The 1990s weren’t even that long ago, and yet these photos of newsstands show just how much things have changed in that time. For the very young who might not know, newsstands were (and are, to much lesser extent) small kiosks on city sidewalks where people could pick up a magazine or a pack of cigarettes (which only cost $2.30). Interestingly, there were even fewer newsstands in the mid-’90s – the lowest number the city ever reached was around 280 – than there are now, around 300. In 1994, during that nadir, photographer Moyra Davey began documenting them as a symbol of vanishing New York. The photos are striking, with the newsstands appearing as graffiti-covered totems of the Bad Old Days. Here are a few, with more at New York magazine.
