STANTON STREET, NOS. 328-344
Between Goerck (now Baruch) and Mangin Streets
MARCH 4, 1937. ABBOTT FILE 212

The three motley houses on Stanton Street had varied histories but in Abbott's day were home to small-scale Jewish businesses. At 328, the family that lived on the top floor kept a truck, which provided their primary income, in the first-floor garage. No. 330, built in 1884 as a stable, was a carbonated water factory. And no. 332 was a condiment factory for "Herman Food Products--pickles, salad oil, olives, jellies, mustard, vinegar, relish, and horseradish." All three structures came down in the early 1950s when the fifteen-square-block Baruch Houses were built. Although renamed New Street, this section of Stanton Street was retained to provide access to the 1927 Lavanburg Houses (visible in the background of the photograph), one of New York's earliest experiments in low-income housing.

Included in Changing New York, this photograph exemplifies Abbott's monumental treatment of New York's shabbier buildings. Empty streets, harsh light, and strong geometry were the pillars of her technique.

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