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Oh, 42nd Street. The Deuce. The crossroads of the world. And so on, and so on.
Few American thoroughfares have had such well recorded highs and lows as West 42nd Street between 6th and 8th. Though at this point it can be hard to remember for many people, the 42nd Street that currently attracts tourists from the world over (the "New 42nd Street") was not always quite so shiny. Where now there are flocks are visitors on the Deuce, for a while there was a very different population roaming the area.
Do you miss the bad old days of the seedy Times Square? Never got to experience it for yourself and not really sure what the nostalgia (or lack thereof) is all about? Might we recommend you go check out Forgotten-NY's new look at the lost 42nd Street? Seriously, it's worth checking out (especially for the great photos Kevin has littered the page with by the likes of Matt Weber).
And cause we're curious what you think, will 42nd Street ever fall back to its old ways?
"The Unknown Soldier"; 1988 by Matt Weber.
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ah, the goold old pre-guliani days on New York when the democratic party was in charge. Massive corruption, criminal gangs controlled large areas of nyc, ultra high crime rates, subways and TS were no-go zones..
I can't wait for the next elections so we can get "rid of guliani cops" like Ferrero well said. It will be fun in 2008.
sweet pic.
Amazing that pic was from 1988,
I hope he took some pics of the OLD port authority bus station,
now that place was crazy.
Those who pine for the old Time Squares always seem to be those who enjoy from afar the suffering and discomfort of others. They get vicarious thrils from knowing that there are people that live in primitive or chaotic (or worse) conditions such as New Guinea tribesmen or hookers on Time Square. However as a Masai tribesman said when asked why his tribe was abandoning the nomadic lifestyle to settle as farmers,"We are not creatures in a zoo for the white man to ogle. We want the good things in life too."
No thrills, just memories.
Worked in and around TS since my teens.
From a messenger going to offices in TS to working in a 24 hr supermarket. Getting out at 11pm and having to walk towards 42nd for the subway WAS scary. But nothing happened short of being solicited by hookers. This was before 1985.
I did get taken at one of the infamous electronic stores. I bought a watch and while it was rung up at the price in the window, the guy then goes, you need a battery with that. That's an additional $5.
It got more dangerous during the clean up transition period. the early nineties (1992) was when a friend got mugged at gunpoint on ninth avenue.
the nostalgia seems to have more to do with a desire to return to a time when Times Square wasn't an orgy of suburban restaurant chains and tourist quick fixes. It seems irrelevant if the area was full of porn or not; the average new yorker is completely disconnected from the what it has been replaced by. symbolic of the large scale gentrification spreading through the city. the locality and voice of the city seems lost with each new home depot, best buy, or target. don't confuse nostalgia for violence, corruption, and crime with the simple nostalgia of individuality.
Fuck McDonalds
Fuck Olive Garden
Fuck Toys R Us,
Fuck Star Bucks
Fuck Wendys
Fuck Subways (and fuck Jared the Subway guy)
Fuck Foot Locker
Fuck Corporate America
Wow there's so many things to fuck in this country...I'm lovin' it!
Nosidedown has it right. It's not looking in fondness for the "bad old days" but lamenting the fact that Times Square and pretty much the rest of NYC has given up it's soul for carpetbagger corporate empires.
Nosidedown has it right. It's not looking in fondness for the "bad old days" but lamenting the fact that Times Square and pretty much the rest of NYC has given up it's soul for carpetbagger corporate empires.
I REMEMBER THE OLD DEUCE, I REMEMBER BUYING THE HOT DOGS, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BLOCK, I REMEMBER A MAN NAMED BILL, WHO PHOTOGRAPHED ALL OF THE KIDS FROM THE DEUCE, IF ANY ONE HAS ARCHIVES OF PHOTOS, IT'S BILL. HE PHOTOGRAPHED US AT OUR WORST AND BEST, AND HAS MEMORIES, FOR MANY YEARS TO COME. REMEMBER THE OLD CHEESECAKE PLEASE ON THE CORNER OF 42ND. INSIDE THE PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL, ALOT OF OLD SCHOOLERS FROM THE DEUCE WOULD LOOOOVE TO FIND BILL, HE HAS PHOTOS THAT WE DON'T EVEN HAVE THAT CAPTURES US (OLD SCHOOLERS FROM THE DEUCE)AT WHAT WE KNEW BEST THE HAPPININES OF BEING NATIVE NEW YORKRES