The Best Bet

Stanley Kubrick, “Young Couple on Fire Escape,” 1948. Photo: Stanley Kubrick, Museum of the City of New York/LOOK Collection

This neckers-interruptus shot, taken by Stanley Kubrick in 1948, is one of hundreds of images collected in New York at Night: Photography After Dark (out December 4; $125 at powerHouse Books, 37 Main St., nr. Water St., Dumbo; 212-604-9074), a hefty tome documenting two centuries’ worth of the city’s witching-hour antics. From the hallowed lenses of Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Jacob Riis, Nan Goldin, and both Arbuses, among others, come explosive 1939 World’s Fair fireworks, crazy rug-cutting sessions at sixties mambo haunt the Palladium Ballroom, and—naturally—a naked Amanda Lepore chugging Champagne mid–dance floor in 1998. A spot-on present for natives and nostalgists alike.

The Best Bet