So yes, I've been reading this book edited by Marshall Berman and Brian Berger, New York Calling: From Blackout to Bloomberg. Partly for research, partly just because it interests me. The novelist and memoirist Jim Knipfel has a great essay on his experiences riding the subway. He has a funny observiation
(In fact, I've often suggested that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority - the corrupt and ill-managed agency responsible for keeping the whole system running - should use Walter Hill's 1979 low-budget street-gang fantasy The Warriors as a public relations tool. No other film in recent memory more loudly sings the praises of the near-Germanic efficiency and reliability of the New York subways. Whenever you want a train, the film promises, there'll be one waiting for you.)I remember The Warriors, and I always thought of it as a science fiction movie, although no one else seemed to consider it one. It's about one of the most heavily populated cities in the world, but the gangs never run into shopkeepers or winos. Just other gangs. Oh, and there's a foxy black chick spinning records at a radio station. So are these people the only ones who were immune to radioactive fallout? Did aliens scoop up 90% of the city but left all the old-looking teenagers? What?
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Ah, so the book is a collection of essays, is it? That might be one we'd be interested to read ourselves having been familiar with the city back then even though it didn't seem like the best place to raise a kid - maybe we were wrong and you might have liked it there. Nevertheless, it was fun to visit. I wonder if you remember going to visit Chris, Susan and their son Teddy who lived in a Soho loft when we stayed with them. You were about eight at the time.
I do remember them telling us about the gangs that ran particular neighbourhoods or blocks in them. They also said they went to CBGBs because it was one of the few music venues where they could get a seat since hardly anyone else went there at that point in time. I know that changed.
I remember watching The Warriors but so long ago now I don't recall much of the story other than it being a mega-chase movie. You may be right about the aliens.
I have very spotty memories of that trip. Make no mistake, NYC did seem very overwhelming at the time. Part of it, I'm sure, was sheer size. Really, anything you could see there was happening everywhere, it's just because of sheer numbers that you'd be more likely to witness it in the largest American city. In some ways I suspect it was a better time then to raise kids there, just because you could think about doing so without having a six figure income. Have you heard from Chris/Susan/Teddy in recent years?
Anyway, the book is pretty fascinating. Some parts more than others, of course. The essays are by different writers, and some have a more interesting perspective. Armond White mostly just attacks Spike Lee, which probably seemed more relevant 10+ years ago when it came out.
That would have been a good time to catch a show at CBGBs, it being the stomping grounds of the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, etc. I'm sure a lot of people were still going in the 80s and 90s, and I'm sure there were still good shows, but the effort involved in getting a ticket would make it a matter of diminishing returns.
Not too surprising you remember it as a big chase movie. The same director did 48hrs which would seem to be his big hit.
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