Would the horse have rubber horseshoes? You know, for traction on the pavement?

I just need a quick twenty. No more, no less.

The cop looks like Officer Francis Muldoon (Fred Gwynne).

[And his patrol car, a 1961 Plymouth, is over on the right. - Dave]

I'm assuming the question about fibers on that billboard denote that this is the Fashion District. And if this is Seventh Avenue, then I'm right, it is.

Thanks to the eye of DaveA! Below is the intersection of 7th Avenue and West 40th Street two years later.

On a recent Metropolitan Opera stream (free every night for the past year!), two divas from this era were reminiscing. They said that backstage was so cramped that scenery was kept outside on the 40th Street sidewalk.

Maybe the mounted policeman in Rizzuto's photo is preventing that pedestrian Brunnhilde from grabbing the horse and storming Valhalla.

Pretty sure this is looking down 7th Avenue from W. 40th Street.

Well what IS new in fibers? Polyester, to prepare us for the 1970s?

[The answer, given on the billboard farther down the street: LIRELLE, That's What! - Dave]

The captivated lady in the foreground looks as though she may have just come from the Colonade Beauty Salon. Probably didn't get a cold wave, but maybe a color. If it were me, I'd be headed to the V&P for a hamburger and an ice-cold Coca-Cola, then down the street for some candy.

This was two months after the opening of the New York World's Fair, remembered (if at all) as something between a huge disappointment and a debacle. Presenting itself as the future, it was actually the end of an era (including Robert Moses's unrestrained power to mess with the environment).

I made my first trip to New York City right at this time. I was bored by the Fair but couldn't get enough of the city streets (or what I saw of them). Rizzuto's photo captures what I remember; it makes me feel like I was nearby. (Perhaps I was; Shorpyites are sure to identify the spot.)

We are looking downtown down 7th Avenue at West 40th street at the backside of the long esteemed Metropolitan Opera House, which fronted a block away at 1411 Broadway. It was revered as a nearly perfect performance venue for decades, but at the time of this photo it's its days were already numbered and a move to Lincoln Center was nigh. A 40-story building with lots of glass has occupied that spot for 52 years. Sorry about the "fat lady" comment, she actually seems nice and maybe had just come from an appointment at the Colonade Beauty Salon.

1962 Studebaker Lark taxi at left behind the '64 Ford Falcon hardtop.

[Not just any Lark, but the extended-wheelbase Lark Cruiser. - Dave]

With all due respect, I'm not sure that the Lark in the photo is a Cruiser as I can't discern the "Cruiser" script below the "LARK" letter on the front fender.

[We know it's a Cruiser because it has a vent window in the back door. - Dave]