New Collection Alert: Anders Goldfarb from the Queens Public Library

Queens Public Library

We are excited to announce the newest partner collection to be launched on the Urban Archive platform: The Anders Goldfarb Collection. While many of our collections are dated to the early 1900s, the Goldfarb photographs are far more recent: mostly from the last three decades of the 20th century. However, just like the others, they capture a bygone New York and allow viewers to witness a different era.

Two Muslim Women at Cookout

Born in Crown Heights and raised in Flushing, Anders Goldfarb (b.1954-) was a natural candidate to capture the city where he grew up. The child of Polish holocaust survivors, the New York Times wrote in a 2009 article that he didn’t bring to his home “the romantic yearnings of an out-of-towner.” Instead, he carefully documented his surroundings with his Rolleiflex and Leica camera.

Prospect Heights — Children swinging at Dean Street Playground.

However, this is not to say that Goldfarb’s were coldblooded or cynical. Instead, it brought Goldfarb “to document the beauty and sadness of everyday life.” His black and white photos show deep interest and love for the Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods that he photographed.

Three men outside Associated Supermarket at Manhattan Avenue and Calyer Street.

Especially, as the New York Times writes, Goldfarb “came to love Greenpoint, despite the fact that the neighborhood was desolate and often dangerous.” While Greenpoint has changed dramatically during the oughts, it had suffered in the last decades of the last century. Where others might have been intimidated or disdainful, Goldfarb “brought a sense of clarity and order to photographs of abandoned gas stations and burned-out buildings.”

Greenpoint Terminal Fire — Firehoses and water tower fire trucks fighting the flames on West Street, view from Oak and Franklin Streets facing west.

Goldfarb, much like Berenice Abbott before him, captured an everchanging city. His photos recorded quiet moments of contentment and dramatic scenes of tragedy. From families to fires, Goldfarb’s images bring a new era to Urban Archive’s map, showing life before gentrification made sweeping changes to the boroughs.

St. Monica’s Church Façade at 9420 160th Street. View east from York College campus.

You can read more about Anders Goldfarb on the Queens Public Library’s collection page here. You can also check out Queens Public Library’s stories on Urban Archive on their organization page!

South Brooklyn Casket Company at 534 Union Street.