Through the Magpie Eye: Maggie Hopp's Sleazy Snaps of Times Square

03.02.2022

A Times Square cinema marquee at night, rows of bulbs and letter boards listing films, among them Forced to Fight

Way back when, before naff chain restaurants soaked up all the real estate and the fixie-riding ‘creative consultants’ planted their flags, Times Square, the epicentre of New York, was a hotbed of scuzz, sleaze and smut, rampant with crime and, for a while at least, thought to be beyond salvation.

In short, a zone bursting at the seams with character.

Alright, maybe not the first place you’d be hankering to book a family holiday to, but you get the picture.

While this period of NYC’s history has been negatively depicted on celluloid time and time again, Maggie Hopp was one keen-eyed shutter-snapper who cottoned on pretty early to the low-brow charms of ‘The Deuce’s’ many porno theatres, grindhouses and peep shows.

Without further introductory waffle, here’s those photos…

Peeling Follies Burlesk sign in red and yellow above Gaiety theatre posters of dancers in bow ties with canes and top hats

A dark doorway under a bare bulb, with a yellow sign for a photo studio reading Under New Management, 10 Lovely Models

Two people outside a 25 cent Peep Show, one in a cream coat and white hat, one in a navy puffer and flared jeans

People in long coats wait at the kerb outside the Golden Dollar bar and lounge, its front covered in yellow signs

An adult cinema lit up at night, with a huge neon name sign, red neon curtains and a silhouette logo over the entrance

Shop window of mannequins in lingerie, with signs for souvenirs, wigs, theatrical make-up, go-go outfits and tarot cards

Someone in a long dark coat walks a wet pavement past the Capri cinema, its marquee offering the lowest price in New York

A rain-wet street front lit with Live Burlesk and Joy 42 signs, painted dancer cut-outs above and Store for Rent signs

Someone in a denim jacket and dark flares smoking in a doorway, beside a yellow Free Admission sandwich board

A yellow taxi at the kerb by Ciné 1 and Ciné 2 marquees listing Spanish-language films, with neon 25 cent shop signs

If these snaps have whet your proverbial whistle for more sleaze, here’s a pretty illuminating interview with Abel Ferrara, NYC’s finest movie-making madmann, about his Times Square hijinks in the late-70s.

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