Brooklyn Museum: Photography: The Curb Market

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The Curb Market - New York

The neighborhood around Wall Street has been the commercial center of New York City since colonial times. Before moving inside, brokers gathered outdoors to trade goods and stocks at various markets. The American Stock Exchange, one of many exchange places in the area, moved to an indoor space only in 1921. Until then, as Joseph Petrocelli captured in this iconic image, brokers challenged bad weather at the curbside market on Broad Street, shouting and gesticulating in order to communicate their transactions. At the time of Petrocelli’s photograph, recently built skyscrapers already towered high over the streets, dwarfing the New York Stock Exchange, the neoclassical building on the left side of the picture, and the Federal Hall National Memorial, on Wall Street, in the background.

Artist: Joseph Petrocelli, American, died 1928
Medium: Bromoil print
Dates: 1921
Dimensions: 14 x 17 in. (35.6 x 43.2 cm)
Signature: Signed recto
Collections: Photography
Museum Location: This item is not on view
Accession Number: 45.31.38
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Joseph Petrocelli
Image: Overall, 45.31.38_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009