New York in the 1970's
Via Planitizen is an excellent (in concept at least) opinion article in the Wall Street Journal, "The Golden Age Of New York City Was . . . the 1970s?
This past Sunday a New York Times feature in its City section asked famous New Yorkers to identify New York's golden age. At least four identified the 1970s as the golden age. This is worth notice because in the 1970s banks said New York had spun its credit rating into dross and refused to lend more money to a city whose accumulated deficit reached $8 billion.
The 1970's in NYC fascinate me. Not is it the one of the most "interesting" times in urban America - a period which pushed the concept of the "city" beyond what was previosly thought… it was, in some perverted way, the ultimate example of people taking over their city.
Taking over a city, huh? Not in a good way in the 70's NYC, I know. I've seen The Warriors. Crime and violence are no ways to exhibit citizen participation.
On the other hand, this period stands for something, to me, that makes a city like New York great (albeit in a not so great way).
I think the sign of a great city is how its residents utilize their space. Noone should be afraid to walk somewhere. Places should be occupied by citizens, not shooed away. One should react to their city the same way they react to their home / apartment. They should be in it, live in it, and use it - they shouldn't act like a guest.
That's one of the great things about New York. People use the city. Heck, they abuse the city. They spray-paint it, pot-hole it, walk in it, and talk in it. And they love it.
A city shouldn't be like your parent's furniture with the plastic over the cushions that you're never supposed to sit in because you wear it out - a great city should be the kind of place where you're not worrying about your security deposit.
So the 70's. From what I understand, it was tough for the town. It was scary to go outside. I remember hearing there were 10,000 fires, a year, in the Bronx. That's not the good part, but people still stayed there because they loved it and used it. And they did cool things, in that black and white gritty way.
Photos courtesy of this page.
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December 10th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
I moved to NYC in 1973 to start a rock band. I would be one of those people who called the 1970's a golden age, mainly because I feel like the economic difficulties in the city created a situation where young creative people could actually afford to live in Manhattan, particularly in the areas below 14th Street. This created a really dynamic artistic community (music, dance, film, visual arts) which in turn led to a radical transformation in all of the arts.