Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Unfortunately, they will never be the same. They may pnly be in their early 30's but the will have a very difficult life ahead of them. The worl is much different then it was whe they went in & they will have to deal with the stigma of being an ex-con.
its a cycle, they will always have to grind for the rest of their life if they want to do more than just scrape by
Times Square was definitely rough in the 1980s and I was a child then. It was rough up until the mid 1990s if I recall correctly. There were lots of pimps, prostitutes, hustlers and thieves around. Tons of porn shops amid the 2 for 1 movie theatres, there were a few of them there.
I saw a pimp slap a ho for the first time on Times Square. She was drunk and had gotten out of pocket with him in front of another pimp. So he slapped the mess out of her. And this was in the early 1990s. Oh and this was in broad daylight, middle of the day on a weekend. So it wasn't just after dark you would be aware, you had to be on the lookout at all times.
Giuliani came in and then cleaned it all up thereafter.
The 80s overall in NYC was a rough period but it was also full of creative and artistic vision. So many artists, music and otherwise, came out of this era. IMO, people were more willing and more free to be who they were. Mostly every neighborhood had more economic diversity than there is now, which added to the character and overall vibe of the city. There was a real mix of good and bad and neighborhoods that catered to every group of society. There was a lot more crime and drugs but there was also more of a community feel, if only to get rid of the crime and the drugs.
And yes, I remember when there were crack vials and needles in the streets as I walked home from school. But I also remember when police drug prevention forces would come to our schools and teach us about drugs and show us what they looked like and warn us to stay away. I doubt they do that as much anymore.
Now, we want to convert these newly "desirable" areas into havens for the rich, yuppies, hipsters and harvesters. These neighborhoods are in each borough but are about 15-25 minutes to get to midtown, so you take your pick. And to hell with the rest. Oh, well, goodbye old New York.
42 Street/ Times Square was pretty bad in the 80's even in the daylight. They used to have between 6-10 cops walking the beat on 42 St, 7-8 Ave. And there would still be all sorts of trouble. It was almost always crowded and it was a direct route to the Bus Terminal, so there was alot of hustle & bustle. Some days it wasimpossible to walk down the street without making an arrest. By the end of the shift there may have only been 1 or 2 cops left on patrol.
"The Duece", as it was called, was a haven for all the kids to come from all parts of the city. They would hang out, hit the movies, hang out again. It is where 'wolfpacks' would form up and go 'wilding' through Manhattan & the subways. After dark, entrepenuers would come out and set up bedsheets with paintings & designed backgrounds and take photos of your crew or girlfriend for animonal charge. One night a guy was getting his picture taken with his new 9mm handgun and a young cop happened upon him. A shootout ensued with the cop, the bad guy & an innocent bystander from the NY Times getting shot.
One of the many Kung Fu shops was called Dixon's, midway on 42 between 7-8 Ave on the north side of the street. The plainclothes cops would wait down the block or across the street and watch. The mopes would go into the store to buy holsters for their guns. The store clerk would put the new holster purchase in a special bright red bag so the cops new who had the gun and they would move in to make the arrest.
The prostitutes were not the type that are portayed on TV, they were skanky crackheads who would charge $5-10 for an act. The TV type girls were on 44-45 St near 10 Ave and the pimps sometimes resembled their television characters. The violence was worse. The "classy" prostitutes walked on Sixth Ave near 58 St and would charge a couple of hundred for their services.
Once City Hall implemented the restrictions on the sex shops and closed down the Single Room Occupancy hotels the ne'er-do-wells began to shift away. Some of the most notorious hotels were The Martinique near Herald Square, The Holland on 42st, the Carter Hotel.
I kinda miss the old 42 St, it is somewhat sterile now. I never would have imagined a Madam Toussad's!!
It's so strange to read all this - I was a messenger and walked ALL OVER the city - village, times square - in '83/'84. Seemed "normal" to ME! I used to hang out til the wee hours of the morning at the 8th street playhouse in '79/'80.
It was awesome!
Yeah, my mom told me stories of having to get off the bus cause someone pulled out a gun, you definately did NOT look anyone in the eye on the train, I was harassed endlessly (you know "hey baby" all kinds of vulgar stuff about "p*ssy etc) even with cops right there, but hey - it's NOO YAWK
Whatchu expect?
1) Moms moved outta the PJ's cause crackheads would come from the roof to get into our top floor apartment (8th floor!).
2) I saw elders I looked up to get strung out on that rock!
3) Went to HS in Hells Kitchen, and the school was ran by a group called The Deceptacons! Talk about ruthless!
4) Times Square was just starting to redevelop! Remember....starting! I remember what is now the Marriott going up!
5) during high school cross-country practice in Central Park, a dude comes up to me, and asks, "so what do you want, reds, purples or greens?" And that was at Sheep Meadow! On the other side of the Meadow, there's a cop cop stakeout with a scope looking at that same dude!
While I was only born in 88', my grandfather used to live on the Upper West Side. When I was about 6 yrs. old we took a trip to the Intrepid and took the bus. I remember even then in 94 Hells Kitchen was much different than it is today. When I was in the neighborhood I saw about 2-3 burnt out cars with bugs all over. At a local park where we waited for the bus I saw the mother of a young child drinking alcohol in broad daylight and all her friends where drunk as well. A few men in the corner were under the influence of drugs and were playing a card game. One of them fell to the ground hard and started bleeding from his head causing him to laugh hysterically. Needless to say after waiting for about 1/2 hr with no bus showing my father had enough and hailed a cab.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
