Photographs of “Dirty Old 1970’s NYC” Then and Now: East Village, West Village, Chinatown, Greenwich Village, and Alphabet City
Not surprisingly, a lot has changed since the 70s — it’s hard to believe that “back in the day” there were certain streets people would never cross because of the imminent danger. Then again, New York in the 70s has a horrific reputation — was it really that bad? To emphasize just how much the city has changed, we took a field trip to lower Manhattan and re-shot some of the locations featured on “Dirty Old 1970’s New York City” as they look today.
If you are a junky for anything related to the gritty and long-departed New York City of yore, then you are probably already a fan of the phenomenal “Dirty Old 1970’s New York City” page on Facebook. For those who are not familiar, this is a page run by an anonymous administrator who collects photographs of NYC during the 1970’s (and occasionally the late 1960’s and early 1980’s) from around the internet.
The 1970’s version of New York City, which was plagued by bankruptcy, a blackout, police corruption, and sanitation strikes, is almost incomparable to the luxury strip-mall we are used to today. Surprisingly though, our trip not only revealed the transition of local business and storefronts, but it also showed just how much some environments in the city have been completely transformed by the complete removal and reconstruction of the environment.
So take a look at some of the locations we scouted out and how drastically they’ve changed in the 40+ years since the original photos were taken. Also, don’t forget to check out “Dirty Old 1970’s New York City” page if you haven’t already
Like the Facebook page itself, these photographs are used for educational purposes only and are credited to the best of our knowledge. If you or anybody you know are aware of the photographer for a particular photograph in this collection, do not hesitate to contact us and we will give credit where it is due.
If you enjoyed this post, check out this article about film locations from the iconic 1970’s NYC movie Saturday Night Fever. Also, be sure to see these photos and accounts of NYC’s most notorious crime scenes.
Contact the author @DouglasCapraro
