Park Avenue, NYC, 1955,
In 1955, Park Avenue—particularly around Midtown and the Upper East Side—was an incredibly wealthy, insular, and racially segregated area. Black Americans rarely lived in these specific high-rises during the mid-1950s.
Because of the social dynamics of the era, a Black man walking through this specific neighborhood carrying a delivery package or walking dogs was almost certainly employed there. Viewers and historians widely deduce that he was a worker—likely a butler, domestic employee, or courier—performing daily service rituals and errands for the area's affluent residents or businesses.
Mario de Biasi Photography
