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There's nothing like old gritty New York

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It's definitely unique to look at. I definitely do not miss those graffit'd up trains along with the bullshit they brought along. I do miss the red trains tho.
 
First time I ever want to New York was in 1986. I was 10 years old. We took the Staten Island ferry to Manhattan. I ran ahead a bit and bumped into a homeless man in a filthy leather outfit who grimaced at me and said "Welcome to Hell, kid! Hahahhaha!" I was freaked. lol.

I also distinctly remember the smell of piss everywhere. In stairwells, alleys. Everywhere.
 
AlexMogil said:
The first time I went to NYC was 1988 during the writers strike. It was remarkable because it gave me the opportunity to go on sets that I had no business being near. Got to go on Letterman's set for example. Surreal.

We were a high school group from Ohio who went to get our jazz performance rated by a professional. It was pretty much a ruse. We played in a closed restaurant and we played one and a half songs and the guy sad we were good. Pretty much that was it. We were good.

The next day we were free to go as we pleased as a group with a few scheduled events during the day. My main take away was this one day in the city. One of the girls of our group got propositioned, and as she was crying a homeless veteran accosted our group and SCREAMED Yankee Doodle at us in song and then swore at us until we gave him five bucks. Then it got worse because we went to see Cats. After that I really wanted to walk in Central Park to see Strawberry Fields. As we got there someone put some flowers down at the Imagine memorial and I stood there for a bit - shortly after a big dude said, "Oh, imagine!" and proceeded to stomp with both feet on those flowers. Then we got lost, got on the wrong subway, then got on a ferry where the main attraction was a dude doing standing front and back flips where in all cases he landed consistency on his neck.

80s NYC was intense.
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Cats was the worst thing to happen to new york back then
 
HIGH DEF JEFF said:
All staged photos for some book. Surprised you didnt include the one where the guys holding a knife through the subway window.
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Isn't that Bruce Davidson? Pretty sure they aren't posed.

Hmm ok upon further investigating it looks like the red dude is actually an undercover police arresting the other dude who tried to steal the camera from Bruce. So it's not posed, but it's not crime either.
 
GoutPatrol said:
My parents lived in Greenwich Village in the 70s and 80s (left in 86.) They said they would never go out alone after dark.
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My family are some pretty boring blue collar people, but between the 70's and 80's .My parents were robbed at gun point on one of their first dates, my grand mother was almost robbed twice, my grandfather shot 3 guys and killed one who tried to rob him (WWII vets should not be fucked with) and somebody went on the roof of our building and stole the antenna for the cable probably for scrap money, That's what I've heard in passing.

I am pretty sure if I was to ask there would be a lot more. Gritty New York is not something to look back on nostalgic. I think a lot of it was fueled by heroin and cocaine flooding the city..... Thankfully most people now just drink, smoke weed and do Molly.
 
GoutPatrol said:
My parents lived in Greenwich Village in the 70s and 80s (left in 86.) They said they would never go out alone after dark.
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My dad lived in Greenwich from about '75 on. I grew up there through the '80's, leaving in '91. My dad just recently sold his condo and office, moving to Jersey. He still rents an office next to WSP. Basically I've seen NYC, especially the village, through its rough phase until now.

I remember us going out to dinners and coming home fairly late (as a group) but I do know it was a lot more dangerous than in the 90's. WSP was iffy as fuck. Even using the restrooms during the day wasn't something you wanted to do. It was just full of homeless, addicts, prostitution. There were crack vials and syringes visible anywhere really. We lived on 9th between 5th and 6th. I went to VCS... walked every day (with a parent). Our good friends were just a bit further, in Chelsea, and it was already noticeably ... dirtier.

I remember my mom being robbed twice in broad daylight. Having her purse/handbag stolen with me in tow. I remember her knowing and chatting with the local UPS driver and him carrying a gun due to all the times he was robbed. Childhood friend was Puerto Rican with family from the Bronx so I saw that part of the city quite a few times as well. I feel nostalgia for my childhood in NYC in general, but yeah... its not at all what it was. In some ways good, in others bad.


Edit: and rats/cockroaches everywhere. And the smells. Homeless dudes slept in banks at night or they'd open the door for you and expect a tip. I keep remembering shit. I could go on and on. Still, many many fond memories and I'm happy I grew up where I did. My parents had a blast.
 
My first trip to New York was back in 1986. I remember riding the subway with my grandfather and seeing a man sitting across from us wearing nothing but a crumpled newspaper badly covering his junk.
 
I find the nostalgia NYers have of the gritty NYC bizarre. The Warriors was a col movie but not in a city I'd wanna live in.
 
People act as if all this stuff isn't there anymore. Gritty NYC still exists its just hidden under the sheen of luxury condo developments and restaurants. NYPD does a passable job now so theres also that, but essentially gangs, drugs, organized crime, prostitution and general mayhem is just tucked under the surface and available if you want it.
 
teruterubozu said:
I remember when Central Park was the scariest place ever, but now it's a nice family park. Giuliani went on a cleaning rampage and brought the tourists back.
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Poor David Dinkins. Dude's mayorality brought the largest drop in Crime Rate (to this day). David Dinkins was the one that cleaned up Timesquare. He was the one that brought Lion King to Broadway. He's the dude that start cleaning up the street, yet Giuliani get all the credit.
 
Bleepey said:
I find the nostalgia NYers have of the gritty NYC bizarre. The Warriors was a col movie but not in a city I'd wanna live in.
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I think it's a badge of honor type thing for some. It was shitty and rough and they lived through it. Plus a heavy dose of nostalgia and rose tinted glasses.
 
massoluk said:
Poor David Dinkins. Dude's mayorality brought the largest drop in Crime Rate (to this day). David Dinkins was the one that cleaned up Timesquare. He was the one that brought Lion King to Broadway. He's the dude that start cleaning up the street, yet Giuliani get all the credit.
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Yep. And Giulani is an opportunistic asshole. Yuck.
 
Bleepey said:
I find the nostalgia NYers have of the gritty NYC bizarre. The Warriors was a col movie but not in a city I'd wanna live in.
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You had to be there honestly lol.

Remember kids are hardy. It's only when you get older that you start thinking about safety, good neighborhoods/bad neighborhoods and such lol. We tend to crave comfort more as we get older. I couldn't imagine living in my dorm conditions now as an adult.

I just remember the fun street games we would play and crime didn't affect kids as much if you look at the statistics.

If I was an adult with a real job, I would've hated it.

Enduin said:
I think it's a badge of honor type thing for some. It was shitty and rough and they lived through it. Plus a heavy dose of nostalgia and rose tinted glasses.
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Read above.
 
I watched Night of the Juggler recently, a film that is impossible to find for most people, and it's a great film that has early 80s NYC as a backdrop. If you can get your hands on it I highly recommend it.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was an influence for Die Hard With a Vengeance.

It stars James Brolin looking like a bearded Christian Bale.
 
Tobor said:
First time I ever want to New York was in 1986. I was 10 years old. We took the Staten Island ferry to Manhattan. I ran ahead a bit and bumped into a homeless man in a filthy leather outfit who grimaced at me and said "Welcome to Hell, kid! Hahahhaha!" I was freaked. lol.

I also distinctly remember the smell of piss everywhere. In stairwells, alleys. Everywhere.
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The smell of piss is still the norm in the subway.
 
Bleepey said:
I find the nostalgia NYers have of the gritty NYC bizarre. The Warriors was a col movie but not in a city I'd wanna live in.
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A few years ago, I remember walking down Houston and overheard some nine year old say, "I miss the old NY." It's always transplants or young folks who romanticize it. I can't see how anyone who has lived through it really wants to go back to it.
 
tbm24 said:
It's definitely unique to look at. I definitely do not miss those graffit'd up trains along with the bullshit they brought along. I do miss the red trains tho.
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Red trains were a nice sight to see compared to the current sterile looking metal trains.

My dad reminisces about 1970s NYC, even though he was shot at by 2 guys wielding shotguns, had a knife at his throat over a baseball game, and was beat up by gang members for choosing not to join. I don't understand it and never wish to.

What I do understand was that because of the bad shit, communities were tight knit and looked out for one another when the cops didn't.
 
moggio said:
Giuliani had fuck all to do with it but likes to take the credit.
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It was more the timing of the economic boom of the later 90s rather than Rudy's "quality of life" initiatives. I'm sure his stance on crime and undesirables helped, but the cash flowing into the city is really what pumped it up.

Best memories of the 90s: Sitting on the deck of my real estate billionaire bosses yacht parked in the World Financial center smoking cubans and drinking magnums of Cristal while the Wall Street wannabes looked on.

I made crap money, but had some nice benefits working on $100m deals. Limo rides, private planes and $10k nights at Scores.

Second best memory: Coming in after a night at Scores and finding one of the strippers already working as my bosses secretary. He already had a wife and mistress.
 
massoluk said:
Poor David Dinkins. Dude's mayorality brought the largest drop in Crime Rate (to this day). David Dinkins was the one that cleaned up Timesquare. He was the one that brought Lion King to Broadway. He's the dude that start cleaning up the street, yet Giuliani get all the credit.
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moggio said:
Giuliani had fuck all to do with it but likes to take the credit.
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ah ok. I wasn't exactly sober during the 90s so...

I just remember getting into the cabs and a recording of Giuliani's voice would come on talking about all the "change" in the city.
 
From what I've heard, the thing about the old New York that people miss was the low cost of living. It had serious problems but it was still the cultural capital of the USA and anyone with a bit of courage could live there and be a part of all the arts communities. Now the expense of living there is a huge barrier.
 
aorange999 said:
People act as if all this stuff isn't there anymore. Gritty NYC still exists its just hidden under the sheen of luxury condo developments and restaurants. NYPD does a passable job now so theres also that, but essentially gangs, drugs, organized crime, prostitution and general mayhem is just tucked under the surface and available if you want it.
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Don't be dense. No one is saying there is no crime anymore, but its an order of magnitude less than it used to be.
 
chaostrophy said:
From what I've heard, the thing about the old New York that people miss was the low cost of living. It had serious problems but it was still the cultural capital of the USA and anyone with a bit of courage could live there and be a part of all the arts communities. Now the expense of living there is a huge barrier.
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The cheaper areas are in Long Island, not in the 5 boroughs.

Prepare to commute.
 
Jag said:
It was more the timing of the economic boom of the later 90s rather than Rudy's "quality of life" initiatives. I'm sure his stance on crime and undesirables helped, but the cash flowing into the city is really what pumped it up.

Best memories of the 90s: Sitting on the deck of my real estate billionaire bosses yacht parked in the World Financial center smoking cubans and drinking magnums of Cristal while the Wall Street wannabes looked on.

I made crap money, but had some nice benefits working on $100m deals. Limo rides, private planes and $10k nights at Scores.

Second best memory: Coming in after a night at Scores and finding one of the strippers already working as my bosses secretary. He already had a wife and mistress.
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That sounds crazy. If you don't mind me asking, what was your profession at the time?
 
maquiladora said:
Can someone recommend me a list of 70s/80s films that are good examples of showcasing the old gritty NY, apart from Taxi Driver.
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The original Taking of Pelham 123 is pretty good. Although, it mostly takes place on a train and in a control center, there's a lot of the typical NY attitude.
 
DoktorEvil said:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze
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MvUXYrH.gif
 
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