Concrete, Chaos, and Cold Light: Frank Florianz’s Stark View of Late 1970s New York City

In the late 1970s, Frank Florianz walked the streets of New York City with a camera and a clear eye. His photos didn’t try to hide the city’s rough edges. Instead, they focused on what was real—abandoned buildings, graffiti-covered trains, broken sidewalks, and people just trying to get through the day.

Florianz captured the city during one of its most unstable periods. Crime rates were high. Fires ripped through neighborhoods like the South Bronx. Trash strikes left piles of garbage in the streets. He photographed these moments without comment, letting the scenes speak for themselves. His lens showed a city worn out, but still moving.

He focused on people as much as places. His photos include street kids leaning against brick walls, old men sitting alone on stoops, and vendors working under flickering neon lights. Every subject looked like they had a story. Their faces didn’t smile for the camera. They stared directly at it or ignored it completely, locked in their own thoughts.

Florianz also photographed public housing projects, subway platforms, and city parks. He showed the places where people lived, waited, argued, and rested. His frames included piles of rubble next to playgrounds, and subway walls covered in bold spray paint tags. The city wasn’t cleaned up yet. His work made that clear.

At night, his photography took on a different tone. He shot wet streets glowing with the reflection of traffic lights. He caught quiet moments under streetlamps and shadows cast by chain-link fences. These photos showed the silence that lived beside the noise.

#1 Times Square area around Christmas, 1978.

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#2 City perspective.

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#3 Looking north on Park Avenue towards the Pan Am building.

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#4 Pretzel vendor.

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#5 Herald Square, Avenue of the Americas around Christmas, 1978.

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#6 88th Road, Woodhaven, Queens, 1979.

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#7 Yard sale nearby.

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#8 Candid views along Jamaica Avenue, Woodhaven, 1979.

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#13 Neighbor on 88th Road, Woodhaven, cooking up a meal, 1979.

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#14 On a street in midtown Manhattan, 1979.

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#15 Public Library, Manhattan, 5th Avenue at East 41st Street.

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#16 Performance in front of Lincoln Statue, Union Square.

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#17 Chambers Street, looking east towards the Manhattan Municipal Building at Centre Street.

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#18 Exchange Place, Financial District.

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#19 John Street.

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#20 Newsstand at dusk.

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#21 Three views from Prospect Park, Brooklyn, including the bandshell.

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#24 Out and about in the Brighton Beach and Coney Island areas.

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#29 Surf Avenue, Coney Island, 1979.

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#32 Produce tailgate in Brooklyn, near the LIRR, 1979.

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#33 Albany Avenue and Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn.

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#34 View of Manhattan and the Twin Towers from Brooklyn.

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#35 American Museum of Natural History, Manhattan.

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#40 Delacorte Theatre in Central Park on a rainy day, 1979.

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#41 Outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the rain at dusk.

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#42 Queens, 1979.

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#44 Queens Boulevard at 40th Street, subway viaduct at the left, Empire State Building in the distance.

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#45 East 61st Street and 5th Avenue, Manhattan, 1979.

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#46 Carriages along Central Park, near Central Park South and 5th Avenue.

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#47 General Sherman Statue at Grand Army Plaza, Central Park.

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#48 Upper West Side, Manhattan, 1979.

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#50 Greeley Square at West 33rd Street, 1979.

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#51 Nearby at West 32nd Street, 1979.

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#52 Avenue of the Americas at West 35th Street.

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#53 Avenue of the Americas at West 34th Street.

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#54 Sutton Theater at 205 East 57th Street, 1980.

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#55 9th Avenue and West 55th Street, looking south.

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#56 9th Avenue and West 40th Street, looking south.

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#57 Entering the Lincoln Tunnel, 1980.

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#61 View of the George Washington Bridge from the Upper West Side, 1980.

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#62 Junk shops on Canal Street at Cortlandt Alley.

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#63 Broadway at West 81st Street, looking south, 1980.

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#64 More junk shops, Church and Canal Streets near the Post Office.

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#66 Looking south along Church Street near Leonard Street, a view of the Twin Towers, 1980.

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#67 Church Street at White Street, looking east.

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#68 West Broadway and Franklin Street, 1980.

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#69 Chambers Street, looking east towards the Manhattan Municipal Building at Centre Street.

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#70 Job Lot Trading Company, 140 Church Street.

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