Midtown Manhattan NYC

Aerial photograph of Midtown Manhattan, looking north, dated September 9, 1931. Source: Mitchel Field, Records of the Army Air Forces / U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Additional text included.

The Empire State Building, opened about four month before this photo was taken, is in the foreground. Chrysler Building is on the right and foundation works of the Rockefeller Center had already begun. The first building opened in 1932.

The lower half of the Hudson River (on the left) is a tidal estuary that separates the Bronx and Manhattan Island from Northern New Jersey. East River is on the right.

Midtown Manhattan has been a NYC's major business center since the early 20th century, after the first subway line opened in 1904, crossing Times Square.