Wanna see something scary? (vague subject line just for LizzieCurry)

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 9:53pm

remember when I said I missed Sleazy times square?
Well for those who don't remember it/never saw it.

[SahDu]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 10:05pm

Off Topic...?


Updated On: 2/15/14 at 10:05 PM

[focusingonmoviesmatt]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 10:33pm

wow what a difference. i think deep throat is playing at the lyric which is now part of the hilton theater.

[Gingersnap2]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 11:29pm

Wow, off-topic or not...that brings back memories of my first visit to NYC. I was 14 going on 15 so it was late 1988. My aunt and I came in through Port Authority and...whoa...was 42nd Street a real eye-opener. All those peep shows and posters. It was a bit of culture shock.

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 11:34pm

WHAT?? What year was that??

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 11:35pm

1980.

I remember it very well.

[MovieGuy1031]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 11:43pm

Wow... no way.

That is just unbelievable...

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 11:58pm

Man, you should have seen 42nd st at night. It was a zoo. I remember the first time I went to New York on my own (my parents hated 42nd street). It was, I believe, 1972. I looked at the wild goings-on and avoided 42nd Street during the night. Then, one morning, I decided to try walking it.I figured anyone who would harm me wouldn't be on the street at 10am.

In broad daylight I was nervously looking at everyone I approached and passed. I think by the time I got to 8th Ave, I was running. I got a cab and got the hell out of there.

Didn't do the street again until I was with a group of ten. It was a five years later. We stopped and looked at the New Amsterdam (or what was left of it) and imagined what it had been like back when it was the home of the Follies and 42nd street was safe and clean and tidy. It's clean and tidy now, but the last time I was there, it was Disney-safe.

I guess if I was a young kid now, the street wouldn't really have anything to teach me.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/2/07 at 12:04am

Man, you should have seen 42nd st at night. It was a zoo. I remember the first time I went to New York on my own (my parents hated 42nd street). It was, I believe, 1972. I looked at the wild goings-on and avoided 42nd Street during the night. Then, one morning, I decided to try walking it.I figured anyone who would harm me wouldn't be on the street at 10am.

In broad daylight I was nervously looking at everyone I approached and passed. I think by the time I got to 8th Ave, I was running. I got a cab and got the hell out of there.

Didn't do the street again until I was with a group of ten. It was a five years later. We stopped and looked at the New Amsterdam (or what was left of it) and imagined what it had been like back when it was the home of the Follies and 42nd street was safe and clean and tidy. It's clean and tidy now, but the last time I was there, it was Disney-safe.

I guess if I was a young kid now, the street wouldn't really have anything to teach me.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/2/07 at 12:11am

Shoot! I gotta go and scan photos from NYC circa 1972 thru 1979. Have some interesting doozies of 8th Avenue, Shubert Alley and Times Square from that period. Lots of marquees, too (I was a theatre junkie as a kid).

All that survives of that period are what we see in the movies -- like "Taxi Driver", "Times Square" to even "Fame". I used to wander around the city even as a kid -- funny how you're fearless when clueless.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/2/07 at 12:23am

Leave it to me to miss all the fun.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 1/2/07 at 12:30am

Shoot! I gotta go and scan photos from NYC circa 1972 thru 1979. Have some interesting doozies of 8th Avenue, Shubert Alley and Times Square from that period. Lots of marquees, too (I was a theatre junkie as a kid).

Please do! I love the old filthy theater district.

[MovieGuy1031]

Posted: 1/2/07 at 12:52am

Who had the major hand in the renovating and cleaning-up of this part of the city? I've heard several people credit the rise of the area to the Disney-fication of the theatre district, but i've never known what to truly attribute it to... And i'm sure it wasn't just one source... so what were the major ones?

Updated On: 1/2/07 at 12:52 AM

[jenna2]

Posted: 1/2/07 at 4:23am

If that's what Times Square looked like in 1980, it makes me wonder if the East Village is going to look like Times Square (as we know it now) in 20 years time...

[avab802]

Posted: 1/2/07 at 1:57pm

Who had the major hand in the renovating and cleaning-up of this part of the city? I've heard several people credit the rise of the area to the Disney-fication of the theatre district, but i've never known what to truly attribute it to... And i'm sure it wasn't just one source... so what were the major ones?

Guiliani. Say what you want about his politics (not all of which I agree with) but he did a lot to clean up the city, Times Square included. Disney buying the New Amsterdam was also a big part of it.

If that's what Times Square looked like in 1980, it makes me wonder if the East Village is going to look like Times Square (as we know it now) in 20 years time...

It's already well on the way. The East Village is a bit more "alternative" but I think it's safe. The only area that is a bit sketchy at night is Tompkins Square Park and the avenues east of it. There's also a Chipotle, a Quiznos, and a SuperCuts on St. Marks. That makes me laugh. The Gap that used to be on the corner of St. Marks & 2nd Ave (I think) closed though.

[CJR]

Posted: 1/2/07 at 2:41pm

Oh I loved Guiliani... and Koch. But Guiliani did a real job with the city. Not so much a fan of Bloomberg.

Man, I remember being little and seeing Times Square being all scuzzy. I also remember my father handing me a piece of paper with the address and phone number of the NY Daily News and the name of the chief photo editor and telling me if I got lost, to find a cop, tell them I was lost and that I needed to go *here* and hand them the paper. I was about 9 at the time. (my grandfather worked at the News)

When I was little, I couldn't understand what was so bad... of course, looking back on it now, with these old pictures to compare it to, I get it. And damn. lol

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 1/2/07 at 3:54pm

I hated Koch and Giuliani.

Koch totally ignored AIDS and Giuliani was/is an ass.

At least you know Bloomberg isn't in anyone's pocket

I miss scuzzy Times Square, now you can't even see any buildings, its just billboards.

The Howard Johnson's is gone, that hurt so much.
Nothing will be remember of how this place once was beautiful and romantic, even if a tad dangerous.

At least we have Coleman's The Life