Here’s a fabulous colorized reel of various views of Broadway in the early 1930s. The YouTube artist known as NASS is responsible for many of these urban re-boot reels, in which he colorizes the footage (with great skill), slows the frame rate down and adds a quite convincing soundbed of traffic ambience, as opposed to the usual tired trend of putting music to silent footage–and too often the wrong music. One of the commenters has done a very thorough detective job about when/where this stuff was shot so I’m reprinting it below. Everybody dance!

Okay! My guess is 1932. At 2:29-an aerial of the Ninth Avenue Elevated looking South down Broadway toward Columbus Circle at 59th Street SW corner tip of Central Park. This was probably taken from the top of the famous Ansonia Apartment House where Broadway intersects with Amsterdam Avenue at West 72nd Street looking South (downtown). At 3:10, we can see the Empire State Building in background completed in 1931 and at 4:35 a streetcar going uptown on Broadway in Times Square with original facade of Times Building from circa 1904 in background. It was redesigned mid-sixties and original beauty of building destroyed as was done to many ornate buildings in 1950‘s through seventies. Later part of production is lower Broadway financial district at tip of Manhattan by Battery Park where you see policeman and another aerial of elevated from South Ferry terminal. I believe they dismantled that in the late 1930‘s. The police officer‘s cap and badge are the original crest from City of New York founding still used to this day! I had to laugh at Now Entering New York City“ at West 241st Street and Broadway! That’s right! Would I love to have that sign today!!! I remember a more modern sign when I was a child but that sign brought me a smile!!! Bless Momma cat and her baby!!!! Lookin Pretty Lookin Pretty, New York City, New York City! Good job NASS. I’d say 1930 or 1932 from the old familiarity with New York license plates.