Times Square didn’t used to look nearly as intense as it does today.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAnd Broadway near 7th Avenue and West 43rd Street was also a lot calmer.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementPeople paused to take photos and sit on benches at busy Rockefeller Center.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkThe corner near Radio City Music Hall was busy with activity.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementRetail stores are more prominent now in Union Square.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkThe area of 14th Street near Irving Place looks very different now from what is pictured here.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementBars and restaurants were more common along 14th Street than the retail stores you would find today.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkThe Union Square greenmarket is still going strong.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementPeople hung out in nearby Washington Square Park.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New York14th Street near the PATH station to New Jersey was busy with people patronizing shops and food spots.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementSome parts of downtown looked different back then too.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkThese women strolled down Essex Street in 1975.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementPell Street in Chinatown was bustling.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkThe New York Stock Exchange still looks the same.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementThis shot shows a corner of Fulton and Water Streets in 1975.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkSweet’s Restaurant on Fulton Street was a popular spot, but it closed in 1992 after a bad storm.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementThis West Village street looks peaceful and scenic.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkChildren played in the street with water from a fire hydrant.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementPeople visited Battery Park to gaze at the Statue of Liberty.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkThe lower Manhattan skyline is a lot more built up now than it was in this 1979 photo.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementThe Twin Towers used to dominate the skyline.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkThe observation deck of the World Trade Center’s South Tower was a popular spot.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementIn Brooklyn, Broadway near Bedford Avenue and South 6th Street didn’t look that different before Williamsburg was gentrified.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkBut this section of Broadway between Berry Street and Bedford Avenue looked rundown pre-gentrification.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementThe traffic around busy Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn is calm in this shot.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkThe Empire State Building looked just as majestic as it does today.

Edmund V. Gillon/Museum of the City of New YorkAdvertisementNow step back even farther in time.

Charles W. Cushman Photography Collection / Indiana University Archives