Captured on Fifth Avenue in the early 1930s, this photograph preserves a defining element of New York’s disappearing urban landscape: the open-top double-decker buses that still animated the avenue before they vanished in the early 1940s.

Abbott’s image records a city in transition, just before single-deck buses and the expanding IND subway system reshaped the rhythm of daily movement through Manhattan.

Created only months before Abbott began her WPA-supported Changing New York survey, the work already anticipates the clear, observational approach that would define her celebrated series. It marks a pivotal moment in her documentary practice, as her attention turned with increasing precision to the architecture, infrastructure, and modern life of New York.

Printed in Abbott’s own darkroom in the early 1930s, the photograph retains the tonal richness, sharp detail, and technical depth that distinguish her most compelling vintage prints. Its provenance from the Joanna Steichen collection further reinforces both its historical significance and its exceptional place within Abbott’s early New York work.