Quantcast
Newspaper cover

Flip through
today’s papers
News

NYC in the 1980s: See pictures of big moments and everyday life

By Posted on
  • On September 29, 1982, famed highwire artist Phillippe Petit balances on a wire over Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan, N.Y., walking towards the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Joe Dombroski
  • Mayor Edward Koch welcomes the sunshine at a festival on Ninth Avenue near 57th Street in Manhattan on May 18, 1980. The Bronx-born politician was sworn in as mayor in 1978 and led the city through the next decade, leaving office on Dec. 31, 1989.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Paul J. Bereswill
  • On Sept. 29, 1982, famed highwire artist Philippe Petit balances on a wire over Amsterdam Avenue, walking toward the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Petit carries a silver trowel to present to the bishop during ceremonies to lay the cornerstone on new construction on the west tower. Petit was most famous for his 1974 highwire walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Joe Dombroski
  • On Dec. 14, 1980, fans walk from a John Lennon memorial in Central Park to the Dakota apartment building where the former Beatle had lived with his wife Yoko Ono and son Sean. Lennon was shot to death in front of his home by Mark David Chapman earlier that week, on Dec. 8, 1980.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Dan Goodrich
  • Mayor Edward Koch unveils a poster designed by artist Andy Warhol for the centennial of the Brooklyn Bridge while the artist, who frequently carried a camera, snaps a photo of the mayor on April 5, 1983.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Dan Goodrich
  • Fans wait outside the punk venue CBGB before a show on Feb. 18, 1984.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / George Argeroplos
  • A taxi driver parked in front of the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel on Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street as a doorman brings luggage to the curb on July 7, 1984.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Mike Kacheff
  • Bernhard Goetz, also known as the
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Alan Raia
  • The old West Side Highway at the 46th Street entrance ramp on Aug. 7, 1985.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Ari Mintz
  • On Nov. 21, 1985, three employees of the hotel Le Parker Meridien New York on 57th Street in Manhattan raced to be first to reach the hotel from Kennedy Airport in Queens with a bottle of Beaujolais-Villages wine in hand. The stunt was part of a promotion to celebrate that year's official release of Beaujolais Nouveau by the French government. Here, race winner Meg Lyons shares a glass of the wine with taxi driver James Sanfrantello in front of the hotel.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Jim Estrin
  • A view of Pier 1 in Brooklyn, as seen from the Brooklyn Bridge, on March 19, 1986. Pier 1 is now a lush green space that is part of Brooklyn Bridge Park.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Jennifer Jecklin
  • Cardinal John O'Connor joins groups of people who gathered on the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral on March 28, 1986 for a nationwide radio broadcast to benefit the homeless.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Donna Dietrich
  • A hot dog vendor prepares for the lunch rush at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street on May 13, 1986.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Jim Cummins
  • Pitcher Jesse Orosco leaps off the mound after the final out in the Mets 8-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 to win the World Series before a crowd of 55,032 at Shea Stadium on Oct. 27, 1986.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / David L. Pokress
  • Residents walk along East 86th Street in Manhattan's Yorkville neighborhood on Nov. 14, 1986. Yorkville was once known for its German restaurants, bakeries and beer halls, and the street was known unofficially as
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Jim Cummins
  • New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor accepts the Schick trophy as the National Football League's most valuable player from Rob Grant, of Schick, on Jan. 13, 1986 at Tavern on the Green in Manhattan.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / R.A. Luckey Jr.
  • New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms steps back to throw a pass in the second quarter of Super Bowl XXI on Jan. 25, 1987 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. Simms is named the Super Bowl's most valuable player in the Giants' 39-20 victory over the Denver Broncos for the team's first National Football League championship since 1956.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / David L. Pokress
  • The Pepsi-Cola sign, which has been a part of the Hunters Point landscape since 1936, is seen from the East River on April 7, 1987. The sign, which was designated a city landmark in April 2016, once sat atop a Pepsi bottling plant, and was restored and moved to its current location in Gantry Plaza State Park in 2009.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Donna Dietrich
  • Tourists check out the wares at the Pink Pussy Cat Boutique on West 4th Street in Greenwich Village on Aug. 18, 1987. The store, which sells adult novelties, has been in business since 1972.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Michael Ach
  • The 1988 Empire State Building Run-Up men's event gets underway in the halls of the first floor of the building on Feb. 17, 1988. The winner of the 86-floor event, 26-year-old pastry chef Craig Logan, of Melbourne, Australia, dashed up the stairs in 11 minutes, 29 seconds, winning a Macintosh computer. Janine Aiello, of San Francisco, won the women's race in 13 minutes, 42 seconds.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Phillip Davies
  • Attorney Jack T. Litman and client Robert Chambers enter court on March 20, 1988, during the case against Chambers for the 1986 killing of Jennifer Levin, 18, in Central Park. Dubbed the
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Jim Cummins
  • Traffic device worker Darryl Beckles changes the street sign on Christopher Street to Christopher Street/Stonewall Place on June 6, 1989. The sign commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, in which gay men protested a police raid on the Stonewall Inn at 53 Christopher St. on June 28,1969.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Erica Berger
  • Vendor John Krochak sells hots dogs at the original Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on July 15, 1989.
    Photo Credit: Newsday / Jim Cummins

The 1980s was more than just a time of big hair, pop music and questionable clothing choices.

In New York City, it was a decade where the Mets won a World Series title, the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots were commemorated and CBGB was one of the coolest places to be.

Check out photos of life in the city in the 1980s.

About the Author

Things to do in NYC

Post an Event

View All Events…

Jobs in New York

Add your job

View all jobs…

Home Pros

Find a pro

Related Articles

More from around NYC