Through photography, we can see such changes in vivid detail. One trove of evidence comes from the city, which in the 1930s, 1940s and 1980s took photos of every building in New York in an effort to make tax assessments fairer and more accurate.

My colleague James Barron previously wrote about the photos from the 1930s and 1940s, and he recently discussed the ones from the 1980s. Consider them very early versions of Google Street View.

For example, the old Alexander’s store in Manhattan was replaced by the headquarters for Bloomberg L.P., more than 100 condominiums, a Home Depot and the fancy restaurant Le Cirque (which closed in 2017).

Studio 54 in Manhattan is now a theater.

The building that housed the Royal Furniture Company in the South Bronx is a homeless shelter.

Of course, smaller spots — the neighborhood dive bar, the local shoe repair shop — have disappeared, too. Our new series Endangered Spaces celebrates places that are closing (or just hanging on).