“Photo of me, leaving an after-hours club on a very early Sunday morning in the summer of 1990.” —Kelly Stiles

“I took this photo in 1976 at the age of 17. At the time these islands were gathering places for people from the old country. Many of them had survived the holocaust. In the summers the numbers tattooed on their forearms were visible. If you look closely behind them is Lieberman's Jewish Gift shop and framer.“ —Charles Libin

“I took these in the late '80s. I was a metalhead (can't you tell?). I grew up in the Bronx but worked in Manhattan.” —Jayne Nicoletti

“In the early 70's I use to enjoy shooting the "backstage" events of the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Underdog was one of my favorite balloons and on this particular day, I was lucky to capture the deflation. Things were much simpler in those days without all the excessive security so getting into this area was not difficult especially if you had a large 6x6 camera hanging off your neck. I recently scanned the original negative from circa 1974 or 75 to make a digital print of it as a gift. I don't know any of the people in the shot other than that the bulk of them was more than likely Macy's employees waiting to let the air out of the balloon on the tarp in front of them.” —Patrick Merino

“My grandfather Johann Behrens (a German immigrant) center-black hat; son John Herman Henry Behrens in the white hat to his right. My father, Henry Behrens, in the center of the row of children in the front. Others not known. Picture in family files of a cousin. Date circa 1905.” —Robert Behrens

“247 Grand Street in Manhattan. On the left Vincenzo Trimarco and on the right Giovanni "Charlie" Trimarco (the Trimarco Bros.). Their father Domenico Trimarco came from Castelluccio Cosentino, Salerno, Italy to New York in the late1870s and worked his way from a simple tailor out of an apartment to an eventual store owner before passing away in 1906. His sons (brothers to my great-great-grandmother Nicoletta Felitti of East Harlem) became very wealthy businessmen through the family clothing business and were expert tailors themselves. They were well known for suits and wedding dresses. The original Lord and Taylor was a few buildings away, and the story has it that Lord and Taylor approached the Trimarco Bros. with a proposal to partner together, but the Domenico Trimarco said no, not wanting to move back uptown to where the new Lord and Taylor would be.” —Conor Welch

“The person in the photograph is a long time regular of Roseland's matinee Ballroom dancing (used to be held Tuesdays and Sundays). The photo is part of larger photo project I did on Roseland's hard core old timers.” —Constanza Mirre

“This is me (right) and my friend Nancy Mura. We were on our way to a club that night and stopped in front of the bathhouse for a photo. It was very mysterious to me then as all of my gay friends spent a lot of time there. It wasn't until they started dying and the bath house was shut down that I realized how widespread and terrifying the AIDS epidemic was.” —Gina Garan

"This is a photo of my grandpa on his Harley Davidson, circa 1955. He had it parked in front of Carnegie Hall when a man with a camera spotted it. He asked my grandpa if he could take a picture of the bike, and he replied that it was fine as long as he also took one of him on the bike to give him." —Giovanna Gesmundo

"Immigrants from the town of Bisceglie, Bari, Italy, settled in Manhattan in the early 20th century then moved en masse to Gravesend, Brooklyn in the 1920s and '30s. They established a mutual aid society in 1932. An auxiliary, the Ladies' Society, SS. Martiri di Bisceglie, had its headquarters at 118 Avenue T, where the members seen here were photographed about 1970. They are, standing left to right: Susie Marrano (1913-1995), Grace Dell'Olio (1898-1974), and Angelina Marrano (1914-1996). The woman seated is Antoinette Fontana (1884-1977), and the little boy is me!" —Joseph Ditta

“I moved to NYC in 1986. As a World's Fair buff I often went out to the grounds in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. One time I was with a friend and we stopped here in Woodhaven to walk around a little, explore the neighborhood. I've also been in the habit since the 1970s of photographing old buildings, and quirky signage. This bar caught my eye, and I felt especially fortunate to capture the sign with one lone figure in front of it, she just walked by as I was looking through the viewfinder, adding a little narrative to the image.” —Meredith Marciano

“This is a picture of me at age 13 taken by my late father Composer Hale Smith (1925-2009) in late June of 1978 looking west under the soon to be demolished Sutphin Boulevard Station of the Jamaica Avenue EL. I am pictured standing directly under the westbound platform and behind me to my right is the staircase. My dad and I used to climb up to the EL's station & platform to catch the J train into Manhattan over the Brooklyn Broadway EL & Williamsburg Bridge. The EL east of Queens Boulevard to 168th Street had been closed in September of 1977 and it was a previous evening's newscast showing the commencement of actual demolition of this portion of the line which was the reason I went to this station where it and other pictures were subsequently taken that day. The section of the EL east of 121st Street was closed in March of 1985 & demolished in the Fall of 1990. The long-awaited Archer Street subway which was built to replace that section of the Jamaica Avenue EL which had run through Jamaica's central business district and is the section of the line that was demolished opened in the Fall of 1988.” —Eric Smith

“My mother Judie Sanger and my uncle Bernie Sanger summer 1960 boating in Central Park. The Ramble to the left and Bow Bridge behind. My father at the oars and behind the camera.” —Erika Sanger

“The photo is of me in December 1979. I was 19 years old. As a ‘born and raised’ New Yorker. this photo holds a special place in my heart. It captures the essence of my coming of age in the most fabulous time of the city. It was dirty and gritty, and we were gorgeous and glamorous. Or so we thought! That photo captures the convergence of NY and English Glam, Punk, and Disco in Fashion and outlook.” —Frances Giannilivigni Vessio

"My friends and I were part of the hippie scene in 1970 that hung out at Bethesda fountain, we'd meet up there every weekend. It was a fun and exciting time and usually, there was music and just good times. The park wasn't as clean and nice as it is today but we made it our place and we loved it." —Miriam Cintron

"My great aunt Mary saved all the family photos that eventually got passed down to me. Her brother, my grandfather, John, was drafted during WWII." —Paul Demonte

"She was a dear friend of my grandparents in Parkway Village in the late 1950s and often came over to help my Eurasian grandmother after the birth of my uncle. Parkway Village was an enclave for United Nations employees, representing a diverse range of cultures. I have always liked this photo with the contrast of a traditional Chinese dressed woman in front of what was then an American suburban utopia." —Polly Brandmeyer

“August 1945, Victory in Japan. My great grandparents Nicola and Conceta Bianco, both Italian immigrants in the center celebrating the announcement of the US winning World War 2. Their 3 sons all served and were coming home. Notice that other than my great grandparents, there were no adult men in this photo, just young children because most adult men were fighting for the country. One of my favorite pictures we have in my family archive.” —Joe Longo

“1986 my daughter is in my husband's shoulders at her first Thanksgiving Parade. She was not quite 1 1/2. My first cousin who was three is wearing the big bird hat. Superman has just gone past and we were waiting for Kermit.” —Robyn Roth-Moise

“My mother, Betty Melidis-Lelekidis is pictured in this photo on a snow day in February of 1985. This photo is a part of my personal family archive and was taken by my father, George Lelekidis. My mother grew up across the street of Astoria Park and hung out there every day as a teen. She considered this park her haven and a place to escape to. Today, there is a bench in the park, very close to where this photo was taken, dedicated to her, in memory of her recent passing.” —Anthoula Lelekidis

“I am sitting on a pile of trash bags giving a peace sign in front of a passing NYCT bus with an ad for WKTU, 'Mellow 92,' fall 1976.” —Peter Feld

"Myself and two cousins see the sights in 1969 or 1970." —Mimi Prlainovic

“One hundred years ago, in 1919, the Fisher family, immigrants from Bialystok, in what was then Russia, opened a men’s clothing retail store at 66-66 Grand Avenue in Maspeth, Queens. Here, my grandfather, David Fisher, born circa 1898, and my grandmother, Sarah \[n. Wenig], born in the U.S. in 1900, sit on “Moore’s Stoop”, steps leading to a second-floor apartment of their adjacent building. To the right, you can see the reflection of the photographer in the display window of the shop, then called “Fisher’s Gent’s Furnishings.” The year is approximately 1940.” —Steve Fisher

“St Christopher’s School. My mom took this photo on the last day of first grade in June 1961. That’s me in middle, blonde hair looking at the camera. It was an old Victorian building. From the large windows in my class, we witnessed the NY plane crash, December 1960. We heard it, jumped to windows in time to see pieces fall to a field nearby. (The rest of planes landed in Brooklyn.)” —Lisa Malaspina

"This photo was taken ca. 1967 in Washington Square Park. The unidentified priest used to give inspirational talks to large crowds standing in the fountain." —Frank Mastropolo