In the 1970s, New York City was a broken, ungovernable metropolis barreling into anarchy. New Yorkers remember this decade as the bleakest, most crime-ridden, and most uncertain time the city has ever faced. It was a time of economic, criminal, and cultural shifts occurring at once that changed the city’s prospects.
The New York City of the 1970s was practically bankrupt and hemorrhaging population. Subway trains were covered in graffiti, inside and out. Crime was rampant. Women were warned to remove jewelry while walking the streets for fear that their necklaces would be ripped from their necks.
Vast areas of the Bronx and Upper Manhattan were torched. Prostitutes and pimps frequented Times Square, while Central Park became feared as the site of muggings and rapes. Homeless persons and drug dealers occupied boarded-up and abandoned buildings.
These fascinating photos captured street scenes of New York City in 1976 and 1977.
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| Greenwich Village, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976. |
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| Chinatown, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976 |
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| Financial District, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976 |
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| Greenwich Village, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976 |
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| House, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976 |
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| Market, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976 |
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| Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976 |
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| Plaza Hotel, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976 |
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| Times Square, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976 |
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| Trinity Church, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976 |
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| United Nations, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976 |
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| Wall Street on Sunday, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976 |
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| 125th Street, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Bowery, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Dominoes, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Drug deals in Harlem, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| East 125th Street, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Empire State Building, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Harlem from the air, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Harlem from the air, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Harlem from the ground, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Harlem from the ground, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Harlem, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| NW corner Houston and West Broadway, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Opposite Radio City, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Pike Street mural, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| South Bronx, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Subway, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| Twin Towers, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |
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| West 57th Street, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977 |