New York in the 70s- Page 6

[rlrl]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 12:54am

does anyone remember the old Ramada Inn that was on 790 Eighth Avenue between 48th and 49th streets? Now it's a Hilton Garden Inn but during the 70's and 80's I always wondered how the Ramada did it's business with an address of 8th Ave between 48th and 49th streets. was it a bad place or did tourists stay there? I remember just across the street were several peep shows and X bookstores, wonder what it must be like for guests to see that upon arrival

[allofmylife]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 3:50am

Jesus, Spike3, you're making me fell like Madam Armfeldt.

Ah yes, Ma Bells, Needicks, Ugly George and The Robin Byrd show (she tongued every guest). I remember it all.

And frozen spit in the winter on 42nd Street in colors that just weren't human.

Good times.

[Jay94]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 7:16am

I imagine that going to see Sweeney Todd in 1979 and walking out onto the street would have been like some bizarre nightmare.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 7:40am

Remember that Shakespeare's Globe Theatre was on the south side of the Thames, surrounded by pickpockets, prostitutes and beggars. If all you talked about today is how dangerous it was for "nice people" to attend the Globe back then, you would be missing the point entirely.

So having theaters in seamy Times Square seemed natural in the 1970s.

The surrounding squalor also meant that ticket prices were lower in the 1970s than they are now, and it meant that the neighborhood was filled with inexpensive places to eat--not chain restaurants or fast-food joints but small restaurants frequented by actors and stagehands as well as theatergoers.

It also meant that the scale of the buildings was lower. There were a few high-rise hotels, but most of the buildings between Broadway and Eighth Avenue from 41st Street to 54th Street were no higher than the theaters themselves, which made the architecture of the theaters more impressive.

And the lights were impressive but distinctive. Today, Times Square at night looks indistinguishable from Las Vegas or Tokyo's Shinkjuku district.

Back then, the illuminated Times Square looked like nothing else in the world.

Updated On: 6/4/12 at 07:40 AM

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 8:08am

Welcome back, Pal Joey!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 8:13am

To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of my departure were greatly exaggerated.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 10:45am

My husband was mugged in a Times Square crowd in the 1970s, even as our young children and I stood right beside him unaware. (My eyes were on the kids.)

Didn't stop us from going to the theater that very night. Good times!

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 10:47am

The film Times Square from 1980 shows New York at a finest during that year. I often wonder what theater the protagonists run into when they're being chased by a cop for playing 3 Card Monty (the scene is at 43:04).

Also, the scene of Jorel and friend lifting the Evita bus in "Superman II" was more exciting than the movie itself.

http://youtu.be/3akySUsJ9_Q - Evita vs Superman
Times Square 1980