Rare Old Birdseye Map of New York City 1970: Statue of Liberty, Empire State, Times Sq, Wall St, Broadway
Restored in our London workshop from the original 1970 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.Restored from the original 1970 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
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Gift message & custom finish
If you want to add a gift message, or a finish (jigsaw, aluminium board, etc.) that is not available here, please request it in the "order note" when you check out.
Every order is custom made, so if you need the size adjusted slightly, or printed on an unusual material, just let us know. We've done thousands of custom orders over the years, so there's (almost) nothing we can't manage.
You can also contact us before you order, if you prefer!
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Titled simply New York City, this exuberant 1970 bird’s-eye panorama stakes an irresistible claim: the metropolis as the axis of the modern...
Continue readingTitled simply New York City, this exuberant 1970 bird’s-eye panorama stakes an irresistible claim: the metropolis as the axis of the modern world. Rendered in isometric perspective, the city rises in colorful tiers, crowned by the Empire State Building and welcomed by the outstretched torch of the Statue of Liberty. The composition is a city map that reads like a manifesto, inviting you to traverse avenues and districts while also glancing outward to global horizons. Flanking panels flatten distant lands—China, Japan, Russia, Ireland, England, France, Spain, and Italy—suggesting that their histories, peoples, and energies converge here. It’s an urban portrait and a world atlas at once, a daring, witty visualization of New York’s magnetic pull in a transformative era.
At the heart of the sheet, Manhattan’s spine and lattice are crisply articulated. Broadway slices diagonally through the grid, colliding with 42nd Street and exploding into the spectacle of Times Square. Fifth Avenue ascends as a boulevard of glamour, while Park and Madison Avenues evoke corporate elegance and Madison Avenue’s advertising lore. Downstream, Wall Street concentrates financial power at the island’s tip. Central Park, a verdant rectangle, breathes order and respite into the density, with 2nd Avenue completing the cadence of named corridors. As a city map, it rewards neighborhood-by-neighborhood reading—Midtown’s glamour, the Financial District’s gravitas—translating urban complexity into legible, engaging iconography.
The artist extends the gaze beyond midtown glitter to the city’s living fabric. Greenwich Village appears as a cradle of counterculture—a 1970s hive of cafés, bookstores, and music clubs whose influence radiates far beyond its narrow lanes. Across the East River, Brooklyn anchors the composition with the suggestion of rowhouse neighborhoods and a creative ferment then beginning to gather pace. The harbor becomes a stage where the Statue of Liberty presides over arrivals and departures, an emblem of aspiration set against working piers and skylines. The Hudson River threads this geography into a single current, turning local streets into a cosmopolitan waterway that carries the city’s commerce, culture, and dreams toward open seas.
Playful cartographic sleight-of-hand dramatizes New York’s reach. Significant American places—San Francisco, Los Angeles, Texas, Miami, and Washington, D.C.—are arrayed as if strung along the Hudson River, collapsing miles into metaphor and underscoring how all roads, flights, and broadcasts seem to flow to Manhattan. Beyond, the sweep gestures to the Gulf of Mexico and outward to the Old World, where side panels parade China, Japan, Russia, Ireland, England, France, Spain, and Italy. These are not mere decorations; they echo New York’s diasporas—Chinatown, Little Italy, Irish and Jewish enclaves—and the transatlantic and transpacific circuits of finance, fashion, food, and art that made the city a planetary clearinghouse by 1970.
The map’s anonymous creator channels the great tradition of twentieth-century pictorial cartography—part guide, part theater, part civic love letter—while distilling the cultural voltage of the era. The isometric vantage and exuberant labels transform thoroughfares like Broadway, Fifth Avenue, Park Avenue, Madison Avenue, and 2nd Avenue into narrative threads, binding Times Square’s neon, Wall Street’s ledgers, and Central Park’s pastoral calm into a single story. Anonymity lets the city claim authorship, yet the choices are unmistakably editorial: New York crowned, horizons compressed, the world beckoning from the margins. As a city map, it is notable for elevating orientation into argument—an unforgettable snapshot of a place convinced, not without reason, that it was the center of everything.
Streets and roads on this map
- 2nd Avenue
- 42nd Street
- Broadway
- Fifth Avenue
- Madison Avenue
- Park Avenue
- Wall Street
Notable Features & Landmarks
- Brooklyn
- Central Park
- Empire State Building
- Greenwich Village
- Gulf of Mexico
- Manhattan
- Statue of Liberty
- Times Square
Historical and design context
- Created in 1970 by an anonymous artist
- City Thematic and Pictorial map in bird’s-eye, isometric perspective
- Composes New York as the “center of the world”
- Visualization extends from NYC to other U.S. locales and beyond
- Side panels flatten land masses and depict China, Japan, Russia, Ireland, England, France, Spain, and Italy to show global ties
- Colorful illustrations and labels encourage exploration of the urban landscape and points of interest
- Reflects the cultural vibrancy and global significance of New York City in 1970
Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.
Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.
This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 70in (180cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.
The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.
Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.
Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.
This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.
For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.
Titled simply New York City, this exuberant 1970 bird’s-eye panorama stakes an irresistible claim: the metropolis as the axis of the modern world. Rendered in isometric perspective, the city rises in colorful tiers, crowned by the Empire State Building and welcomed by the outstretched torch of the Statue of Liberty. The composition is a city map that reads like a manifesto, inviting you to traverse avenues and districts while also glancing outward to global horizons. Flanking panels flatten distant lands—China, Japan, Russia, Ireland, England, France, Spain, and Italy—suggesting that their histories, peoples, and energies converge here. It’s an urban portrait and a world atlas at once, a daring, witty visualization of New York’s magnetic pull in a transformative era.
At the heart of the sheet, Manhattan’s spine and lattice are crisply articulated. Broadway slices diagonally through the grid, colliding with 42nd Street and exploding into the spectacle of Times Square. Fifth Avenue ascends as a boulevard of glamour, while Park and Madison Avenues evoke corporate elegance and Madison Avenue’s advertising lore. Downstream, Wall Street concentrates financial power at the island’s tip. Central Park, a verdant rectangle, breathes order and respite into the density, with 2nd Avenue completing the cadence of named corridors. As a city map, it rewards neighborhood-by-neighborhood reading—Midtown’s glamour, the Financial District’s gravitas—translating urban complexity into legible, engaging iconography.
The artist extends the gaze beyond midtown glitter to the city’s living fabric. Greenwich Village appears as a cradle of counterculture—a 1970s hive of cafés, bookstores, and music clubs whose influence radiates far beyond its narrow lanes. Across the East River, Brooklyn anchors the composition with the suggestion of rowhouse neighborhoods and a creative ferment then beginning to gather pace. The harbor becomes a stage where the Statue of Liberty presides over arrivals and departures, an emblem of aspiration set against working piers and skylines. The Hudson River threads this geography into a single current, turning local streets into a cosmopolitan waterway that carries the city’s commerce, culture, and dreams toward open seas.
Playful cartographic sleight-of-hand dramatizes New York’s reach. Significant American places—San Francisco, Los Angeles, Texas, Miami, and Washington, D.C.—are arrayed as if strung along the Hudson River, collapsing miles into metaphor and underscoring how all roads, flights, and broadcasts seem to flow to Manhattan. Beyond, the sweep gestures to the Gulf of Mexico and outward to the Old World, where side panels parade China, Japan, Russia, Ireland, England, France, Spain, and Italy. These are not mere decorations; they echo New York’s diasporas—Chinatown, Little Italy, Irish and Jewish enclaves—and the transatlantic and transpacific circuits of finance, fashion, food, and art that made the city a planetary clearinghouse by 1970.
The map’s anonymous creator channels the great tradition of twentieth-century pictorial cartography—part guide, part theater, part civic love letter—while distilling the cultural voltage of the era. The isometric vantage and exuberant labels transform thoroughfares like Broadway, Fifth Avenue, Park Avenue, Madison Avenue, and 2nd Avenue into narrative threads, binding Times Square’s neon, Wall Street’s ledgers, and Central Park’s pastoral calm into a single story. Anonymity lets the city claim authorship, yet the choices are unmistakably editorial: New York crowned, horizons compressed, the world beckoning from the margins. As a city map, it is notable for elevating orientation into argument—an unforgettable snapshot of a place convinced, not without reason, that it was the center of everything.
Streets and roads on this map
- 2nd Avenue
- 42nd Street
- Broadway
- Fifth Avenue
- Madison Avenue
- Park Avenue
- Wall Street
Notable Features & Landmarks
- Brooklyn
- Central Park
- Empire State Building
- Greenwich Village
- Gulf of Mexico
- Manhattan
- Statue of Liberty
- Times Square
Historical and design context
- Created in 1970 by an anonymous artist
- City Thematic and Pictorial map in bird’s-eye, isometric perspective
- Composes New York as the “center of the world”
- Visualization extends from NYC to other U.S. locales and beyond
- Side panels flatten land masses and depict China, Japan, Russia, Ireland, England, France, Spain, and Italy to show global ties
- Colorful illustrations and labels encourage exploration of the urban landscape and points of interest
- Reflects the cultural vibrancy and global significance of New York City in 1970
Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.
Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.
This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 70in (180cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.
The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.
Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.
Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.
This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.
For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.
Many of our maps and art prints are chosen as thoughtful gifts for homes, offices, studies and meaningful places.
Choose a framed option for the easiest ready-to-hang gift, or choose an unframed print if the recipient may prefer to select their own frame.
We make orders locally in 24 countries around the world, so gifts can often be produced close to the recipient. This helps them arrive faster, travel more safely, and avoid customs or import duty surprises.
- We can deliver directly to the recipient
- Framed pieces arrive ready to hang
- Unframed prints are carefully packed in a strong protective tube
- Almost every order is made locally, for faster, safer gifting
- 90-day returns give the recipient time to decide
If you are not sure what to choose, please contact us. We can help you pick the right map, size, finish or delivery option.
Most orders are made locally and delivered in around 2–3 working days, depending on the product, size and destination.
We print and frame maps and artwork in 24 countries around the world, so your order is usually made close to you or your recipient. That means faster delivery, less time in transit, and no customs or import duty surprises.
Personalised and customised pieces usually take an extra 1–2 working days, because we prepare your design and send it to you for approval before printing.
Very large framed orders can take a little longer, as they need extra care in production and delivery.
Every order is carefully packaged: unframed prints are sent in a strong protective tube, while framed pieces are securely packed with protective materials around the frame.
If you need your order by a particular date, please contact us before ordering. We’ll check the best production route and delivery option for your location.
Express delivery is available at checkout for most countries. Next-day delivery is available in the UK, US, Singapore and the UAE.
Your order is covered by our 90-day returns policy and 10-year guarantee.
Our standard frame is a gallery-style black ash hardwood frame, with a simple, modern look. It is approximately 20mm (0.8in) wide. You can also view some lovely customer photos of framed maps and art.
We use super-clear acrylic glazing, also known as Perspex or Acrylite, instead of traditional glass. It is lighter, safer, and has lower reflectivity, giving the artwork a clearer, cleaner appearance.
Six standard frame colours are available at no extra cost: black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white, and antique gold. Custom framing and mounting/matting is also available for customers looking for something more specific.
Most maps, art prints, and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced wooden box frame, and then float the piece within a wooden outer frame. The finished result is beautifully presented, with no glazing between you and the artwork.
All frames are supplied ready to hang, with either string or brackets fitted to the back. Very large frames will include heavy-duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.
We can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag, and other materials.
If you would prefer to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read our size guide before ordering.
We work with interior designers, hospitality businesses, property professionals, offices and corporate buyers on individual pieces and larger coordinated projects.
This map can be adapted for a particular wall, room or project, and our workshop can help coordinate the dimensions, material and framing before production.
- Exact, oversized and made-to-measure dimensions
- Custom framing, mounting and alternative materials
- Coordinated pieces for several rooms or locations
- Map personalisation, to mark important locations or add extra details
- Map and framing guidance from our workshop
- Local production for projects around the world
Every Unique Maps piece begins with an authentic cartographic source or an original design from our London studio.
For our historic maps, we source rare originals from libraries, archives, auction houses and private collections around the world. We carefully restore each map for print—repairing age-related damage, balancing colour and improving clarity while preserving its original detail, texture and character.
Once restored, the map is prepared for your chosen size and finish. Your piece is then printed and, where selected, framed close to its delivery destination.
Our map prints use acid-free 200gsm archival matte paper and fade-resistant pigment inks, creating a rich, non-glossy finish designed to last. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
Canvas, cotton-rag and other specialist presentations are also available. Learn more about our materials and finishes.
Personalising your map
You can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. For personalised designs, we send a proof before printing and you can request changes before approval.
For more complex bespoke commissions, contact our design team.
Original or Aged
Choose Original for true-to-source colour, or Aged for a warmer, richer antique character created with our specialist ageing process. See examples of our Aged maps.
We’ve been restoring and producing maps and art prints since 1984, and we stand behind every piece.
Every order is covered by our 10-year guarantee and damage-free delivery guarantee. If your piece arrives damaged, we’ll replace or remake it free of charge. If anything else isn’t right, contact our workshop team and we’ll put it right promptly.
See our returns and refund policy for full details.
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