New York and the East River circa 1910. "Looking east from the Singer Tower." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. From Shorpy.com
The Library of Congress Photo Archives have a good selection of Brooklyn period photographs. You can views some of them here: Brooklyn Post Office and Eagle Warehouse, 1906.
Polo Grounds, New York City, during World Series Game. Photograph by Bain News Service, 1913.
Innovative Brooklyn photographer George Bradford Brainerd produced some of best candid photographs of Brooklynites in public places ever recorded in mid-1800's. Many of his remarkable Brooklyn photographs can be found in the Brooklyn Public Library's Brooklyn Collection on their Flicker site here:
Brooklyn Man Carrying Soap c. 1850's by George Bradford Brainerd
Owls Head Bay, Bay Ridge c. 1850's by George Bradford Brainerd
Coney Island, Young Boy with Dog, c. 1850's by George Bradford Brainerd
Coney Island Bathers, c. 1850's by George Bradford Brainerd
Bruce Davidson's photographic masterpiece on a Brooklyn gang in 1959 captured the mood of Brooklyn streetlife and alienated youth possibly better than any photographer before or since. These still images evoke the power of documentary storytelling akin to a cinematic tour de force and are testament to the power of inspired vision.