Stunning Pictures Show the Changing Face of New York in the 1940s-50s and Now _ USStories

These stunning images show the changing face of New York in the middle of the 20th century and now. Old pictures taken in the 1940s and 1950s by legendary crime photographer Arthur Fellig, better known as Weegee, are shown alongside shots of the same areas captured this month, via Daily Mail Online.

A man is pictured lying drunk on the ground on Center Street in a 1945 picture called 'Derelict sleeping on the sidewalk outside police headquarters' (left). A woman walks past the same engraved sign for the former Police Department on March 18 this year (rigft)

A lightning bolt strikes above Lower Manhattan on July 27, 1940 (top) in a picture taken by legendary crime photographer Arthur Fellig. A picture taken from the same vantage point (bottom) shows how the skyline has changed over the last 75 years.

Weegee's photograph 'Neon billboards on Times Square' (top), taken in September 1957, and an image taken from the same spot earlier this month (bottom) shows how the area has changed over the years.

Shops and businesses have sprung up along Doyers Street in the heart of New York's Chinatown (bottom). Weegee photographed a fire on the same street (top) on January 17, 1941.

Weegee photographed The Empire State Building in 1943 (left) from behind a 'loans sign'. A picture taken this month (right) shows how the view from the same spot has changed in the last 70 years.

Crowds of men gather next to what is now the Barclay's Center, in a picture taken on March 18, 1943 called 'Wartime rationing: retail butchers await arrival of meat' (top). The same area, next to the Atlantic Mall, is shown below as it appears today.

Fire crews battle a blaze at the intersection of Fulton and Greenwich Streets in a 1946 picture called 'Fire in a loft building' (left). A photograph taken earlier this month (right) shows people lining up for the September 11 Museum near the World Trade Center transportation hub.

Another picture provided by the International Center of Photography shows the Times Building in 1952 (left) - free from the neon billboards that can be seen at the same spot today (right).

The 24-hour Ham n Egg restaurant on West 51st Street (top) is shown in Weegee's 1953 photo. People walk past a Starbucks Coffee at the same spot earlier this month.

Crowds are pictured along Wall Street in May 1945 as the nation was celebrating VE Day (left). A picture taken from the same vantage point shows the area as it appears today (right).

A 1945 picture called 'Victory' shows men and women at a Chinese restaurant (top). A woman walks down the same staircase earlier this month. A new guidebook of Weegee's photos includes pictures drawn from the archives of the International Center of Photography.

An August 1945 picture called 'Celebration in the Garment District on Japanese offer to surrender' is shown left while the same street is pictured right.

A 1953 Weegee photo called 'Showing Tonite' (top) captured 42nd Street in New York. Theater signs can still be seen lining the same street today (bottom).

(via Daily Mail Online)

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Stunning Pictures Show the Changing Face of New York in the 1940s-50s and Now _ USStories

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