Back when the subway had character... (*vintage photos included*) (New York: crime, lenders)

[Patrick Bateman Jr]

Originally Posted by frenchy93

even though it was certainly very hard to live there at that time, without all this mess we wouldn't have hip hop culture, and to me it is just inconceivable.

The hip hop culture is a self-defeating culture. Why anyone embraces it is beyond me.

Back when the subway had character???? What?! The grafitti, thuggery, bums, alcohol/drug abuse, etc that is what you call character. I am glad that NYC has cleaned up and i hope it will further clean itself up in the rough spots (non-sex and the city areas).

[Miss J 74]

Originally Posted by NativeNYCer

I have to chime in as someone who grew up in NYC. I'm a 70's kid, was a teen in the 80's so i remember seeing all of that and then some back in the day. I have mixed feelings...

Of course the subways were WAAAY more dangerous back then. People used to snatch earrings off of girls and run out the doors. Whenever me & my girls were headed to the Deuce (what we used to call Times Square) to go to Latin Quarters, we either 1) didn't wear earrings or jewelry period, or 2) wore the tiniest dot earrings you could ever imagine.

Also, you DID NOT want to fall asleep on the train. Not saying it never happen on my way back from a club, but i was VERY LUCKY. The scariest thing i ever woke up to was some guy playing w/himself across from me..disgusting. Unfortunately, my sister woke up w/a gun in her face, like one of the pics posted.

On the other hand, i'm glad i grew up during that time b/c there was an excitement in the air that i can't explain. NYC is so sterile now. I can remember when guys used to bring their boxes on the train & play mixtapes from Mr. Magic & Red Alert . Anyway, i digress... I think that once we started losing places like CBGBs, Empire Roller Skating rink, and Limelight, we started losing places that made NYC, NYC. It's not as unique anymore, it's still fun, but in a different way. Things were a lot looser then, of course that meant more crime, but it also meant more freedom, and more fun.

Same, same, same!!

I remember all the graffiti on the trains and traveling to clubs late at night with my friends. Same story, once in a blue have some guy playing with himself, but that's about the worst that ever happened to me too. (Oh, there was one time I was walking home from the E. 105th St station on the L and some guy told me to give him what I had, which was nothing, he let me go).

It's hard to explain to people who didn't grow up in NYC in the 70's and 80's how the grimy parts had their own appeal. Am I glad things are cleaner and more safe? Of course, but I did feel a bit of sadness when Times Square became Disneyfied. To me, being a typical cynical New Yorker, you always had to stifle a chuckle when tourists would wander too far west and find themselves by the sex stores on 8th and 9th Ave.

[SeventhFloor]

Originally Posted by missjanna74

Same, same, same!!

I remember all the graffiti on the trains and traveling to clubs late at night with my friends. Same story, once in a blue have some guy playing with himself, but that's about the worst that ever happened to me too. (Oh, there was one time I was walking home from the E. 105th St station on the L and some guy told me to give him what I had, which was nothing, he let me go).

It's hard to explain to people who didn't grow up in NYC in the 70's and 80's how the grimy parts had their own appeal. Am I glad things are cleaner and more safe? Of course, but I did feel a bit of sadness when Times Square became Disneyfied. To me, being a typical cynical New Yorker, you always had to stifle a chuckle when tourists would wander too far west and find themselves by the sex stores on 8th and 9th Ave.

I remember going on a class trip in elementary school and the bus driver drove up 8th Avenue. LMAO

[DoomDan515]

Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman Jr

The hip hop culture is a self-defeating culture. Why anyone embraces it is beyond me.

Back when the subway had character???? What?! The grafitti, thuggery, bums, alcohol/drug abuse, etc that is what you call character. I am glad that NYC has cleaned up and i hope it will further clean itself up in the rough spots (non-sex and the city areas).

[StuddedLeather]

Beauty truly is in the eye of its beholder. . .

It's comical when people attempt to push their views/morals on everyone else.
This notion that ALL artist were/are bums/thugs/drug users is ludicrous.

[Miss J 74]

Originally Posted by StuddedLeather

Beauty truly is in the eye of its beholder. . .
This notion that ALL artist were/are bums/thugs/drug users is ludicrous.

This. I dated a few graffiti artists in my late teens. They were far from being bums, thugs or drug users. Because there were so many back in the day it was easy to see the difference between the graffiti from the 80s and the crap I saw in the 90s and the last decade. Most of it looks like crap in comparison. (But yes, I know, it's all still considered vandalism).

[whitlock]

Definitely not the work of a crackhead but this is a "legal piece" approved by Young Land store.

Bergen Avenue, Bronx, New York, NY, United States - Google Maps

[Patrick Bateman Jr]

Originally Posted by StuddedLeather

Beauty truly is in the eye of its beholder. . .

It's comical when people attempt to push their views/morals on everyone else.
This notion that ALL artist were/are bums/thugs/drug users is ludicrous.

Not sure what you consider art but writing your name, street cliq, block, etc in graffitti would not be consider art to a lot of people. Also, performing your "art" when you are not asked or wanted to is similar to pushing views/morals on a person.


Graffiti Photo Kings on Vimeo

[nightcrawler]

I rode the subways back then, trust me, it was no fun going to work all dressed up to sit on those dirty cars with no air on in the summer.

[Fred314X]

Originally Posted by whitlock

Definitely not the work of a crackhead but this is a "legal piece" approved by Young Land store.

Bergen Avenue, Bronx, New York, NY, United States - Google Maps

You didn't have to use those quotation marks. When it's sanctioned or commissioned, it's art and not vandalism.