Pictures of NYC in the 80's

[josebronx]

this is true, its what inspired da warriors movie in da 80's...

These gangs still exist, at least in my block

People were caking off of selling crack...my moms lived through it and she tells me...I felt the aftermath very early 90's walking to school and seeing crack bottles EVERYWHERE...wasn't cool but I don't regret being exposed to these things, as a kid it was fun to play in junkyards, abandoned buildings, etc...being able to open up a hydrant in the summer, ride a sled down the side of a mountain of debris/rubbles once it was covered in snow....you could find one of these hood mountains in a lot of hoods in the BX, same places I visit now and see buildings and houses built on...as a kid it was fun....the violent aspect of it didn't affect our generation all that much....we had to deal with the violence of the 90's more so...which from my opinion revolved more around gangs as opposed to drugs...

word

 

[SoleByThePound]

I don't understand how some ppl don't understand how or why ppl would miss the culture that we've lost since then.

A big part of the reason we had that type of culture is because of what we went through. I don't think that anybody would rather get shot going to the store or would rather step over syringes or anything but reminiscing about how it used to be isn't a bad thing IMO. We've lost a lot of culture since then.

What sort of "lost culture" are you referring to?

 

[ccastro02]

Although it has been posted on niketalk a bunch of times before, it never gets old.

 

[ninjahood]

For anyone saying they "miss" this era either has never lived in NYC during the 80's or has very short-term memory.

NYC in the 80's were HORRIBLE and unsafe. I didn't know anyone who never got mugged on the street or on the train. It was so dirty and unsafe. The police literally had very little control over the drugs and gangs. Some parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn and The Bronx was totally unapproachable because of how dangerous it was to walk through the neighborhoods.

I miss the 90's more than the 80's though. Everything Ninjahood has said in this thread is 100% correct. I agree with him.

agreed. i was born in '76, i remember alot. there was nothing "cool" about living the way we did, i have no idea what some of u are talking about you'd love to live in those days

no matter how ninja romanticizes it , it was the worst. i remember waiting with my moms downstairs at train stations till u heard the train coming and running up the stairs to catch it just to not get raped on the platform. theres nothing cool about that, seeing crackheads EVERYWHERE. mayor koch cleaned up this city for real, he deserves alot of credit. not gettin at u ninja btw, just pointing out how u may have some of these kids seeing things the way u put things . sounds stupid to me when i see someone sayin they woulda love to live in those days .... no you wouldn't have ......

Why you saying my name? I prefer da 90's...gritty

But safe cuz da economy was picking up so it was

Da Fly grants tomb BBQ era with block parties &

Hiphop entering da mainstream slowly, but NY still

Being da absolute mecca. Da 80's were just grimed

Out & violent.

 

[ninjahood]

Nyc now>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> nyc back then. I like the feeling of strolling the streets safely might just be me though *kanye shrug*

Edit: no neighbor hood was more dangerous than da heights during the crack cowboys days of the late 80's early 90's

People tend to forgot a Dominican by da name of

Yayo from da heights invented crack, but da heights

Majored in selling wholesale bricks out in da open.

My moms told me WILD stories.

 

[rare]

View media item 656903
Charlotte St. area in the Bronx, I lived two blocks up in front of Crotona Park.

 

[aNYone]

People tend to forgot a Dominican by da name of

Yayo from da heights invented crack, but da heights

Majored in selling wholesale bricks out in da open.

My moms told me WILD stories.

Im guessing thats were the term "yayo" comes from

 

[water]

Looks 

 Glad I didn't live in NYC back then.

Time to go watch The Warriors 

 

[combo gd]

Those pictures represent a time when being from NYC meant something. 

Its just not the same anymore... 

 

[Bend_The_Knee]

Looks :x  Glad I didn't live in NYC back then.

Time to go watch The Warriors 

While drinking water?

 

[Master Zik]

Diego, present day NY is soft in general.

Don't just single out queens. Be honest.

Brooklyn ****** still crazy but they more like hibernating bears, don't poke them. Don't sleep on some of the BX either.

 

[panaricanretro]

Dope thread, I'm basically looking at my childhood (yes I'm old). Really miss the way NY used to be. Each neighborhood and section had it's own something special, had it's own culture. I'd see a little more cause I grew up in Sunset Park which was very mixed ethnically (predominantly latino but always just a block or two away from alot of italians, eastern europeans, russians, middle easterners, and then the BK Chinatown).

I'd spend weekends and usually weeks on end in the summer with pops, and he lived in a few different spots, mostly East NY and Starrett City, both of which were mostly black & latino, and we'd spend alot of time in my grandparents place in East Flatbush, which was pretty much like the West Indian Day Parade on a daily basis, so I got to see alot of different cultures, which was always dope. It was also cool to see how people would flip up little styles, gear, even the way they wrote grafitti, and if you grew up in NY in the 80's and early 90's, EVERYBODY wrote grafitti. Most people miss their childhood but when I'm back in any of my old neighborhoods, it's just so different. With the exception of East Flatbush, I just keep seeing everything turn into some version of SOHO, Williamsburg, or Brooklyn Heights. Makes it a little easier to not live in NY right now, but it was cool seeing those pics.

 

[gallopinto3]

That pic of the dude knocked out drunk under the johnnie walker poster....such irony

 

[thecoldest343]

To be piss poor but have so much culture,a wonderful thing.

 

[sreggie101]

nyc has completely changed. it is nowhere near as gritty or violent as those pics show. those pictures show a world where my parents would know all to well as they arrived in the US in nyc in 1970. im born 88 so this is more or less unfamiliar to me, as ny started changing for the better from then on.

im too young to recall a lot of that stuff, im sure some of the more senior NY NTers were about that life back in the day. only thing i can remember was the style, and the 7 train red birds. and the graffiti. i remember a time before the metrocard


View media item 656342

lord have mercy...

 

[JCMojica24]

This thread is AWESOME

 

[sneakerpimp2k8]

Trains looked so dope

 

[currensy]

Looks cool and dirty at the same time, I'm cool on growing up in all the violence and shootouts n ish though. Googling a pic of that yayo dude and he looks like a regular black dude though.

 

[mitchellicious]

Great thread!

Any sources for these pics?

 

[urbetterthenme]

Looks cool and dirty at the same time, I'm cool on growing up in all the violence and shootouts n ish though.

Googling a pic of that yayo dude and he looks like a regular black dude though.

Looks like a 70s R&B singer

 

[cliffordsmith]

Whose Mom is this? View media item 656344

 

[onewearz]

^ thats orchard beach, i can tell by the floor ...

 

[jordanhead718212]

Born in Flushing, Queens in 93, but this is cool to look at.
NYC stand up

 

[layziegunts]

I came to this country from Jamaica in 1996 and Brooklyn was the worst place ever. I came to Winthrop JHS in East Flatbush and it was just the worst, everyday me or some friend got robbed and it was just grimy and unsafe already. Im just imagining how terrible the 80s were. Pics appreciated nonetheless

 

[ny mavurs]

Hippies taking over NYC now