New York 1940s in Color!, Driving Downtown [60fps,Remastered] w/ sound design added

I colorized, restored and created a sound design for this video of New York City 1940s , buzzing with activity, with the population of Manhattan almost reaching 2 million inhabitants.
first shot is heading uptown on 8th Avenue. Madison Square Garden is on the left at 1:22, at 50th Street. 1:38 is 5th avenue, looking uptown, at 59th street. 4:55 seems to be a crosstown street, (which?) with many stooped apartment buildings, possibly midtown (Thx dvtvrich)

Video Restoration Process:
✔ FPS boosted to 60 frames per second
✔ Image resolution boosted up to HD
✔ Improved video sharpness and brightness
✔ Colorized only for the ambiance (not historically accurate)
✔added sound only for the ambiance
✔restoration:(stabilisation,denoise,deblur)

Please, be aware that colorization colors are not real and fake, colorization was made only for the ambiance and do not represent real historical data.

black and white Source video: Prelinger Archives

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[NASS_]

Would you like to visit the 1940's? Which city would you like to visit?

[mostynf]

Whoever had the foresight to film this, it’s an amazing historical record.

[johncholmes]

YouTube is the closest thing to a time machine we will ever have...

[Sinerwray]

Imagine getting in a accident and telling the other driver you have a dash cam lol

[liamcragin]

the fact that there is no crosswalks or pedestrian traffic lights back then must've been nuts!

[colterino]

First clip: heading north on 8th Ave passing the old MS Garden. Then south down 5th from the southeast of Central Park, 59th st. I was cab driver for 4 years and lived in Manhattan for 60. Lovely to see the NYC my dad and mom fell in love in. Thanks. Enjoyed it. Lots.

[duncanarchibald]

Always makes me wonder about all the people you see in this film - what were they doing, who were they meeting, what did they have for breakfast, when and how did they die, etc...?
Most probably had no idea they were captured on film and what was captured was completely inconsequential to their lives that, if asked about it, they wouldn't even remember any part of the day, week or month!
Mind blowing.

[themaddaddy]

that man who recorded this is a genius thank you and RIP 🙏

[GodsSoldier]

This is incredible!! I used to dream about what it was like back then just wishing I could see it. I hope you understand how important what you're doing is. Thank you for this!

[yodhin]

This is incredible restoration. Thank you for your hard work in putting this together !

[rajat.]

The cars look like pieces of art rather than a tool for transportation

[bee]

My grandma was in her 20’s at this time. She’s 103 now.

[kaylabreadnroses]

My grandmother was eight years old in 1940 and living in Spanish Harlem. She said back then that the streets and neighborhoods were always clean and people really cared about presentation and always looking their best. It's amazing to think how much New York City has changed since then.

[leewyckoff]

I was young, but I remember the streets with these cars. Thank you for enhancing these memories.

[NoahFroio]

This is the most graceful display of organized chaos I have seen in a long time!!! What a dizzying ballet of passing cars, random pedestrians, and traffic cops in the middle of intersections. Gosh, I would have loved to lived in those days!!!

[jksteven]

I used to work in TV and I can attest to the fact the smooth, flickerless clarity of this film makes it almost as clear as a late 1960's studio video tape! Amazing restoration!

[dirtroadsandwoodstoves]

The work you do in bringing us these vids is greatly appreciated.

[brkitdwn]

This is what I love about YouTube.. Being able to see the past. Thank you for uploading!

[Blakblue]

The way everyone dressed was so classy just to get some groceries! 🤩
No tights of flip-flops in site!

[jask]

Looks like all pedestrians used to have 7 lives back in the day