CITYist

Leon Levinstein, Untitled, New York City, 1960s–70s The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Gary Davis, 2007 (2007.467.6) © Howard Greenberg Gallery

In a small, nearly hidden section of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 44 photographs are now on display that offer a snapshot of New York in days gone by. “Hipsters, Hustlers and Handball Players,” a collection featuring the work of the late Leon Levinstein, will be on view through October 17th. Though born in West Virigina, Levinstein eventually moved to the city and focused his lens on everyday New Yorkers from the beat scene of the 50s through the drug culture of the 80s. Close-ups often prevent identification of the surrounding scene, but some of his favorite settings included Times Square, the Lower East Side and Coney Island—places that were always hip but not always happy and often infested with drugs, prostitution and crime.

Still, Levinstein captures New Yorkers at their simplest and most candid of moments: walking down the street, playing handball and lying on the sand. The black-and-white technique imparts a gritty realism and suggests some dissatisfaction, restlessness and nostalgia. You can see it in the faces of the elderly, the prostitutes, the passers-by, the woman staring off into the distance and the young mother clutching her baby at the beach. It’s not the same New York City many often think of when they hear the words but one that is, or at least was, always there.

Leon Levinstein, Handball Players, Lower East Side, 1950s–1960s The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 1987 (1987.1064) © Howard Greenberg Gallery

Leon Levinstein, Untitled, New York City, 1960s–70s The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Gary Davis, 2007 (2007.467.30) © Howard Greenberg Gallery

Leon Levinstein, Untitled, Coney Island, 1960s The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Gary Davis, 2009 (2009.483.27) © Howard Greenberg Gallery

Leon Levinstein, Untitled, New York City, 1960s-70s The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Gary Davis, 2007 (2007.467.17) © Howard Greenberg Gallery