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To what extent Highbridge, Morris Heights and University Heights was destroyed Im not sure of. Maybe some other person can chip in here...
Highbridge definitely had alot of vacant lots. It's a neighborhood basically adjacent to the wasteland.
Morris Heights suffered alot of arson, so it had a large amount of burned out shells of buildings. There were a few vacant areas here too.
University Heights suffered less than the above two. There were a few buildings burned out on it's southern border with Morris Heights (across BCC), but areas above mostly stayed in-tact. You may have had a shell or vacant lot here and there but nowhere near to the extent as neighborhoods south and further east. There was abandonement however, as residents fled to safer areas.
I got this from reading articles from the time period. I suspect there pretty accurate but if someone wants to correct me, be my guest.
Also OP, if were talking late 80's and early 90's, you'd have to include the Drug Utopia/Heaven that was Washington Heights and Inwood. Those were some very very murderous neighborhoods.
I maybe wrong, but although Times Square was a very very seedy area, atleast there were people walking around making it safer to walk through then the more impoverished/blight ridden resedential areas?
I maybe wrong, but although Times Square was a very very seedy area, atleast there were people walking around making it safer to walk through then the more impoverished/blight ridden resedential areas?
Times Square was okay if you take into account the surrounding areas and what was going on in the city. By todays standards it would be considered a no-go area with worse crime rates than probably anywhere in the city today with the exception of maybe 2-3 nabes like ENY.
Remember, NY had almost 3 times as much murders and 4 times as much rapes in 1990 compared to today. And thats not taking into account the population growth!
Well then again, there were 2245 murders in 1990(probably a few more unreported) and the city has 7.2 million so that is .0003 of the population..So compared to other U.S cities the murder rate wasn't the worst part but it seems like the large amount of felonies were.
That pic is not photoshopped. NYC got worse throughout the 80s, with peak crime years being 89-91.
Well its certainly misleading. I visited NY a lot in that era, and abandoned vehicles were not common near the WTC.
Are you kidding me? Times Square was MUCH worse compared even to the South Bronx or Harlem of today. There is no comparison.
Oh, you meant Times Square. In the 70s and 80s I didnt think of Times Square when Midtown was mentioned. I thought of the area from Lex to 6th, from 42nd to 59th.
Central Park was a notorious no-go area. You wouldn't pay me a million dollars to be caught in Central Park at 3am. Now you have yuppie young white girls jogging in Central park with their iphones on late evenings and its considered normal...
3am? Geez. You could go into CP below the reservoir safely during daylight hours. Adventurous types went above the reservoir during daylight, and below the reservoir in the evening, but not 3am. Sure NYC is safer now, whos denying that? But if you think CP being unsafe to go into at 3AM made it generally unsafe, I think you are setting too high a bar. Thats not how urban americans in general usually use the word "safe"
Location: Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York City, New York, 10302
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Quote:
Originally Posted by itshim
You'd be surprised that some parts have been totally ignored by the gentrification. Even to the point that they look as if they have been suspened in the 1980s. If anyone has been to Holland Ave in Staten Island, then you know what I'm talking about.
Most of the gentrification is obviously as a result of transplants wanting to live in or directly outside of Manhattan. Or, if nothing else, at least an easy commute away from Midtown. This makes certain parts of the city (ie: Staten Island outside of maybe the parts right near the ferry terminal, Southeast Queens, Brownsville, East New York, Hunts Point, etc...) all but ungentrifiable. And it'll stay that way probably forever.
I read an article about a year ago that said that about 50% of all poor minorities who get priced out of Manhattan move to the Bronx while about 50% of all poor minorities who get priced out of Brooklyn move to Staten Island. Everybody's got to go somewhere, and with a city this size it's probably safe to assume that they'll always have somewhere to go.
3am? Geez. You could go into CP below the reservoir safely during daylight hours. Adventurous types went above the reservoir during daylight, and below the reservoir in the evening, but not 3am. Sure NYC is safer now, whos denying that? But if you think CP being unsafe to go into at 3AM made it generally unsafe, I think you are setting too high a bar. Thats not how urban americans in general usually use the word "safe"
No, the bar is not set too high, I am just using today's standard of determining whether the area is "safe". CP even during day hours was an aids infested, heroin needle garbage dump. There is nothing even close to that anywhere in NY right now. If we use the 80s standard of safety, even East New York, which is arguably the worst neighborhood of the city today, would be considered "safe" and "dodgy at best" only at night.
80s standard of safety:
safe - any area that has something that is at least livable, with functioning amenities for 'normal' people.
bad - totally bombed out apocalyptic wastelands comparable to Somalia or Hiroshima after the bomb.
For the benefit of anyone reading this and wondering about Central Park, please do not go into the park at 3am. The park closes from 1am until 6am, and while it is not closed per se, you are subject to prosecution for trespassing if you venture inside the walls between those hours, regardless as to the degree of purported safety in the past, or present. Many people are unaware that the park closes and has regular hours.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
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