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From my visits I can say it was dirtier but more exciting than today. Hookers all up and down Times Square, handbills for places of I'll fame, street vendors. Nobody expected it to be as sanitized as it is today.
In answer to the OP, I lived in both New York and DC for periods in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At that time, DC overall was safer than NYC. In the time since, NYC has gotten better while DC has gotten worse.
"Back then," generally speaking, most of DC was safe for any race, except the Southeast beyond Capitol Hill. By safe, I mean places where you could be reasonably free of a violent crime randomly perpetrated upon you. The further you went into the Southeast and away from the Capitol, the riskier it became, to a point where you stood a good chance of being a crime victim simply because you weren't "from there." These were the proverbial sections where you "wouldn't want to be caught dead." At that same time, NY had more and larger parts of "unsafe" areas. Much of the subway system was off-limits except during rush-hour commute times.
If you were "street smart," you could avoid trouble in both cities. But if you were an idiot, you'd end up being a victim. I saw more than a few purse and briefcase snatchings "back then" in decent parts of Manhattan simply because the out-of-town victim didn't have a clue how to keep from being a victim. If you lolled down the avenue holding a briefcase or purse at arms length by your side while gawking and gaping, without any situational awareness, you were sending an engraved invitation to have your case/purse snatched. Similarly, wearing two much easily snatchable bling (not called that then) on the street, you were inviting that to be grab-and-snatched. Gold chain snatching on the subway was particularly popular during the era I lived in NY back then.
Just wondering, How would an out of towner keep from being a victim, maybe like a White collar guy in a business suit riding the subway in one of the wrong areas back in the day, what we he do to potray himself in a light as to not invite crime?
Just wondering, How would an out of towner keep from being a victim, maybe like a White collar guy in a business suit riding the subway in one of the wrong areas back in the day, what we he do to potray himself in a light as to not invite crime?
A lot of it was about attitude. You didn't gape or gawk. You kept aware of what was going on around you. If someone created a distraction, you didn't stare with fascination. You pushed your watch up your sleeve a bit so it couldn't be seen below your cuff. You stood with your back to a wall if you were waiting in a station with a squared stance. Inside a subway car, you stood with your back to hard surface, like the door or a dividing panel. You did not read in public to avoid being distracted. You didn't look anyone in the eye but you didn't keep your eyes inverted, either. If you were with a companion, you talked little and, when you did, it was so only your companion heard. You carried your briefcase tucked under your arm. You kept change for token money in a coat pocket so you didn't flash money in public. You didn't act fazed by anything you saw happening around you because that conveyed you had seen a lot worse stuff in your life. Back then, particularly in the 1970s, many more men had been in the military than today, so chances are a white collar man had been in WW II, Korea, or Vietnam and thus was perceived as possibly being "tougher" than today.
a White collar guy in a business suit riding the subway in one of the wrong areas back in the day, what we he do to potray himself in a light as to not invite crime?
I should add that I was referring to the New York subway of yesteryear. The Washington subway was new and extremely safe during the era in question. It only had two or three lines back then and was heavily patrolled by law enforcement. People were issued citations and fined for things as minor as chewing gum.
I think it depends on the part of the City one is discussing. As teenagers, my friends and I - all suburban white kids from CT (and obvious targets for criminals!) - used to take the train into the city on our own in the late 80's-early 90's. We'd spend all day and night wandering all over Manhattan, much of it spent loitering with the freaks in Washington Square Park, Central Park, and Times Square. Yes, we encountered shady characters and people would try to sell us drugs on the street, but we never felt in danger and didn't witness any violence (it would probably have been different if we went to Harlem, the Bronx, or parts of Brooklyn, but then - as now - if you weren't a complete moron, you could easily avoid the bad parts of the city).
True. Bad parts of any city. There are good parts and bad parts in every city.
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