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July 1953. "Fifth Avenue at W. 54th Street." And, according to the lamppost mailbox, Delivery Zone 19. 4x5 negative from the News Archive. View full size.
Based on the cornice, Fendi is now located where Peck and Peck was. The Peck and Peck chain was a favorite of my maternal grandmother.
Is that Ralph Kramden driving the bus for the Gotham Bus Company?
I shopped at that branch often as a happy young single woman. My boss of many years would give me a gift certificate to the shop for my birthday and Christmas.
Looks like Pick and Peck on the left.
[Peck & Peck, a women's wear retailer. -tterrace]
I recall the use of delivery zones, my old one was Euclid 32 Ohio. When the zone improvement plan came along, the delivery zone became the last two digits of the zip code. Looking at map of NYC zip codes, that location's zip is now 10019.
[However, the other side of the street - to the left here - is 10022. Fifth Ave. forms the boundary. -tterrace]
How could people see those little One Way signs? They must have had better vision back then.
[They were thinner, too. - Dave]
I believe this is it, the rectangular sidewalk grate on the left is identical, right down to the inset hinged door.
Sometime in the early 1960s, the Postal Zone System became Zip Coded. New York, 19, NY became New York, NY, 10019. I had a friend who was in the commercial printing business. He had some pretty good accounts, among them Pepsi Cola. Those companies had to change every business card, piece of stationery and envelope, I remember we just bought a rubber stamp with the zip code and stamped the paperwork accordingly.
St. Patrick's is on the left, at 51st. Today the view south to the cathedral from the intersection in our Shorpy photo is blocked by something tall and black and shiny. (But you can still make out St. Thomas, just one block ahead on the right at 53rd.)
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