WEST STREET, ROW II
217-221 West Street between North Moore and Franklin Streets
MAY 12, 1936. ABBOTT FILE 115

Despite West Street's width, waterfront commerce made it virtually impassable for through traffic. The elevated West Side Express Highway from 72nd Street to the Battery was designed to remedy the problem. Constructed in segments throughout the 1930s, the highway was being extended from Canal to Duane Streets when Abbott was photographing West Street. Her return to the area a month after completing an earlier series (Abbott File 99 and Abbott File 98) almost certainly reflected her desire to document the ongoing change.

The stretch of commercial buildings between North Moore and Franklin Streets was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the sprawling Borough of Manhattan Community College (1980). The elevated highway, however, has come and gone. Due to continual "deferred maintenance," a portion collapsed and required the highway's demolition in 1982. After years of protracted debate, a rebuilding of the highway is currently underway.

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