Featured here is a rather crisp and clear black and white photo showing an aerial view of the 85th Street Yacht Basin and in all likelihood taken around 1950 or thereabouts. Without doubt, this image depicts a calm and tranquil summer scene in the northern part of Stone Harbor. Long-time resident and friend Graham Hueber and I believe this area depicts Linden Lane and 84th Street. Facing an easterly direction, Sunset Drive is evident in the foreground and Third Avenue can be seen in the upper portion or background area of this image.
What strikes me almost first and foremost is the fact that there are still a goodly number of undeveloped lots of land in their natural state. We know that the South Basin, thanks to the Risley brothers, was the first man-made basin that was dredged and created in Stone Harbor in the year 1908. The dredging of the Snug Harbor and Shelter Haven Basins soon followed in 1909 and 1910 respectively. Obviously, the purpose of creating these basins was to increase the number of very desirable waterview lots that in these cases overlooked the Great Channel.
Attempting to date this particular image is not so easy although I did manage to see a couple of clues when I magnified the image and focused more narrowly on the automobiles barely visible in the upper portion of this photo. It appears that one or two of the vehicles are two-toned and each seem to be painted in two different colors. What that suggests is new types of paint based on trends in the automotive industry were being introduced and two-tone painted cars were becoming popular during the decade of the 1950s. According to one source, automotive designs were a reflection of adventure, success, and post Word War II feeling of euphoria and for the first time, fashion. If my readers can offer a more definitive estimate of the time when this photo was taken, then by all means let us hear from you with your reasoning. As, always, thanks for your attention to the details!