Not too long ago we tapped into our inner voyeur and looked inside Brooklyn apartments circa 1978. Now we're taking a look back at the many faces of the New York City apartment throughout the years, from "the oldest apartment house in New York City" to the Bronx in the 1960s. Click through for a look at the exteriors of apartment buildings from all of the five boroughs. And a little historical fact to go with the visuals: The first New York City tenement was built in 1839, housing mainly poor immigrants. Not too long after that, however, luxury apartments arrived—The Dakota being one of the first, built in 1884.
For more on the history of living in NYC, the NYPL offers up: Classic 6: New York City Apartment Building Living, 1880s-1910s. The collection includes over 1,300 digital images depicting "elevation views and floor plans for middle and upper class apartment buildings from New York City's pre-World War I residential building boom."
