I too grew up on the UWS... sounds as if we knew the same atmosphere, during similar years... I remember the whole Charlie Chopoff horror. I don't remember being too afraid of being pursued by him, but those damn police sketches of him - THEY were really disturbing. Do you remember them? Question: my bike was stolen at knifepoint in "The Park"... my own dumb fault; after ignoring two kids who assured me my bike (Apollo 5-Speed) had a flat, I rode around 'til I came to the brick building at the sailboat pond. In one of the truly brainless moves of my 12-year-old life (this was February 29, 1976), I pushed open a little gate to the left side of that building. When I got behind the building, I saw the gate was part of a waist-high fence that went deeper behind the building and prevented moving forward. "This would be a bad place to get mugged," I thought. Just, and I mean JUST as I finished thinking this, the two "bike has a flat" kids walked through the gate, one unfolded a big knife (not a switchblade) and said "Get off the bike." I did. "Stand over there and pull down your pants." I decided it was time to jam... After reading your post I was wondering whether your experience was in any way similar. Not that I have any notions of pursuing justice (I'm not THAT nuts), but I'm curious whether the two pieces of filth that got me might've been around when you were mugged...? As best as I can remember, the POS with the knife had straight, perhaps longish black hair - the other had curly (I guess - a few moons ago, n all that)... they seemed to be somewhere around my age. Anyway, I appreciated your post - I have a lot of good memories of the UWS. My parents took occupancy of our apartment the day I was born... my mother moved out of there just 10 years ago, into a different building in the same "middle income housing" development I'd been in for 10 years by then (Penn South - LOVE it!). It's not the Upper West Side but neither is the Upper West Side, anymore! Again, thanks for that post.
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Originally Posted by nyctc7
I grew up on the UWS, I was 11 years old in 1970. West End Ave and Riverside Drive were quite nice, even semi-upscale, but on some side streets you could find some of the infamous SRO hotels. Central Park West was of course beautiful, serene, and upscale, though there was the occasional problem of crime in Central Park, with the bike boom of the early 70s, bike theft rose, I myself had my bike stolen at knifepoint. I also remember the tennis boom. I also remember that going much farther than 96th St was to invite trouble, if you were white. But overall much of the UWS was quite safe, with lots of old-school stores like Zabar's. There was a feeling that the UWS had a lot of professionals and intellectuals--it seemed like those who couldn't quite afford Greenwich Village settled in the UWS. But I recently found an old letter written by my mom were she experessed her concern about rising rents and increased crime in the UWS. I suppose to a large extent I view the neighborhood from those years through the eyes of a kid.
Edited to add: This remembrance here reminds me that I did get mugged a few times as a kid, more like a steal your lunch money kind of thing, but not fun: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/life-in-new-york--then-and-now-15429 |
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My bike was stolen/Central Park/knifepoint, as well
