Museum of the City of New York

Thanks to generous grants from the Leon Levy Foundation, the Wurts Brothers Collection is now available online. This collection gives visual life to the growth of New York’s built environment in the 20th century. The studio, founded by brothers Norman and Lionel Wurts, was one of the first to specialize in architectural photography. Over the years (1895-1965), the Wurts Brothers Company developed a clientele of architects, developers, and contractors—from Cass Gilbert to Otis Elevator—photographing buildings and their interiors as well as vast numbers of street views. Their technique was impeccable, producing crisp images, rich in detail, and the longevity of the firm and its distinctive approach provides a cohesive vision of the city and its changes over nearly 100 years. They brought the same keen eye to the Woolworth building that they brought to Idlewild Airport.

**34-01 38th Avenue. Pierce Arrow Building**

**350 Fifth Avenue. Empire State Building, view of from Lincoln Building, East 42nd Street**

**550 West 155th Street. Chapel of the Intercession. Interior**

**60 Wall Street. Cities Service tower. Elevator girl looking out of window at view**

**New York Worlds Fair. Perisphere and Trylon steel frame**

**15 Vanderbilt Avenue. Credit Clearing House [Office of John W. Campbell.]**

**12 East 86th Street. Hotel Croydon. Interior, bar and lounge**

**24 East 42nd Street. Sheffield Farms Milk Bar**

**Interior, shoe factory with man at machine**

**[Interior, typesetting room.]**
*Possibly Metropolitan Printing Plant.*

**1 West 54th Street. University Club. Interior, library**

**Long Island City. Con Edison. Interior, furnaces**

**Fulton Street and Broadway. Street view looking west**

**[Vaulted space under the Manhattan approach to the Queensboro Bridge.]**

**[Two boys playing cards on the sidewalk.]**

**West 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. Empire State Building with church spire in foreground**

**West 32nd Street. Church of St. Francis of Assisi. Garden entrance**

**West 32nd Street and Sixth Avenue. Dismantling of the Sixth Avenue elevated train tracks**

**[Interior of Grand Central Station.]**

**[Children with a mound of snow with a "For Rent" sign on it.]**

**[Girl looking from the pergola over the Conservatory Gardens.]**

**[Sidewalk clock and Guaranty Trust Company building.]**

**[Street light, 500 Fifth Avenue building in background.]**

**305 West End Avenue. Esplanade Hotel. View from Schwab Chateau garden**

**[Rockefeller Center parking lot after snowfall.]**

**[Demolition of the City Hall Post Office and Courthouse.]**

**1200 Fifth Avenue. View of Central Park from window**

**[65 West 39th Street. Steam coming out of a hat factory.]**

**Central Park. 59th Street and Fifth Avenue lake, bird sanctuary**

**[Stage show "Angles" at Radio City Music Hall.]**
*Opened the week of May 9, 1935.*

**[Life Savers Candy Parachute Jump at the New York World's Fair.]**

**[Night view of the Administration building with "Mithrana" sculpture on facade, New York World's Fair.]**

**[Dali's "Dream of Venus" at the New York World's Fair.]**

**[Distorting mirror at the New York World's Fair.]**

**[General Electric lightning bolt sculpture, New York World's Fair.]**

**[Verrazano Bridge under construction.]**

**[Men on the corner of Broadway and Exchange Place.]**

**110 East 42nd Street. Bowery Savings Bank. Entrance**

**56th Street and Fifth Avenue. Bonwit Teller. Display windows**

**[New York World's Fair. Richard Wurts with steel frame of Perisphere and Trylon in background.]**

**[41 West 86th Street. Mrs. Schaffer's residence. Interior.]**

**[Astoria Pool with Hell Gate Bridge in background.]**

**Central Park West. Elevated view of Central Park looking southeast**

**Queensboro Bridge. View of bridge framework from Suicide Balcony.**

**National City Bank. Tube system, central exchange.**

**33 East 36th Street. J. P. Morgan Library.**

**5th Avenue between East 70th and 71st Streets. H.C. Frick residence, general view, 5th Avenue front.**

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