[Union Square in (L-R) 1924, 1951 and 1996. Click to expand!]
A week of our lives vanished into the abyss when the city added detailed aerial photos from 1924 to its interactive NYCityMap, allowing us to fast-forward through history with the click of a mouse and see how stadiums, slums, farms and docks became parking lots, Stuy Town, houses and Battery Park City, respectively. Now the most addictive online toy since Farmville is even better: Aerial map photos from 1951 and 1996 have been added. Like before, just head to NYCityMap and click on the camera icon to bring up the slider that lets you go back in time. See you later, workplace productivity! The WSJ's Metropolis blog points out some urban development stuff to be on the lookout for.
· NYCityMap [nyc.gov]