译者 flyingheart
Jun. 6, 1941: Three men sit on a bench in Battery Park
1941年6月6日：三个男人坐在炮台公园的长凳上
In 1905, after years of living in Paris, Atlantic author Alvan Sanborn came home to a New York City that was, he wrote, "a wilderness of sprawling ugliness." In Lower Manhattan, new 20-story skyscrapers were ruining the view, blocking the elegant spires of Trinity Church and the swoops of the Brooklyn Bridge. Even the city's stateliest sections lacked Paris's charm and symmetry, Sanborn complained; the buildings seemed to be "turn[ing] their backs most impolitely on one another."
1905年，在巴黎生活数年之后，《大西洋月刊》的一名撰稿人阿尔万·桑伯恩回到家乡。他是这样描写纽约城的，“这是一个丑陋丛生的荒蛮之地。”在下曼哈顿，20层的新摩天大楼正在破坏着天际线，将优雅的三一教堂的塔尖遮挡并从视觉上将布鲁克林桥拦腰斩断。桑伯恩抱怨道，即便纽约最精致的细节也比不上巴黎的魅力与协调；建筑物似乎“都在转过身躯极其无礼地互相背对着对方。”
But after a month at home, Sanborn's disgust gave way to giddy excitement. He realized that the American city was "in the throes of creation," growing a new body to match its emerging mind:
但是回国一个月后，桑伯恩的厌恶感便让位于令人眩晕的激动之中。他认识到美国的城市是“痛并快乐着，”与其豪迈的意志相匹配的是城市日新月异的发展：
Materially, mentally, and morally, New York is growing helter-skelter, very much as the untouched forest grows,--big trees and little trees, straight trees and crooked trees, saplings, bushes, brakes, ferns, flowers, mushrooms, and toadstools in a bewildering tangle,--and it exhales a similar aroma of unjaded life, which cannot fail to thrill every man who has a drop of red blood in him.
不管是在物质上、精神上还是在道德层面上，纽约都在杂乱无章地成长着，---像极了未被触及的原始森林，大树小树、直树曲树、小树苗、灌木丛、荆棘、蕨类、鲜花、蘑菇以及毒菇都在以一种眼花缭乱的方式绽放着生命，---它如同不知疲乏的生命一样散发出韵味，哪怕只有一息尚存，每个人都会在它的激励下奋力前行。
After a generation of immigration, jazz, and Art Deco, that jumble of buildings sprouted into a true city. Its robust atmosphere comes through in these photos by Charles W. Cushman, an Indiana photographer who visited New York in 1941 and 1942. Cushman was one of very few photographers who shot on expensive color Kodachrome, and his pictures look disarmingly recent: the stones glow with real sunlight, and the people have the ruddy skin tones of living human beings.
经过一代人的移民以及爵士乐和装饰艺术的传入，此前杂乱的建筑群在真正的城市中焕发新生。纽约欣欣向荣的景象被一名来自印第安纳的摄影师查尔斯·W·库什曼定格为永恒的瞬间。他在1941-1942年期间访问了纽约。库什曼是少数几个使用昂贵的柯达彩色胶卷的摄影师之一。他的照片看起来就恍如今日：石头在真实的光线下熠熠生彩，人们的皮肤呈现出只有鲜活的生命才有的红润。
A modern New Yorker will see at a glance how the city has changed since Cushman snapped these photos. Some of the most iconic buildings were demolished long ago, and neighborhoods like the Lower East Side have transformed beyond recognition. But certain features are unmistakably familiar: the wry smiles on the faces, the charm of the street vendors, even the hodge-podge of old and new architecture. At a time when Americans are remembering the fall of New York's tallest edifices, these images remind us that a great city has a spirit that grows up alongside its buildings, and ultimately transcends them.
当代的美国人可以通过库什曼抓拍的照片看一看这座城市的变迁。其中一些地标性的建筑很早以前就被拆毁了，而且像下东区之类的街区已经认不出原来的模样。但是，某些特征则一如既往的存在：苦涩的笑脸、引人注目的街头小贩，甚至包括新老建筑的大杂烩。在举国纪念纽约最高建筑塌落这一特殊时刻，这些照片提醒我们，在一座伟大的城市中伴随着城市建筑一起成长的还有它的城市精神，这种城市精神会超越建筑并继续传承下去。
New York in the 1940s
上世纪四十年代的纽约彩色图集
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The residents of lower Clinton Street socialize outside on a Saturday afternoon
一个周六的下午，下克林顿街的居民在马路边闲谈
A view of the Brooklyn Bridge from South Street
从南街看布鲁克林桥
The centuries-old Trinity Church stands between two skyscrapers on Wall Street
华尔街上，世纪之久的三一教堂坐落在两座摩天大楼之间
Sept. 27, 1941: A view of Lower Manhattan from a Jersey City ferry boat on a cloudless autumn day
1941年9月27日，从泽西市的轮渡上拍摄的明朗秋日中的下曼哈顿
A view of Manhattan's skyscrapers from across the Hudson
在哈德逊河对岸眺望曼哈顿的摩天大楼
Red brick buildings line South Street near the East River
东河附近南街临街的红砖建筑
The Brooklyn Bridge on June 6, 1941
1941年6月6日：布鲁克林桥
The Liberty Street ferry steams ahead with the city's financial district in the background
自由街轮渡冒着蒸汽行进，照片背景是纽约的金融区
Jun. 6, 1941: Looking up toward the Financial District from South Ferry
1941年6月6日：从南轮渡码头看金融区
This photo depicts the old World and Tribune buildings as seen from City Hall Square. These buildings were demolished in 1955 in order to expand the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge.
这幅照片展示的是从市政厅广场方向看到的老世界与论坛大楼。1955年，这些建筑因扩大布鲁克林桥的入口而被拆除
A view of downtown skyscrapers from an East River pier
从东河的一处码头远望市区的摩天大楼
Children convene and adults shop near the corner of Broome Street and Baruch Place in the Lower East Side
下东区靠近布鲁姆街和巴鲁克广场拐角处聚在一起的孩子们和买东西的大人
A view of the financial district from an East River Pier
在东河码头拍摄的金融区远景
Children look out an apartment window on the corner Broome Street and Baruch Place on a Saturday afternoon
一个周六的下午，在布鲁姆街和巴鲁克广场拐角处孩子们探出窗外
The old Fulton Market in the Lower East Side
下东区的老富尔顿市场
A lattice of fire escapes covers apartments in the Lower East Side.
下东区公寓外设的消防楼梯
October 1, 1942: The west side of Broadway seen from the Bowling Green
1942年10月1日：从鲍灵格林（花园）角度拍摄的百老汇西侧
A pushcart peddler sits next to his soft drink stand at Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan
一位小推车摊主坐在他的饮料摊旁（下曼哈顿鲍灵格林（花园））
The Produce Exchange near the Bowling Green was demolished in 1957 and replaced by a 30-story office tower
鲍灵格林（花园）附近的农产品交易所，1957年被拆除，代之以一座30层的写字楼
Oct. 3, 1942: New Yorkers walk the streets of Lower Manhattan
1942年10月3日：纽约人走在下曼哈顿的马路上
An eclectic mix of storefronts in Lower Manhattan
下曼哈顿各式各样的临街店面房
清晨的市府大楼
两名纽约人在一座公寓外说话
A vendor sells hot sweet potatoes on the sidewalk
一名小贩正在路边售卖热马铃薯
New Yorkers collect war-time salvage
纽约人在回收战时的旧物
A man stands outside an Italian bakery located at 58 Mulberry Street. Today, this is a Chinese dried-beef store.
一个男人站在桑树街58号一家意大利面包房外，现在这里是一家中国人开的牛肉干商店
The Empire State Building seen from 23rd Street
在第23大街拍摄的帝国大厦
