This exact picture is listed on the nycsubway site noted by Bill B.

My grandfather, a Spanish-American War veteran, had a joke he like to tell:

A guy buys a suit from a street vendor for 25 cents. When he got home and tried it on it was full of bedbugs.

He took it back to the vendor and said, "This suit you sold me is full of bugs," to which the vendor replied, "What did you expect for 25 cents -- mockingbirds?"

Moving sale! "Aroma" included.

...this reminds me of the story of the lost, dying wanderer crossing the desert, parched and dehydrated and finally finding hope for survival after seeing a person in the distance. He forced himself to continue his pain-filled crawl until he reached the man and asked "do you have a drink of water"? The man replied, "no, but I will sell you a tie and there is a watering shack just about a thousand feet from here". The lost wanderer said "no thanks, I'll just keep crawling 'til I get there." Three hours later he returned to the man selling ties, this time weaker, shakier, drier than before. The lost man said "You didn't tell me a tie was required to get into the watering shack." Drum roll.

The reason the station's appearance is different over its lifespan is because it was rebuilt/altered many times:

1- It was completely rebuilt in 1917 to eliminate the "bottleneck" caused by the tracks directly crossing each other. The Shorpy photo is of the early configuration.

2- It was reconfigured when the Second avenue El was discontinued in 1940.

3- It was reconfigured when the South Ferry station was demolished in 1950.

4- It was also reconfigured when the City Hall station was demolished.

5- It was finally demolished when the Third Avenue El was discontinued in 1955.

Bill B's site has some great shots but how is it the location is all Chatham Square and yet each picture looks so very different?

From this you could make a living?

Dianenyc is correct, the El station in the background is the Chatham Square station where the Third and Second Avenue elevated lines intersected.

See the many photos of this station at;
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/stations?1:311110

Could that be a ballpark in the background? Do you think the potential customer is wearing a Kepi?

It might be Chatham Square/Bowery. There's nothing in the photo I can base this guess on, just the instinct of a native New Yorker.

What is that big pile in the street? Nevermind..it must be horse poop dropped by the transportation!

Hope you are enjoying some time off, smelling flowers or whatever. From one who's stumbled on your website world by virtue of an 18 yr. [and still going, for awhile] Fed Civ Servant gig; which during the downtime of running reports and awaiting answers from on high, allows some surfing within a narrow spectrum; narrow when you enjoy the visual, graphical presentations, sweeter because they are a photographic touch-moment of our ancestors realities. I've enjoyed seeing into your, and our, past. Thank you. Rest, rest, rest-up. Jim Rockwell, DFAS-Indianapolis.

Can anyone pinpoint the location where this pic was shot? It looks like the Lower East Side somewhere, in a relatively open area under an "El" structure. I'd like to see what that area loooks like today.

look for us by the big manure pile.

Take advantage of our Street-Light Specials on braces and babushkas.

Lay-away available.

and hawk my wares than directly in front of that pile of "stuff" in the street. Bet these guys wished that guy with the big push broom and trash can would hurry up!

Adjacent to the animal refuse. The origin of the phrase "sniffing out a bargain"?