William Howell: West Side Highway documents the final years of the abandoned piers along Manhattan’s West Side, which served as a central meeting place for gay men and the wider LGBT community from the 1970s into the 1990s. The series includes more than 70 photographs taken on and around the piers before most of the structures were demolished or incorporated into new development. The images show people socialising, sunbathing, and using the piers as a space for sexual encounters, including sex work, in an environment where they could be more open about their identities.
During this period, the surrounding neighborhoods were changing rapidly. Gentrification led to the demolition of many older buildings, and the piers became one of the few remaining areas where LGBT people could gather without the same level of scrutiny they faced elsewhere in the city. For some, the site was primarily a place for sex and hustling. For others, it functioned as a public space where they could relax, meet friends, and spend time outdoors without fear of judgment or harassment. The photographs record both aspects of life on the piers.
The series also captures a version of New York that no longer exists. The World Trade Center appears in the background of many images, and the industrial landscape around the piers has since been replaced by luxury housing and a family-oriented park. The structures themselves were often unsafe, with decaying wood and exposed metal, yet they remained in use because few other options were available for public, unsupervised gathering.
West Side Highway presents the piers as a site where social restrictions and personal freedom came into direct contact. Howell, a Brooklyn-based photographer who studied at Pratt Institute, photographed the area during its last years as an informal gay cruising ground. The book preserves a record of a specific time and place in the city’s history, showing how marginal spaces can become essential for communities that face exclusion elsewhere.
William Howell: West Side Highway
Category: Photographer Monographs & Art Books
Author: William Howell
Publisher: Dark Entries Editions
Publication Date:
October 2026
Print Length: 96 pages
Language: English
Price: paid
paid
paid
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