Thanks for posting this video. I used to live in NYC 1987-1990 and then again in 1998-2012. NYC in the 80s was amazing, but the crime rate was extremely high. Lots of corruption everywhere and it was very dirty. However, people were way more happier than now and cost of life was cheaper relative to income. In My view, the best time to live in NYC was from mid 90s to 2012.. Giuliani turned the city into a very safe place and Bloomberg kept it that way. The city was way more cleaner during those years, Also there was lot of opportunities.. Everything turned south with De Blasio.. Its hard to live in NYC these days, every ultra expensive, crime up 400%, People look stressed and Manhattan became a Island just for the wealthy.
I was there 1981-1994. I remember Dinkins. Giuliani did marvels to that city. When I was there I’d say as a kid I think it pretty much looked like this.
Born, and raised in New York City, yes the 70’s and 80’s were filled with a lot of crime. We had some years with over 3000 murders. I actually moved out of New York, just De Blasio took over, and I’m glad I did!! But I still miss it!!
I always explain it as the early 80s were like a dark time, and the mid to late 80s were the fun, neon, new wave synth-pop times. Like the early 80s were the red scare, recession, gloomy times . I even always associate Chernobyl with the early 80s, when in fact it was in the mid 80s.
@@kewkabe Ferris Beuller was shot in 1985, in the video you see few wearing flares by 1985, those had vanished completely, thats how I distinguish early 80s and mid 80s, also by 86/87 very boxy/oversized coats were the main style , I don't see them here yet. I see lot of Members only , shearling , cropped jackets which gives 83/84 at max early 85
Phones bro phones. And social media. I'm telling you that shits a disease. When I see all these old videos that's the first thing I notice. No smart phones.
I worked in Midtown Manhattan form 198o to 1990 as an art director, I used to walk everywhere I could during lunch hour for ten years and it was a most stimulating experience!
Thanks very much for posting this! It's so interesting to see how much more relaxed everyone looks in the street, compared to modern times. The body language in public is completely different. ...and no cellphones!!
@@EphemeralProductions True, that's the price of real democracy, but you know people would go to jail for their crimes no matter the colour of their skin or their sexual orientation. I would go back there in a jiffy and you could also call out the disgusting politicians w/o being called domestic terrorist! I don't know who these Democrats/ liberals/ think they are, but one thing for sure they the enemy we face, and we gotta fight!
@@Rupert_the_Bear With the breakdown of family values, condoning crimes, accepting murder, importing gangs and terrorists, human trafficking, grooming of children and sexualizing everything? I doubt it! We won't make 50yrs if we do not sort this mess out!
If you overlook the AIDS and Crack epidemic, the rise of Fundie religious right, the Bloods and Crips killings, the war in Central America. Then yeah!😅
Ah, the memories! The first minute is across from B. Altman's department store on 5th & 34th Street. It closed in 1989. One of many great NYC institutions that are no more! I still remember my mother nearly had tears in her eyes when that store closed. It is also nice to see people not looking into their cell phones and actually looking in front of them. The steel drum guys, street vendors and the 3 card monte people were classics!!
Thanks for identifying B Altman's. Such a classy store with legendary Christmas windows. I was there for the going out of business sale and it was truly sad.
Now its impossible to start a music career, its expensive as hell, plus there's more competition today than there ever was in human history. I cant stand the old heads calling anything new "hipster", these 40 year old morons cant tell the difference
@first last "impossible to start a music career" The best way to get famous these days is by making a funny, controversial video. And some people get famous just for their uninentionally bad singing like Rebecca Black. Talent doesn't really mean shit anymore. Once your name is internationally known, whatever song(s) you make next can go viral, especially if you're good-looking. Me, personally, I wouldn't wanna be famous in today's times because of the cancel-culture. People can dig up every bad, bizarre thing you've said & done in the past like they do to politicans.
@@Galidorquest That's why it's great being over 40 basically if you didn't use Twitter ever then everything from the old days before the great reset of 2010 is gone...I've been on the internet since 1996 and apart from a few wrestling forum posts from early '00s most of us have no digital footprint of our teen years online it was all MSN and chat rooms & girls physically posting you poloroids god I feel old now lmao
Wow look how normal everyone is! Not a single creepy weirdo just staring at their phone at all. People talking, socializing, looking at things, so nice to see.
The beat reminds me of ZAPP. Wish I could’ve grown up in NYC in the 80s rather than 90s which was still cool but the character of NYC changed post 2000. It’s even rare to find NYers with 5 borough genuine accents.
Thank you so much for your video. I was in NYC in 1985 and 86. Guess this was probably around 1982 or 1981. Personally didn't have video camera. Film pictures only left.
no obesity either. also we never really ate processed foods back then, we had healthier immune systems. no one was fat walking around with a bag of chips and an energy drink in this whole video.
@@miguelmejia4656 Pretty sure we're overall a lot healthier now than in the 80s. Physically at least. This was a time when smoking, sugar, and chemicals in food products were barely a concern to anyone.
This still is one of the busiest corners in nyc 34th st. Imagine seeing somebody you know in this video lol my grandma brought me a diamond ring out of Macy's in 1988. I will never forget that.
I miss those little pretzel push carts, they added a certain charm to the city, unlike the big gaudy neon-lit ones they have today that take up nearly the space of a car.
@Stranded NYer Gentrification in major cities like Chicago & NYC was most noticable by the Mid 00's, before the 2006 Olympics. 2006 was when inner-city hipster culture started growing. Blacks were spawling out to the suburbs and whites were re-claiming and fixing up inner-city areas.
@@Galidorquest That makes sense we had the Olympics in London 2012 & that's when our true gentrification started there's always been a silent invasion since the early '00s but most native Londoners are gone, I grew up in a small town just outside London imagine trailer trash low income housing basically & now it's all high-rises yuppie penthouses trying to make the place more appealing when it's a shithole always has been always will be.
@@danieldelacruz7305 When you look at old video footage from before the 1960s in the USA (including NYC) its mostly white people (Europeans as you call them). If anything the people you refer to as minorities moved in and took over some formerly "white" neighborhoods. All this anti-white (anti-European) propaganda needs to stop. I'm a hispanic american myself and this hypocrisy gets on my nerves hearing people complain about racism while at the same time acting racist themselves. Peace!
God those were the days! If you are thinking I wanna go to New York City and experience what I see right here for my self, well I got news for you, those days are long gone! To me it was the coolest place on earth with random anything you could buy, random street performances, so much to see and enjoy! Now it's so bleached it's like a fucking Disneyland. Big chains and and high rents took over what made it the BIG APPLE.
God is merciful. So many people have been in and out of this planet throughout time. It is amazing. Everyone is different and yet the same. All Praise is Due to God.
Lamstons.... Conways..(think I saw a couple of their pink bags) and the lunch counter at Woolworths 34th street... followed by a browse in the store then up the street to Thom McAnns...all with my RCA Walkman stuck to my head... . those were the days...
They are still doing some of the same things today. The vendors selling pretzels on the street, now dancers dance on the trains and in the bronx you see guys doing that switch around the cards game. What part of Manhattan was this? The COVID-19 pandemic has the city looking like a ghost town now. Lord let the city come back stronger bc it’s dead now. I miss seeing all the people and excitement, oh how I took it all for granted. God bless the big apple.
Yeah but it's more uniform in Times Square now. It's lost a lot of the unique stores and venders. The street vendor's all selling the same things. Times Square Hot Dog Pretzel stands all uniform and dont' taste as good. But it's cool in a different way now. More sanitized and attractive. I just miss this version sometimes.
I bet when covid is over the streets are gonna be packed. Everybody will finally be happy that its over. I live in NYC, Brooklyn. In coney island they use to have dance events playing house music and salsa. Ever since covid hit it shut down and I miss going there almost all summer with my friend ronnie. We be taking over the dance floor and start voguing to the house music. When its over the whole place is gonna be packed. Watch.
Hi! Love your footage! Looking for old footage for a possible project, can i use this for something non-commercial? I would also be interested in paying for commercial use as well. Thank you!
We just seen a whole bunch of dead people It’s crazy if you think about it all of those old people dead, all those young adults old and all of those kids are in there late 40s or 50s
It's funny how everyone who misses the 80s were probably young at that time. My grandmother, who's still alive, was in her 50s during the 1980s in NYC and she hated it!! She said she misses 1950s-1970s NYC. I guess she was over it by the 80s lol
Not that surprising, really. Most people aren't very self aware and what they actually miss is being young. I get nostalgic for the late 80s and early 90s when I was a kid, but objectively I know that compared to now those days were garbage. Crap technology, sky high crime, racism, sexism, mustaches, the list goes on and on.
Na, they were great. You just gotta not think too hard about what's in them or hygiene. lol Went To Times Square recently and the stands there are all fixed up and much more hygienic looking. The hot dogs stunk though. MIght as well buy some grocery store brand. :(
