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Good point.
I wonder if homelessness was prevalent in the 70's. I know it was out in the streets (the Bowery) but I wonder if they hit up the subway cars like they do now.
No A/C in the subways in the 70’s as far as I remember. The car windows would be open and the noise in the tunnels would be deafening. When I first rode the subway in the 70’s my ears would be ringing when I got out. If you were sitting down in a seat in a packed hot car, you would have sweat dripping down on you from the people holding on standing up.
The subways in the 70's were certainly dirty, and the cars covered in graffiti, but they were reasonably safe and, without question, the fastest, cheapest way to go longer distances. I didn't need to commute by subway as I lived and worked in midtown Manhattan, but I still rode the trains fairly regularly. I went to visit or meet friends in Brooklyn & Queens, see games at Yankee and Shea Stadiums, play golf at the Dyker & Van Cortland courses, go to the beach at Coney Island, and shop for designer clothes at Loehmann's on the Grand Concourse.
All my journeys by subway were without incident or overt threat, though I generally took a cab home late at night unless I was one of a large crowd (like after a baseball game).
No A/C in the subways in the 70’s as far as I remember. The car windows would be open and the noise in the tunnels would be deafening. When I first rode the subway in the 70’s my ears would be ringing when I got out. If you were sitting down in a seat in a packed hot car, you would have sweat dripping down on you from the people holding on standing up.
The subway system started receiving air-conditioned cars in 1966 on the IND/BMT lines. A test set of two 10-car air-conditioned R38 trains were the first cars with a/c. The test proved successful in revenue service. During the test period the TA ordered the R40 cars. The first batch was not air-conditioned but due to the success of the R38 test, the second batch of R40s were air-conditioned.
All future orders of new subway cars after 1968 were for air-conditioned cars. The IRT had to wait longer for a/c because the cars are narrower and a/c technology had to be improved to the point where the a/c equipment could fit into the cars. Starting around 1978 the IRT fleet was retro-fit with a/c. In 1984 a fleet of new air-conditioned cars, the R62, was ordered for the IRT. Older un-airconditioned IND/BMT equipment was also retro-fit with a/c through the late 1980s.
IIRC the first buses with a/c were delivered around 1966/67. We got them in Brooklyn in 1968.
I can't say what the 70s were like, but I do remember the early 80s. To a child (me), the system was genuinely scary, regardless of neighborhood. Incandescent lighting didn't help the atmosphere any. Also was trickier to figure out, due to signage and service patterns. Agree with the above re Penn Station. It and Grand Central were filthy, unsafe, dilapidated, and unpoliced. It was serious business and you had to keep your head about yourself.
Would recommend journalist Jim Dwyer's book Subway Lives to anyone interested to read more about these decades. And an article by Michael Crichton (forget the title; probably googleable).
I see in the past year or two that this type of nostalgia for that time period has become widespread. Or perhaps only a nostalgia for the aesthetic of that time. And perhaps only among those who didn't live it in person. It would be really interesting to read a considered article about why that might be. I mean, it's so strange that Esquire is running a photo series on it.
What I find strange about the nostalgia is this sense that aesthetic was real, authentic--and desirable--even though many people who lived here at the time were deeply troubled by it and it contributed to many people not wanting to live here. And many people who leave find they have a better quality of life when they do.
I think the nostalgia ties into the whole notion of NYC strong/tough that to be a survivor of it and to thrive in it brings great strength and resilience.
Yet, is there much awareness of how much the grind can really kill the spirit?
The subway system started receiving air-conditioned cars in 1966 on the IND/BMT lines. A test set of two 10-car air-conditioned R38 trains were the first cars with a/c. The test proved successful in revenue service. During the test period the TA ordered the R40 cars. The first batch was not air-conditioned but due to the success of the R38 test, the second batch of R40s were air-conditioned.
All future orders of new subway cars after 1968 were for air-conditioned cars. The IRT had to wait longer for a/c because the cars are narrower and a/c technology had to be improved to the point where the a/c equipment could fit into the cars. Starting around 1978 the IRT fleet was retro-fit with a/c. In 1984 a fleet of new air-conditioned cars, the R62, was ordered for the IRT. Older un-airconditioned IND/BMT equipment was also retro-fit with a/c through the late 1980s.
IIRC the first buses with a/c were delivered around 1966/67. We got them in Brooklyn in 1968.
This is my memory too. By the 1970s, the subway system was absolutely not safe nor reliable. How many times did I get stuck on the tracks for hours.
Good point.
I wonder if homelessness was prevalent in the 70's. I know it was out in the streets (the Bowery) but I wonder if they hit up the subway cars like they do now.
Heroin was rampant in nyc. Needles on the ground and junkies nodding off.
There were the hobos on the Bowery but the junkies were a much more obvious and creepy. But maybe it was just because I was younger and more impressionable.
Also, prostitutes were more obvious and out on the streets. Every neighborhood had its resident junkies and prostitutes- even the good neighborhoods.
This is my memory too. By the 1970s, the subway system was absolutely not safe nor reliable. How many times did I get stuck on the tracks for hours.
Everyone took cabs at night. No one took the subway because it wasn’t safe. All companies provided black cars to get home if you worked past 8pm as SOP. No one felt safe taking the subway.
Everyone took cabs at night. No one took the subway because it wasn’t safe. All companies provided black cars to get home if you worked past 8pm as SOP. No one felt safe taking the subway.
A friend worked for EF Hutton in the 1980s. They gave out vouchers for 'black cars' like candy. My friend gave me an EF Hutton voucher when we all went out on Friday nights so I didn't have to take the F train back to Brooklyn late at night. No wonder EF Hutton went out of business.
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