I came across the work of Katherine McGlynn at a benefit for Gallery Aferro. I don’t know much about her, only that she had donated a number of fascinating photographs of what I was told were images of the South Bronx from the late 70s or early 80s. They are fascinating documents of Hispanic domestic life of that era. Since I knew the area  in that era, I decided to investigate further.

The first two photographs contained street signs that said Bedford Ave and South 3rd, so I decided to do a little investigating on Google. It turns out these are three photographs of the intersection of Bedford and South 3rd in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. From there, I was able to pinpoint where a few more of her photos were taken. Incidentally, the last I heard there are a few of photos left of McGlynn’s that are available from Gallery Aferro.

The three photographs above are looking at the intersection looking northeast. Below is a Google map image of the same intersection as it appears today.

The following two photos of an unidentified urban pigeoneer were taken on the roof of the building on the Southwest corner, 346 Bedford. Note the twin towers and the Williamsburg Bridge in the background. This same roof is the building that appears in the middle of the third shot from Google Maps. Two buildings have replaced the vacant lots seen in the first two photos. A third vacant lot across the street remains. This view is looking North.

The following two views are then and now shots of the building you would have seen if you looked down South 3rd from the roof of 346. It appears brown in the Google image.Berry Playground is one building away from 346. The first photo is a view within the park looking North, with South 3rd in the background. The park can be seen in relation to 346 in the Google image. The building in the background of the photo, with two sets of fire escapes, can be seen in the first Google image as the first red building from the left. A closer view of the building as it appears today appears in the third photo. The two trees scene in the photo in front of the building appear to be the same as the ones in the Google image; they in fact are new. A large apartment complex has replaced the vacant lot to the left of the building.