"EL,"
SECOND AND THIRD AVENUE LINES
250 Pearl Street between Fulton and John Streets
MARCH 26, 1936. ABBOTT FILE 88
On the same day she photographed the Woolworth Building, Abbott photographed the El on Pearl Street in an area that formed an informal border between the financial district and the South Street waterfront. On the west side of the street (right) were a massive new office building at 111 John Street and a 38-story tower at 116 John Street. On the east side toward the waterfront were tenements and a mid-century bank building. Rising up behind the El tracks was 60 Wall Tower, four blocks away.
Abbott also photographed the Second and Third Avenue El at Hanover Square and at Division Street and the Bowery. In each photograph, the play of light and shadow from the overhead tracks was a key compositional element, conveying a different mood--the dynamism of Hanover Square, the gloom of Division Street, and the sun-drenched solitude of Pearl Street.
The El was demolished in 1955, and the two John Street skyscrapers have been joined by giant newcomers at 127 John Street (1971) and 130 John Street (1970).