New York on D-Day: Historic Photos Show How Anxious New Yorkers Reacted to the Historic Invasion

On the morning of June 6, 1944, New Yorkers gathered around the New York Times buildings to celebrate the Historic Invasion. By the time people had gathered around Time Square and other landmarks of New York City, some 156,000 allied troops had landed on five Normandy beaches under the command of General Eisenhower. It was one of the largest and historic invasions with nearly 5,000 landings and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers participating.

News of the invasion spread quickly and New Yorkers had their ears and eyes glued to radio stations and newspapers. In churches and synagogues across Manhattan, people bowed their heads in prayer, while in Times Square, crowds craned their necks to watch the latest reports creep across the electronic ticker on the New York Times building. The New York Stock Exchange observed two minutes of silence and in Madison Square, WNYC held a D-Day rally, featuring speeches and songs presided over by the city’s mayor Fiorello La Guardia.

#1 People in Times Square watch the news ticker on the New York Times building.

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#2 Crowds watching the electronic ticker on the New York Times building in Times Square as they waited for the latest reports.

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#3 Two sailors smoke a cigarette and lean against as they apprehensively scan the latest news bulletins on the Times building.

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#4 People gather in Times Square to watch the news ticker on the New York Times building.

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#5 Worshippers enter a synagogue on 23rd Street for a special D-Day service.

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#6 The packed noon mass at St. Vincent de Paul’s church.

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#7 Worshippers pray at noon mass at St. Vincent de Paul’s church on 23rd Street.

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#8 A woman prays at St. Vincent de Paul’s church on 23rd Street.

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#9 Worshippers outside St. Vincent de Paul’s church.

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#10 People praying.

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#11 Two soldiers join the crowds as they expectantly wait for more updates.

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#12 Crowds gather in Madison Square.

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#13 Thousands gather for a rally in Madison Square.

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#14 Sailors sit on their briefcases and lean against door frames as they wait for more news in one of the most significant developments of World War Two.

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#15 Invasion News.

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#16 A speaker addresses the rally in Madison Square.

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#17 The candid photographs capture the mood in the Big Apple.

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#18 A speaker addresses the crowds in Madison Square.

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#19 The candid photographs capture the mood in the Big Apple.

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#20 Thousands of people watching the electronic ticker on the New York Times building in Times Square as they waited for the latest reports.

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#21 Thousands gather in Madison Square for a rally led by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia.

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#22 Two men stand tersely on a street corner on the day that news broke.

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#23 Children salute the French flag at a French school in Manhattan.

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#24 A girl tends a victory garden at a school on 1st Avenue.

Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at public parks in support of the Allied troops.

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