At the dawn of the 1990s, New York City was in an unremittingly bleak state. It brought yet another all-time record high in violent crime.
By the mid 1990s, crime rates started to drop dramatically due to revised police strategies, improving economic opportunities, gentrification, and new residents, both American transplants and new immigrants from Asia and Latin America. Important new sectors, such as Silicon Alley, emerged in the city's economy.
By the time the 1990s ended, the city was pulling in 7 million more tourists a year while the city's population began to grow for the first time in decades.
French illustrator and photographer Watchman took these fascinating photographs that show scenes of New York City in May 1990.
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| Initiation, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| 8th avenue at night, Downtown, NYC, USA |
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| Avenue of the Americas (6th av), Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Avenue of the Americas (6th av), Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Avenue of the Americas (6th av), Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Battery Park City, NYC, USA |
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| Battery Park City, NYC, USA |
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| Battery Park Underpass, NYC, USA |
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| Battery Park, Lower Manhattan, NYC, USA |
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| Battery Park, NYC, USA |
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| Battery Park, NYC, USA |
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| Bleecker St (and the Pink Pussy Cat Boutique!), The Village, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Broadway, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Broadway, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Broadway, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Broadway, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| City Hall, NYC, USA |
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| City Hall, NYC, USA |
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| City Hall, NYC, USA |
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| City Hall, NYC, USA |
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| Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Empire State, view by my window, 8th avenue, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Figure of the Empire State, Downtown NYC, USA.jpg |
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| Financial district, World Trade Center, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| La dispute, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Museum For American Indian, NYC, USA |
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| Neighborhood of the World Trade Center, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| New York skyline, NYC, USA |
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| NYC view from Twin Towers, NYC, USA |
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| NYC view from Twin Towers, NYC, USA |
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| NYC view from Twin Towers, NYC, USA |
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| NYC view from Twin Towers, NYC, USA |
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| NYC view from Twin Towers, NYC, USA |
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| Radio City Music Hall, 6th avenue, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Radio City Music Hall, 6th avenue, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Rockefeller Center, 5th avenue, NYC, USA |
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| Rockefeller Center, 5th avenue, NYC, USA |
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| St. Nicolas Church, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| The Village, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| The Village, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Tribeca (Triangle Below Canal Street), Downtown NYC, USA |
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| TriBeCa, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Twin Towers & Battery Park City, NYC, USA |
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| Twin Towers, NYC, USA |
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| Twin Towers, NYC, USA |
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| View by my window, 8th avenue, Downtown, NYC, USA |
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| View by my window, 8th avenue, Downtown, NYC, USA |
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| View by my window, 8th avenue, Downtown, NYC, USA |
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| View from Columbus Circle, Downtown NYC, USA |
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| Washington Square, Downtown NYC, USA |