Nostalgia Photography By Detroit and New York-based Joe Polimeni

Yankees win

October, 1976: Yankee Manager Billy Martin hugs pitcher Ed Figueroa after winning the American League Pennant. © Joe Polimeni Photography

Mackinac Bridge

July 1982: Northern Michigan is a jewel. Two of the five Great Lakes, Lake Michigan and Huron are connected by the Straits of Mackinac. If you travel another 60 miles north you hit the Great Lake granddaddy Lake Superior. Spanning the Straits is the Mackinac Bridge connecting the Upper and Lower Michigan peninsulas, the city of St. Ignace on the north end with the village of Mackinaw City on the south. The peninsulas were linked for decades by ferries before the bridge opened on November 1, 1957. It is the world's 16th-longest in total suspension and the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western hemisphere. In the winter when the winds are too high, the bridge is closed to traffic. For the Bridge’s 25th Anniversary, on July 4th weekend I took a ride to shoot a summer series on Northern Michigan, the Mackinac Bridge was my first stop. It was getting all spruced up, fresh paint, new signs and repairing the globes for the lights. A very skilled gentleman who is part of the maintenance team working on the bridge took me to the South Tower. We started off small. We took an elevator in the tower to the first crossover. If you look at the tower in the background, the first crossover is above the road. We walked across and I made a general view from the center. He seemed confident I was good with heights and we went back to the elevator and took it to the top. He was going to replace a red globe on one of the signal lights. After we tethered on the cable I made this view 552 feet above standing on the main cable. Just another day at the office. © Joe Polimeni Photography

Mackinac Bridge

Michael Jackson Tour

NYC Before and after

Kenucky Derby

Ron and Nancy Reagan Republican National Convention

Detroit Grand Prix Downtown Detroit

Chris Evert retires at US Open

September 1989: Chris Evert announced she would retire after the US Open and waves to a standing ovation leaving the court after the quarterfinal, ending one of the best US Open careers in history. She won the tournament six times. © Joe Polimeni Photography

Gabreilla Sabatini US Open 1990

Gabreilla Sabatini wins US Open 1990 © Joe Polimeni Photography

Barry White

Taro Yamasaki wins Pulitizer Prize

April 1981: Taro Yamasaki, photographer for the Detroit Free Press gets a champagne shower that foams over his glasses by chief photographer Tony Spina. Yamasaki won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for photographs he had taken inside Jackson Prison, the largest walled prison in the world titled, "Jackson Prison: Armed and dangerous." Yamasaki’s father was the legendary architect Minoru Yamasaki best known for the World Trade Center. © Joe Polimeni Photography

1977 World Series Champion NY Yankees Parade. MVP Reggie Jackson

It was the Summer of 1977 in New York, a city filled with more than 9 million people. Heat topping 104, blackouts, looting, no subways, no elevators in a city filled with skyscrapers, terrorized by the Son of Sam, and to top it all off, the city was suffering through financial bankruptcy with massive municipal layoffs. If that wasn’t enough, the team of teams, the benchmark New York Yankees, although winning, were internally imploding. It was the 75th season for the storied franchise but as the city was falling apart, so were their Yankees. Manager Billy Martin feuded publicly with owner George Steinbrenner, they signed Reggie Jackson to a five-year $2.96 million contract, one of the largest at the time, and Martin and Jackson were in a perpetual state of warfare. In one infamous incident, Martin pulled Jackson off the field in mid-inning for failing to hustle on a ball hit to the outfield. Martin had to be restrained by coaches from getting into a fight with Jackson in the dugout during the nationally televised game. The city, hanging by a thread, needed something, anything to lift its spirits. And it happened. The Yankees defeated the Dodgers, to win the franchise's 21st World Series Championship, their first since 1962, and first under Steinbrenner. During this Series, Jackson earned his nickname "Mr. October" for his heroics becoming the first player to hit three home runs in a World Series game since Babe Ruth, and was the Series MVP. The summer was over, the Yankees were Champions, power was restored, the Fall air cooled the hot city, the riots subsided, fires put out, Son of Sam captured and the city celebrated their Yankees. Here in the Canyon of Heroes, in lower Manhattan, Reggie Jackson holds a newspaper with the headline, Reggie, Reggie, Reggie and a fans raised #1. © Joe Polimeni Photography

Detroit Fire

84 GM Building

Tim MaGraw

George and Barbara Bush University of Michigan

May 1991: University of Michigan Football Stadium, President George W. Bush and his wife Barbara greet more than 6,600 graduating students prior to giving the commencement address. He told the students the country needs a “good society,” emphasizing freedom of expression, free enterprise and volunteer service. © Joe Polimeni Photography

Assembly Line workers play Checkers

Arnold Palmer US Senior Open

August 1981: 2nd annual U.S. Senior Open won by legend Arnold Palmer in an 18-hole playoff. © Joe Polimeni Photography

Payne Stewart

Jack Nickluas

Pistons Fight

Neil Sedaka

Spirit of Detroit Fireworks

Bill Clinton campaigns at MSU

Umbrellas surround the green at the 1986 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in New York.

Umbrellas surround the green at the 1986 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in New York. Raymond Floyd won his fourth and final major, it was his only U.S. Open title and he became its oldest winner, a record he held for four years. © Joe Polimeni Photography

Ford Natural Gas

Frank Sinatra

Detroit Tigers' Manager Sparky Anderson

Detroit Tigers' Manager Sparky Anderson waving to cheering fans on Opening day in the early 1980's at Tiger Stadium. © Joe Polimeni Photography

NY Summer 1977

It was the Summer of 1977 in New York, central air conditioning was a luxury, and the draw of power taxed the outdated grid. Heat wave temperatures climbed to 104 in Central Park, soaring past the local record of 101 degrees in 1957. Fire hydrants became cooling centers with fountain like sprays across the streets giving relief. It lead to the Blackout of ’77, looting, no subways, Making matters worse, a fire had shut down one of the city’s largest sewage treatment plants, rendering some waters around New York unfit for recreational use, including swimming. In Harlem, a young girl makes good use of cold water escaping from a hose coupling while fireman battle a vacant building fire. There were over 1,000 during the heat wave and Blackout of '77. Many of the fires burned out of control due to low hydrant pressure. © Joe Polimeni Photography

tatoos

The Who

Ice bound freighters

UM Bo schembechler

Garth Brooks

Pete Rose

Statue of Liberty

REN CEN Fireworks

ZZ Top

Joe Polimeni Photography

Blasts from the Past – My Days with UPI