Rivington Streets--Pushcarts], 1946, Gift of Lee Sievan, 1990 (20.1990)
Weegee, [Juggler Bill Brown, Lower East Side, New York], 1947, Bequest of Wilma Wilcox, 1993 (2008.1993)
Andreas Feininger, [Lower East Side shops], 1940, Gift of Andreas Feininger, 1976 (781.1976)
Bill Witt, [The Eye, Lower East Side, New York], 1948, Gift of Gary Witt, 1996 (4.1996)
Lee Sievan, [Chatham Square], 1946, Gift of Lee Sievan, 1990 (1.1990)
The Lower East Side may look very different today, but much of its history still exists through the work of photographers like Weegee, Lee Sievan, Andreas Feininger, and Bill Witt who preserved fleeting moments of everyday life across the rapidly changing neighborhood.
For Lower East Side History Month, we revisited several streets photographed during the 1940s, pairing historic images from ICP’s collection with the same locations nearly 80 years later.
Images:
Bill Witt, [Greeting at $2.00 Shoes, Lower East Side, New York City}, 1947, Gift of Gary Witt, 1996 (3.1996)
Lee Sievan, [Orchard & Rivington Streets--Pushcarts], 1946, Gift of Lee Sievan, 1990 (20.1990)
Weegee, [Juggler Bill Brown, Lower East Side, New York], 1947, Bequest of Wilma Wilcox, 1993 (2008.1993)
Andreas Feininger, [Lower East Side shops], 1940, Gift of Andreas Feininger, 1976 (781.1976)
Bill Witt, [The Eye, Lower East Side, New York], 1948, Gift of Gary Witt, 1996 (4.1996)
Lee Sievan, [Chatham Square], 1946, Gift of Lee Sievan, 1990 (1.1990)
