Fascinating Vintage Photos of Staten Island and New York Harbor in 1973

Photographer Arthur Tress captured these stunning photographs of the New York Harbor area, and they are part of the Documerica project. These photos include Jamaica Bay, Staten Island, Sheepshead Bay, and beaches by the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The United States Environmental Protection Agency sponsored the project to document subjects of environmental concern in the country during the 1970s. Tress’s photos from 1973 focused on “decay, neglect, and increasing urbanization.” In addition, they show daily scenes from 50 years ago.

#1 Lifeguard Takes a Sunbath at Great Kills Park on Staten Island, May 1973

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#2 School Excursion on the Staten Island Ferry, Crossing Upper New York Bay, June, 1973

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#3 Abandoned Car in Jamaica Bay – June 1973 by Arthur Tress

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#4 The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Crosses New York Bay and Connects Staten Island and Brooklyn, 1973

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#5 Municipal Incineration Plant and Landfill Dump at Gravesend Bay Serves is a Playground for Neighborhood Boys May, 1973

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#6 South Beach, Staten Island, ‘Is Safe for Swimming’, 1973

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#7 Parking Lot at Ferry Dock on Staten Island, May 1973

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#8 Sand Covers Abandoned Car on Beach at Breezy Point South of Jamaica Bay, May, 1973

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#9 A Small Park on Sheepshead Bay by Arthur Tress, May 1973

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#10 At the John F. Kennedy Airport, May 1973

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#11 Broad Channel, Marginal Land in Jamaica Bay near the JFK Airport, May 1973

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#12 Fish Store in Sheepshead Bay, May 1973

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#13 New York Skyline from Staten Island Ferry, May 1973

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#14 Young New Yorker Ready to Roar Off on His Honda, 1973

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#15 Warning of Polluted Water at Staten Island Beach Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Background, June 1973

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#16 This Land Along Jamaica Bay Is Owned by the JFK Airport, June 1973

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#17 Sheepshead Bay Fish Store, May 1973

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#18 New Housing on Staten Island, June 1973

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#19 Lunch in the Car-Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island, 1973

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#21 Sustenance for the Inner Man at the Sheepshead Bay Annual Art Show, 1973

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#22 Plum Beach, Sheepshead Bay, 1973

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#23 Plum Beach on Sheepshead Bay, May 1973

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#24 House on Hunter’s Point, Bordering the John F. Kennedy Airport, May 1973

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#25 Rusty Oil Cans Pile Up near Home in Broad Channel, a Jamaica Bay Community with Numerous Pollution Problems, 1973

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#26 Landfill Operation Is Conducted by the City of New York on the Marshlands of Jamaica Bay, 1973

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#27 Performing for the Photographer on Plum Beach, May 1973

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#28 School Children on Their Way Home in Great Kills, on Staten Island, May 1973

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#29 Abandoned Ice Cream Wagon at Broad Channel in Jamaica Bay, May 973

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#30 Great Kills Park, Staten Island, 05 1973

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#31 Abandoned “Giant Slide” at Coney Island, 1973

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