I'm in my late 40s and remember 1997 NYC well. The scary thing is that, while it was indeed a long time ago, it really doesn't seem like it at all. Life goes by so crazy fast. Those of you in your early 20s reading this, savor every moment. Don't waste even a day if you can help it. Especially while you're still young. Make your life meaningful at every opportunity and you'll have few regrets.
I'm 45 and have lived in NYC my entire life. I remember this era of Manhattan very well. It was a golden age for the city -- low crime, great economy, great energy, great nightlife, tons of opportunity. It's like it was yesterday for me. In fact, if I woke up tomorrow morning and walked outside into a time warp back to 1997, it wouldn't even phase me. I'd just go about my business as I would have any other day as if it were totally normal. I'd quickly forget about everything that's happened since and just assume it was all a really weird dream.
Totally agree. 90s = amazing…..However NYC is still good. Have you been to St. Louis, Memphis, Midwest and Southern cities like Birmingham, etc? Many of those cities out there are ghost towns with empty downtowns and almost no pedestrians. At least NYC is still busy and occupied and has not turned into a ghost town like many cities in America that used to be busy
I'm a 45-year-old New Yorker, steeped in the vibrant tapestry that is Manhattan's history. Ah, the late '90s-a golden epoch for the city that never sleeps. Low crime, electrifying energy, a booming economy, and a nightlife that could seduce even the most introverted among us. The air was thick with endless opportunities; it was a time when dreams weren't just visions, but attainable realities. Let me tell you, for me, those days are far from a distant memory. They're as vivid as the neon lights of Times Square. Imagine waking up tomorrow, stepping outside, and finding yourself caught in a time warp-suddenly it's 1997 all over again. You'd be startled, disoriented, maybe even terrified, right? Not me. I'd simply shrug it off and continue my day as if I'd just experienced a bizarre yet oddly satisfying glitch in the matrix. Everything that's unfolded in the years since would fade into the periphery of my consciousness, as if it were all just remnants of a dream too strange to be true. And why? Because those days weren't just a phase or a fleeting moment. They were the fabric of my existence, woven so tightly into my being that reverting to them would feel like coming home. Ah, the sheer nostalgia of it all.
90s was unbelievable, the holidays, the music, even the quality of fast food couldn't be beat..watching this took me back...but when the video ended and I looked out my window I just died inside knowing it'll never be the same. Yall just had to be there...
@@feliciaboston6365 There were so many other things including what I listed that was better than technology in those days. Technology is great but isn't everything when you think about
@@feliciaboston6365 yeah ... i think it seemed cool to most of us until it overwhelmed everything. Now we look back, having been on both sides of it, and we can rightly testify that what we gained on this side of it was not worth what we lost on that side of it. You will never understand and i think that is something many in my generation are starting to deeply regret.
@@germanchris4440 we had the best music, the best dance scene, a wonderful protective govt and strong leaders. wouldn't you want bill clinton and george pataki back in their prime to fix today's problems?
The 90s was when modernity and traditionality were at equilibrium. Should’ve stayed that way. The 2000s opened a Pandora’s box and exclusiveness was lost.
@@feliciaboston6365 😂😂 right . Because there was someone in the 90s saying the same shit about how things were too modern and technology should’ve stayed 70s and analog
in the future kids will ask about the 2020's and you will tell them you were busy looking at videos of the 90s. just enjoy the times, the 90's wasn't even that good, it was an ignorant time of bigger is better and consumer waste plus casual racism
@@Frankieefootballmundial i was in nyc in the 90s it was mayhem, every night you could hear gunshots, the murder rate was double what it is today, the only good thing was the music, rip tuplac and boogie
@@saintgeorgefloyd9488 that was in the early 90s when Giuliani became mayor in 93 crime went down in nyc even when Bloomberg took office despite there was stop and frisk. The reason I say this decade sucks so far cause of covid shut everything down and here was the epicenter of the virus in March of 2020 people moved out from nyc to live in Florida and we still , have to deal with the varient. Also the pandemic more people are using zoom
was born in 91 but def wish I was born in 81 sometimes so I could have experienced the 90s as a teen.. but the early 2000s was also great to be a teen in NY lol
I first visited NYC in my early 20s in 1998, moved here in 2012 and been here ever since. You can’t imagine how much more of a fun place the city was without influencers and attention seekers in the wild everywhere, and where we had no phones or tech to distract away from life. The city was still affordable and rich with opportunity. I’d take those years back in a heartbeat over the rich kid playground this place has become now
My oldest brother, who fought in active battle in the first gulf war ended his own life in 1997. The latter half of that year and for most of 1998 was a bust for me. That was tough. My other brother, who i was very close to after losing our oldest brother, he served as part of the air force in the war following 9/11 and remained in the reserves doing coding (? he wasnt allowed to talk about it) up until he too ended his own life on june 16, 2015. My heart still has not recovered. RIP William And Robert. 💔 The boats are BEAUTIFUL.
I was born in 1997, though I hardly remember what it was like to experience the iconic NYC skyline of the 90s. Everything seems so calm, and peaceful, compared to today (2022 for anyone that reads this in the future). I wish I could go back...I really do.
United City_mc maybe Internet wasn’t a big deal back then, but it was already for a while, back then it was used mostly by businessman it was very expensive and pretty slow, today everyone can use it without limits.
This video is so pure and serene. Enjoying landmarks that won't always be there. Not knowing what the future holds. No narrating, no begs for likes and subscribes, nothing fancy for Social Media.Just being in the moment.
I may have some I recorded as a kid. I used to go to 3WTC very often up until 2001 (obviously, but I had an event that year that I ended up not going to early September). If I can find it, i'll upload it.
23:15 ohh shit that’s my block. Amazing how it all looked different back then and I still live there today. That BMW building unfortunately is no longer there and was demolished last year. It’s currently being replaced by luxury condominiums 🤦♂️ Also it’s no longer a two way path traffic on 11av now that it was recently changed to a one way traffic heading south ⬇️
I lived in New York from 93' to 15'. Things were much different in the 90's. Rollerblading was big back then. Beepers. No smartphones. I remember all the shoe stores on 8th Street in the Village. You could find any shoe possible. All gone now. All the antique stores on Bleecker Street closed too. Pearl Paint on Canal Street is no longer there. (All the artists went there). I remember the small, independent book stores and record shops down tiny, little streets you never heard of. None of those exist anymore. You could actually afford the rent back in the mid 90's. Forget it now. So many small, amazing restaurants I went to. Chinese, Indian, Thai. None of those exist now. So sad. But I will say it was the best years of my life.
So true. I remember my mom used to pay very low rent for the whole entire apartment in a very good neighborhood. Now you can only afford a room sharing with other strangers. Please read my comment.
It pains me that I never get to see the original World Trade Center. I was only about a month old on 9/11. I can only imagine the sight have 2 buildings side by side of the magnitude, truly something spectacular to see. I’ve always been fascinated with the towers just the presence they had over Manhattan I’m sure was incredible to witness. Thanks for posting, horrible that those two buildings had such a horrible ending, and that so many lives were lost that day. Those who died that day and the towers will never be forgotten.
i was on it exactly a month before it fell on my 16th birthday. Doesn't seem that long ago. I have pictures that look like they could have came from this video.
I grew up in the area. The sidewalks were more impressive than the building itself. It was a sight to behold. When I was a kid I'd skateboard the smooth tan sidewalks. Back then city hall was dead on the weekends. The were no tourists, no workers and only a few retail businesses open such as Herman's, modells and a few pizza shops. We would scream " MORTAL COMBAT ! " On wall Street just to hear our voices echo thru the canyon of buildings. The early 80s were an amazing time to grow up in NYC
I was born and raised on LIC,Queens and when I looked outside the window,I use to see the WTC and it was a sight to see especially when LIC is right next door to Manhattan.
Me and my girlfriend drove to New York out of the blue in august 2001. Walked around aimlessly for an hour or two and came to the foot of the wtc. Looked up and we were just like “holy shit”. They were massive and cool. Then we walked back to the car and left . August 2001.
@MimiBabe I was a kid in the 70s and teen in the 80s and there was so much to do and see. And the future always seemed like it would be even more awesome. Sadly it has turned out to be a huge disappointment. The only good thing in the last 20 years is the internet and I use it mostly to relive the past. 12 year old me would be disappointed in the 2020s lol.
Was born in 1991, had an amazing childhood. The world is heading to ashes because we are letting it to happen. Psychopaths and dirty minds got too comfortable destroying everything.
Born in 92 I disagree respectfully, it was good till 2008. I loved the 2000's but once you get to 2008 it's the prototype for what the 2010's and onwards would be.
Seeing the view from the top of the twin towers made me tear up.... just thinking about 9/11 and all the people trapped up there who were looking down on the seemingly quiet city in horror while the entire city looked up at them in horror. And there was nothing anybody could do. Absolutely horrific.
I remember resting my head on the windows of the WTC and just seeing the building sway. And the express elevators all throughout the city! Insane fast.
@@atrain84 Yeah, and now, we have a one UGLY tower.. the freedom tower, Honestly his price and his elevator sucks, I miss the original beautiful buildings, including the original building 7..
@@atrain84 Windows of the world was the best and amazing restaurant in New York City and the entire fucking world. Much better than the actual restrooms in the city.
I'd say 87 was better but you didn't have the creature comforts of some of the things that had arrived by 97. Hard to beat the 80s, it was such an exciting time and I had a blast.
i was born 1988. i wold like for someone here to make a time maskine, give me a call and send me back to 1980. 80 and 90 was the best decades to live in. was not old but i remember a lot. :D
NYC looks so beautiful then pre 9/11.. I was born that year in September ☺️ My mother was actually in NYC in 1997 on her business trip carrying me in her belly!
Same here! only difference is i was born in August. I haven't been to NYC yet in my lifetime, but i wish it was still the same. It will never be the same without the twins. What beautiful architecture. Too sad.
My dad does roofing and my mom was just there talking with the people that owned the home and I was in her belly when one of the planes flew over their heads before tragedy.
I watch a lot of old videos of street scenes from 100 years ago and it's crazy to see one of 1997 and feel the same kind of nostalgia as those really old ones. 1997 just doesn't feel THAT far away to me because I lived it, but when you do the math it actually is. I'm sure one day people will look back on 2021 street scenes and feel nostalgia too.
I agree, 1997 really doesn't seem that long ago it wasn't. I too remember NYC in 97 and even 87. Weird how you don't truly appreciate something till it's gone.
Thank you! 1997 is a special year for me. That was first time I came to NYC from NC, I was driving 10 hours to here to meet my parent , A sweet memory!
Bill Clinton's America - it was the Empire Country and this was the Empire City. Truly amazing times. First time I visited New York City was September-early October, 1998. I went to the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center in the same day. I remember the elevator in the WTC going up so quick I felt lightheaded. I remember we would look at the elevator screen and it would say "Floor 60" and then about 5 seconds later "Floor 70".... it was incredible. The city has this vibrance and energy in the air that no other place I have ever been to has ever come close to matching. NYC is still the greatest city in the world. I say this as a native Los Angelino!
In this particular case, infinitely more important than "Bill Clinton's America" was that this was this was Rudy Giuliani's city. Not long before this video was taken the city was bankrupt, out of control, and considered it to be unmanageable. He cleaned up the city, for example, Times Square went from the butthole of the world to something that more resembled Downtown Disneyland. After Mayor Giuliani, Mayor Bloomberg continued to clean up the city and crime reduced even further. Of course, the pandemic and social unrest in 2020 tore the city apart, but it's coming back and it's coming back strong!
I was on holiday with my mum and dad in NYC in late October early November 1997 so thanks for uploading this. Started in Boston first then got the Amtrak train to NY Penn Station, it was into the evening at that point and vividly remember the first thing I saw of New York was the silhouette of the twin towers against the setting sun. Would give anything to go back and relive those times.
@Team Epiphany Tyler I saw the Twin Towers further out whilst I was still on the train before we crossed into Manhattan. Was pretty stoked and excited at this point as the train had taken quite a long time! I just wish I hadn’t been a typical teenager not wanting any photos of me although there’s loads of the back of my head! 🤣
@@eduardogavilanes4651 You mean just any celebs, or from a certain genre. lil kim, bone thugs, Toni Braxton, Hanson, spice girls, Robert deniro, Nicholas cage, Julia Roberts, demi moore, puff daddy/biggie, everyone from the show Friends and seinfeld, Mariah Carey. There's too many to name.
Я не был Нью-Йорке ни разу, но даже глядя со стороны как-то невольно возникает ощущение, что в девяностые годы там было лучше, спокойнее, нежели сейчас. Конечно не бывает абсолютного и вечного счастья. Всё течёт, всё меняется. Главное, как мне кажется - люди должны оставаться людьми, как бы тяжело не было. Всем мира и счастья )))
New York in its prime, I was only 13 back in 97 but I remember going to the city often taking the train from the suburbs in Westchester with my mom and it was just full of good memories.
Very nice how “slow” life was back then. No smartphones. People were more relaxed. Also like how much time these home videos took instead of all those short clips right now. Remember it from my dad, all the time making home videos on holiday
Honestly it was a much better time. What makes me sad is that i know a time like that will never return in our lives. One can only pretend it is the 90s, but can never live in that time again.
Nope - this is much closer (futher away) in a time machine - try 120+ years ago footage WITH SOUND: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qr7kRYO29n4.html
Im 50. When i was growing up in the 80s and 90s in nyc. I thought life would be this unbelievable. Fun exciting…….. little did i know. Soon as the 2000s. Hit. The 🌎 world was not a good place anymore.
Back when NYC was actually a city and not a tourist trap. All of those Chevrolet Caprice and Ford Crown Victoria taxi cabs are now replaced with Toyota Priuses and Ford Explorers. Nobody was looking down at their iPhones, just walking around and talking to each other. You can’t beat NYC in the early and the mid 90s. Especially in 1993.
Visited in 2005. It still had that charm to it, just a newer Crown Vic generation for the cabs and flip up phones which sucked to text with. Great food. Sept 11 may have took something away from the city and at the time; I remember seeing a fire truck with rubble left on/next to it. Maybe it was left as some kind of monument, but people were very much alive and it was still a fun time.
@@MachineGunPepe some say everything fell apart after 1999. Some say everything fell apart after 2012. People keep moving it around 80-90’s was peak America. 2006 wasn’t. The decline began back in the 90’s because the crime rates were higher in NYC than now
I am not alone in this thinking that the Vibe in the 90's was insane, life was beautiful, women were so cool and not the narcissists of today, no internet really yet, no social media...Just life and life was phenomenal
This was fun to watch. Though I’ve lived in NYC all my life, I had never had the opportunity to visit the observation deck of the World Trade Center. Your video gave me the chance to see what it was all about. Thanks.
Graduated High School that year. School prom was on one of the cruise boats that went around Manhattan. Even though the evening was kinda misty, being on the outside deck with my boys I'm still with today looking at the city was something special.
At 8:52 it's really eerie to hear the automated tour guide in the WTC observation deck talking about the B-25 that crashed into the Empire State Building.
That was a great year. I was splitting my time between a cabin in the middle of the Canadian bush and visiting my now wife in NYC while she was in grad school at Columbia. I love that city, great video
The World Trade Center wasn't just a part of the New York skyline; it was its beating heart, its defining brushstroke on an ever-evolving canvas. Imagine leveling the Eiffel Tower to the ground-it's that kind of irreplaceable. Like a cornerstone in a cathedral, the World Trade Center was an essential piece of the city's identity, as iconic as yellow taxis and Broadway marquees. To lose it was to lose a part of ourselves.
@@shadeyxo 😬. I mean I’m grateful how technology progressed, just think people are self absorbed with their phones. Maybe I’m just becoming a old fart. Live up your youth.
This was the sweet spot for cities in America. The blight and mob influence of the 70's and early 80's was gone. But prices werent ridiculous and the streets were "cleaned up". Same with Chicago , the corruption and junkies of the 80's was almost gone and the 2nd Daley was enforcing the laws and retaking old neighborhoods.
I was in Marriott Marquis in Times Square in April 1997 (my first time staying a weekend). At 1:20:04 is the Hotel and the room window had a direct view of that Coca-Cola sign. That is the coolest hotel I've ever been to. The elevator in the middle of the building. That hotel and Times Square felt like the future. I went to the Empire State Building both times. Also the Crown of the Statue of Liberty. I went in the World Trade Center in Summer 2001 and we went thru some underground Mall which I think is this video 5:33. It leads to the World Trade Center lobby. I didn't go up top, but I wanted to. We were there for Les Miserables tickets. I am thankful I even got to see that era of NYC. Seeing the cars in this video helped bring back that feeling I had walking on the streets in that time. Also someone mentioned Liberty City from GTA IV which is exactly why it's one of my favorite GTA games. 'Self Actualization FM', 'The Journey', 'The Vibe', and 'The Classics' were the radio stations I listened to the most.
It was soooo... much better before 9/11. The city was vibrant. People treated each other better. Small, family businesses still existed. Each neighborhood had it's own character. After 9/11, everything got corporate and sanitized. Now, it's a hellscape, where everyone is angry.
9:00 Freaking skyline looks unrecognizable now which is crazy being that the skyline really didn't change that much from when this was shot until about 2009
It's not quite the same. Growing up in the 80s, cities were perceived as bleak dangerous places to be and statistically speaking they often were. NYC in particular had a murder rate that started taking off in the late 60s and peaked in 1990. From there on out though it fell off a cliff and by 1997 was approaching levels not seen since 1960. The mid to late 1990s in general was a period of relative peace and social order in the USA. We had won the cold war, crime rates were dropping, the stock market was kicking ass, and cities were starting to be hip places to live once again. We were only a really good track until September 11th, 2001 changed the game forever.
I know, it's C-R-A-Z-Y. Back then, we actually took care of ourselves, our properties, and public spaces. Shame we didn't care those attitudes and actions with us into the future.
I was only a baby when this video was made. Like I could see my mom pushing me in a stroller down the street. I honest can’t believe earth used to look like this.
My mom is from NYC and we used to visit my family all the time. I remember the restaurant at the top of the towers that had amazing views. My cousin worked in one of the towers and was running late that day. It’s so weird seeing the NYC skyline without the twin towers even 20 years later. I always look for them naturally.
Good old innocent 1990s days of the Super Nintendo and (the original) Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Wow, I remember at 10:33 when my mom and I visited the top observation deck of the WTC. We used to exit from the escalator in that area from the restaurant that was downstairs. This just gave me goosebumps. Before the camera turned that 1:04:34, I was thinking to myself "the next door to the right is a chocolate store". I remember I took a picture there when I was a kid.
Aug of 1997 I was in NYC .,, I love going back to these videos too so I can better remember how things were.... I do remember for a fact things didn't look "old" like the video back then. everything looked as real as today. I was at virgin megastore in times square a lot. all star cafe. statue of liberty (but didn't go up the line up was too long) . I remember being at castle clinton to get our tickets and looking up at the twin towers... kind of happy and kind of sad I didn't go up and take a look in them... the world changed in 2001. I didn't have worries like this when I went to NYC
This was my second home from 1991 to 2002, lived there and came back every year. I remember when family visited us, we went to the world trade center in the morning because it was less crowded.
Great colorization and restoration: so sad, when you think about it, that none of the people shown in this video are still with us, for generations, even though they seem so alive and contemporary in this video. One can imagine their descendants still walking among us, but with the passage of time, mortality takes us all and we at least have their preservation in memory and their images captured forever in this video; in that sense they truly do live on. It is truly amazing how this video can revive the past and these lives that have long since left our midst are brought back to life before our very eyes as if they were still with us, an incredible feat of modern technology.
What a great time to live in NYC in the late 1990's...the city was vibrant, Yankees were dominant, you could go everywhere and do anything. Thanks for the memories...
Something I’ve come to appreciate as I’ve gotten older is even with sights and surroundings changing, the noises remain the same. The city bustle and cars and construction and people conversing stays the same and something about that is really comforting to me.
Oh my goodness that is my neck of the woods in the thumbnail! I would recognize the Broadway Bridge and Promenade Apartments anywhere. That must be footage from the Circle Line. It's just funny because we are far from the first area that come to mind when people think of New York City. There is so much history here though, I think it is worth making the trek up to Inwood, Marble Hill and Spuyten Duyvil. It is a beautiful part of the city.
