In the 1990s photographer Grégoire Alessandrini documented the streets of New York City through his eyes as a young film student and writer at CUNY. He made his career as a journalist in his native France and for the last fifteen years has been the Executive Video Producer and Director at Louis Vuitton. His photos of the Meatpacking DistrictTimes Square CelebritiesConey Island and iconic diners of the 1990s have previously been featured in our Vintage Photo column. Yesterday, as he shelters in place in Paris while his daughter is here as a student in New York City, he sent us an email with his latest work.
Visiting New York City in the summer of 2019, he took the opportunity to retake photographs from the same place he had originally shot them. He writes, “I thought time had come to explore Manhattan again with a camera, wandering aimlessly in this transformed city, from Harlem to Battery Park, East to West End. My Nikon film cameras have been stored for quite some time and my new companions are now Fujifilm digital cameras. These long walks in the NYC summer heat brought me back to some locations I had photographed in the 1990’s.”

Meatpacking District

Hector's Diner in Meatpacking in 1993
Hector's Diner in Meatpacking in 2019
Meatpacking in 1993
Meatpacking in 2019
Meatpacking in 1993
Meatpacking in 2019

Times SquareTimes Square 42nd Street in 1993

Times Square 42nd Street in 2019

New Amsterdam Theatre

New Amsterdam Theater in 1993

New Amsterdam Theater in 2019

Village Cigars, Greenwich Village

Village Cigars in 1993
Village Cigars in 2019

Herald Square, 6th Avenue and 33rd Street

Herald Square corner 1993
Herald Square corner 2019

Lafayette and Great Jones Street

Jones Diner 1993
Jones Diner location in 2019

Astor Place

Alamo Cube in 1993
Alamo Cube 2019

Lafayette and Bleecker Street

Bleecker Street 1993
Bleecker Street 2019

A REVS-COST street art and ghost sign:

REVS COST street art west side 1993

REVS COST street art west side 2019Now only visible from the High Line but still present!

Next, check out more from Grégoire Alessandrini on Untapped New York. All photos in this article by Grégoire Alessandrini.