paintings of historic New York City
This painting presents a view of the East River on a busy morning in 1899. At that time, the two towers of the Brooklyn Bridge were the tallest structures in America. In those pre-elevator days, New York was still a low-rise city.
The painting is based on exhaustive research into the history of New York, its waterfront, its architecture and its growth. Patrick consulted numerous old maps, prints, and photos, from sources such as The NY Historical Society and The Library of Congress.
The Fulton Fish Market and the Fulton Ferry building are seen on the shore at the left. This is where the South Street Seaport is today. The large building at the top left is the City Hall Post Office and Courthouse. Now demolished, it was in today’s City Hall Park. To the right of that is the old shot tower on Beekman Street (it looks like a smokestack.) The sharp spire to the right of that is the New York Tribune Building, now demolished, where Pace University is today.
Detail of the painting showing the Brooklyn Bridge with a battleship coming down from the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The Fulton Ferry heads across the river toward Manhattan, its business much diminished by the recently completed bridge.
Young America
The painting presents old New York from a viewpoint above the Hudson River. We are looking at current location of the World Trade Center.
The towers of the newly completed Brooklyn Bridge are seen in the distance, on the other side of Manhattan island. The bridge was the tallest structure in New York. At right, the spire of Trinity Church dominated the skyline in this pre-elevator city. It is still existing, on Broadway at Wall Street, but can be difficult to see among the much taller current buildings.
On the river, a couple of schooners carry cargo down the river, while a small sidewheel steamboat is on an excursion up the Hudson with vacationers. At left is a monitor-style U.S. Navy ironclad, nearing the end of its useful life, as its design is becoming obsolete.
A Friendly Race
Two sloops enjoying a brisk day out in New York harbor in the 1930s. The Statue of Liberty is about 50 years old at this point. On the right are the new towers of the 1930s skyscraper boom in lower Manhattan. These art-deco towers are still there, but can be hard to find among the more modern, larger towers.
East River Piers — 1933
Manhattan Haze
New York City Serenade
The painting presents a view of old New York from a point above Brooklyn, looking towards Manhattan. New York was a horizontal city in those pre-elevator days. The newly completed Brooklyn Bridge towered over the city. In this view, the tall spire of Trinity Church is at center, in the glare of the sun. It is still there to this day, but can be difficult to see among the skyscrapers that have sprung up around it. Liberty Island and Ellis Island are seen in the distance at left. A paddlewheel steamship heads upriver at right, while a windjammer eases under the bridge, with its uppermost sails and masts lowered to the deck.
In this detail of the painting above, we see a modern battleship that has left the Brooklyn Navy Yard and is headed out to sea. It is passing an old-fashioned monitor-style Navy warship, probably on its last cruise before heading to the scrapyard. In the distance at upper left is the Statue of Liberty, and at upper right in Ellis Island.
The Great Bridge
The painting depicts the Brooklyn Bridge during its construction in 1881, looking across the East River from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The bridge is about two years from completion. The floor beams of the span are being suspended from the cables. In its early days, the bridge was often referred to as simply “the great bridge.”
The elaborate Victorian building in the foreground is the Fulton Ferry Terminal in Brooklyn. It has since been demolished. The row of buildings in the close foreground is still there, on Old Fulton Street. A ferry boat is seen crossing the river from Manhattan. The current South Street Seaport is just off the canvas on the left.
East River Traffic, 1912
Late afternoon on the East River in New York City. Two newly completed buildings tower over the scene, the Woolworth building on the right and the Singer Building on the left. The Fulton Fish Market is on the river at center right, where the South Street Seaport is today. The Fulton Ferry landing is to its right, while one of the ferries crosses the river on its way to Brooklyn.
This view today is dominated by huge buildings that can make the Woolworth Building difficult to pick put. The Singer Building was demolished in the 1960s.
