In 1977, when I graduated high school, it was probably just from general urban decay. But by 1993, the crack epidemic was in full bloom. That drug did more damage to the Bronx in a decade than every other drug combined in the previous fifty years.
you sure about that? the heroin epidemic of the 70's was said to cause alot of the urban decay, not to mention being a much more addictive drug that crack itself. cocaine was also big around that same time, plenty of users were freebasing by the late 70's/early 80's. crack didn't hit full circle out west until i believe 84, and soon made it's way eastward. keep in mind that during this same time period while crack got all the headlines, heroin was still causing untold amounts of devastation. i'm not saying you're wrong, but maybe you should blame drugs as a whole, as opposed to just crack.
You may very well be right, Five. But crackheads were more visibly desperate. No comparison. I mean, you go back to the late '80s or early '90s, and at three o'clock on a Saturday afternoon you might see a crackhead walking down Jerome Avenue or the Grand Concourse with a Betamax or a Technics rack system piled high above his line of sight, like he was just out for a stroll or moving into a new building. Or hookers turning tricks for 3 dollars on White Plains Road.
And I swear on my kids, I'm not exaggerating in the slightest. And the funny part is, crime was so high back then the cops wouldn't even pay attention to them. It was insane. And you just never saw that kind of desperation and shameless begging with heroin addicts. Dope fiends tended to stay in the shadows. Back then, anyway.
New york has completly lost its sole.Its much safer than it was years ago but i hear stories from my older cousins in the 80s and the kids today will never experiance anything like that.Just skipping school and going to the city was an adventure.Try doing that shit today the cops will pik you up.There was peep shows pimps sex drugs it was fun to take in small dosages but today that shit for the most part is extremly hidden.I get so jealous when i hear these stories and wish i was that generation.Dont get me wrong i had fun growing up but the older generations had more.
For some reason I thought you were older, Tiger
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We shouldn't become too romantic about urban blight and crime giving a city its 'edgy' quality, but "the good old, bad old days" have a certain charm and appeal.
Absolute truth.
I'm gonna be 55 and no one laments the passing of "Old New York" like I do. I hate the gentrification like poison (and being that I make my living as a landlord, that's really saying something). But as a parent, I'm content that I didn't have to raise my kids in a coldwater walkup off of Fordham Road. I know it sounds like a cliché and right out of "A Bronx Tale," but when you're older you'll all understand
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