“The Bronx wasn’t burning...the Bronx was burnt!” Spot on!

hotwiring the street lamp to party has to be the most ghetto and coolest thing ive heard about ahaha

Great documentary about NYC during that era. I lived on the Upper West Side from 1973 - 1981 and experienced some of the best years of my life. The city was definitely on the verge of bankruptcy but the cultural life, the night life, the music and feel of the city was totally awesome. I rode the subway at all hours of the night, was at Studio 54, The Loft, and other clubs and really had the time of my life! Thanks, New York, for allowing me to live through the wild 70's in Manhattan . . .

As New Yorkers we don't necessarily miss the crime etc , but miss the people, culture and how DOPE, HIP they were.... NY had a RHYTHM about it then that can't be explained !!!

To all you romanticizing and wishing that you could go to live in a place/time like this: Be glad you can't. I lived the first 20 years of my life in NYC (1960-1980). For every good memory I have of then I have 9 others that were hellish. Left when I was 20 and have never gone back. Yeah, there were moments that were cool, but the evil of the place was what got under your skin and stuck with you for life -- unless you were wealthy enough to be able to keep that evil from touching you. I wasn't. Find the cool of the where/when you are now and appreciate it.

1970s NYC: Dangerous but colorful, vibrant, and culturally rich 2010s-2020s NYC: Safer and cleaner but extremely expensive to live in, strictly a place of finance, overrun by pretentious hipsters and cold-blooded money hungry business people.

I was 15 in 1977 living on Long Island, I would cut school all the time & take the LIRR into Penn station & walk up to 42st to watch Kung Fu flicks I loved it 3 movies for 3 bucks granted the theaters where disgusting & small the screens where filthy soda all over them, don't fall a sleep if you didn't want to get robbed. I never had a problem sure there where the scammers but I was hip at 15.

It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under

NYC had character back in he 1970s, but a lot of stuff that was horrible. I grew up during this time.

I remember going on the regular to the youth centers to here & dance to the music of African Bambada & the Zulu nation! 77 Was a crazy year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"WARRIORS, come out to playyyy"

"Most people thought that NYC's great days were over. My attitude was fuck 'em." Gotta love Mayor Koch.

A much grittier, yet more interesting New York City before they turned it into a giant theme park for tourists.

I remember that era. I moved to NYC from London in late 1972. I loved it. It was crude dirty and rough but that is exactly what I was searching for because it was so different from where I grew up. I miss the way it was in those days, my best friend in the world grew up in Coney Island, he is the toughest guy I know but he's also the best person I know. You don't get such personality from New Yorkers today.

Smoked my first joint in 77. Saw my first concert at Madison square garden. Delivered lunches for a coffee shop in the dangerous garment district. Saw Star Wars on Times Square. Yeah, quite a time for a 15 year old.

The City was a Shit Hole in the 70's glad I survived !

I definitely understand that this was a place of hell. But I would love to just be in old New York for just 1 day to catch the feel of everything.

This is THE best documentary on New York City in 'the Bad Ol' Days'!! GREAT Editing!!! Moves very well!

I was 12yrs old, with not a care in the world.

I grew up in NYC and graduated from Baruch in 77. Indeed there were unpleasant aspects about NYC life but in the neighborhoods of the boroughs with the exception of the McMansions now popping up life in the neighborhoods is not that much different now as opposed to then. Pizza and bagels are not materially different then they were back then etc. And indeed... there was one incredibly undeniably good aspect about life back then and that is that the city universities did not charge tuition for city residents until modestly so in 1977. While many of my friends were building up loans I was building up life experience at no material cost to myself or my parents who did not have much anyway. The classrooms were cold sometimes but it was good...

NYC is the only place to introduce so many musical styles throughout history : Beebop jazz, Salsa, House and Hip-Hop....

_Tough times! However, NYC was the _*_shit_*_ back then! I really do miss them good ol' times!_

I remember in '77, the year I graduated HS we were hanging out in Greenwich Village going to the clubs there, all the live music. I saw Lou Reed at The Bottom Line at a table not four feet away from him. I wish I'd taken pix of the subways back then, but you never thought there WOULDN'T be graffitti all over the place some day. My daughter lives in Brooklyn now, and the subways are so clean you can't even believe it. Times Square was a hell hole, now it's a tourist trap. Unbelievable how much it's changed. Safer now by far...but better? IDK. Glad for my daughter it is the way it is, but we always loved life on the edge back then.

A little off topic, but I just have to mention it, the 1977 Topps baseball card of Reggie Jackson is one of the coolest cards of the 1970s. It's his first card as a member of the New York Yankees. Today in excellent-plus condition that 1977 Topps Reggie Jackson card is worth about $15 to $20, not too shabby for a little piece of cardboard.

I was 7 and I remember freaking out because I was in queens and one of the victims had my last name Lauria. I yelled to my mother "he's gonna kill me!!!" Lol

I'm not an American, but I wish I were. I just love those classical times, everything from Rock n Roll to Disco to Pop rock and finally the grunge up until the late 90s... America was happening, on a roll with the whole world following...

Thank you sooo much for posting this doc as its the best doc I have ever had the chance to see on this time period in NY. It really gets the feeling over to the viewer about what its was like. Ive never seen a doc that shows it so raw like this.

BAMBAATAA definitely was feeling the youths energy.

I was 6 and to young to understand 77 at the time,I do remember the fun times I had just being a kid,not a worry in the world.

Jeez, what an accomplished and kickass documentary! The insights are compelling and the visuals crackle. Thanks for posting this amazing artifact of a pivotal cultural era.

I grew up on the West Coast and my Dad grew up in New Jersey. He took me back in 1976 when I was 14 years old. We spent a couple days in New York City, rode the subway, went up in the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center, stood on the roof of the WTC on the observation platform. My favorite parts were the subway and the World Trade Center. The IRT subway system in 1976 was like something out of a Planet of the Apes movie, it was a hundred years old and it SEEMED a hundred years old. I thought it was awesome. We drove out to south Long Island in a rental car and went to the beach, on the way back my Dad took a wrong turn off the highway and we ended up driving around in the South Bronx. The garbage collectors were on strike and there were big islands of trash piled up in all the intersections. They were like traffic diverters, we had to drive around them. You didn't see stuff like that in Seattle.

This and "From Mambo to Hip-Hop: A South Bronx Tale" along with "What Difference Does It Make: A Film About Making Music" are in my opinion the greatest documentaries ever made. Anyone that likes this one should definitely check out those other two.

I remember that blackout in NYC. I lived in Queens, and I was 8 years old at the time so I didn't realize how bad everything was. To me it was a memory that I will never forget. All of the neighbors were outside with candles and flashlights. It was fun however some people were freaking out about the Son of Sam.

This video is Brilliant..Thanx from England.

I was 8 in '77 living in Staten Island. I'm still there now at 50!!! I love it.

My father often talks about 1977 in NYC. Now, after watching this, it has so much more meaning to me.

Born on June 13 1977 in Brooklyn, NY. Oh what surrounded me as I began the journey!

It was great back then, the Italians kept their neighborhoods safe and clean

Can't believe my dad was living there during this time period. A part of history.

MAN, miss the old New York!!!

Like I always say, an overly clean room/house/neighborhood/city is just a sign that nothing's going on there worth a damn.

I was born in the bx in 1973. I remember the buildings burning that we could see in the distance. I lived on the concourse (1770 to be exact) and it was a good neighborhood until around 1976-77 then it started to declne. But I wouldn't trade my upbringing in the bx for nothing. we later moved 15 minutes west to teaneck.nj but I never forgot my Bronx roots. it was gritty but it was our Bronx.

A people who trade their freedom for security has neither and soon loses both

This is a great piece of history, thanks for uploading.

The 70s in NYC were indescribeable-glad I was there!

Every seven years it's in everybody's recommendations... Oh, and part 2 is missing. Would be nice if you could reupload it...

I love when interesting stuff like this shows up in my recommended feed!

Thanks for adding! I have been searching for it for years...

When young people say that baby boomers were all spoilt and had an easy life show them this video.

Sure NY was a dirty and dangerous slump back then; but it was also a vibrant and dynamic place. Everything and anything went. Nowadays, NY is just a massive mall for turists and hipsters; Starbucks and Trader Joe's everywhere invading a souless city.

My city, it was bad, but it was home, and we made the best of it as kids. Until the teenage years. 🏠

Born in Little Italy in 1957. Have memories of the San Gennaro feast going right past our front door. My parents got us out of there in 1964. The city was already starting to show cracks by then. Don't regret for a minute growing up in the boring NJ suburbs.

I remember this shit , I was 7 years old. I tried to persuade my mother in letting me got out in the black out.

When people say that they miss "Old NY", they don't mean the crime per say, but instead the culture, vibe and people then.... and the styles... the coolness and hipness of the entire city.... like no other

Thanks for uploading this series. I remember this before it was sterilized by Disney.

Awesome times in 1977 I was 18, bronx boy take the subway into times square, 25cents a slice of pizza, .42 cents/gal gas, loved it! Wish i could go back.

Thanks a lot for sharing this! I realy love watching old videos be it commercials, movies or personally recorded video tapes. It all gives you a piece of the past! Makes me a bit sad that i missed out on it all, being born in the early 85' i only experienced a brief moment of the 20th century. Everything seemed so more stylish, original, simple and down to earth back then unlike the reality we have today, where you've got a world that's obsessed with stupid smartphones and (at most time) unfunny internet fads that are reused jokes or refferences of the past anyway. The 21th century has taken a turn for the worse and i dont like it. All that matters to people today is if youve got the latest iphone. Television with shows like Jersy Shore isnt watchable, Cars of today are butt ugly hollow shells of the original models, and dont even get me started on the uninspired pop culture and music industry of today. Sure we might have all those uneccesary gadgets that we wished for back in the days, but at what cost?

Wow as a guy born in 1990s damn that was some exciting gritty ass New York,I really wished I can witness it in person. Now I have a good reason to back up why I loved number 77 after all these years!

I was in summer camp in Litchfield, CT for all this action though I heard it on the radio. Most incredible year ever in many ways.

Seeing this reminds me of how I grew up in New Orleans in the 70’s and 80’s. NOLA is a totally different city now than it was then.

Rest In Peace Ivan P. Negron Aka. Roc 🇵🇷 🙏 From South Bronx, NYC 🗽 He passed from gun violence in Denver Co in 1991. Another Puerto Rican dude shot him close range and he was unarmed too. I read the supplemental report.

The night hip hop was born... July 13th 1977 when the lights went out all over NY for 25hrs... All the record stores that had all the high end quality DJ equipment were robbed. The very next day everyone in the Bronx was an MC with hella bad ass expensive equipment

If you New Yorkers miss this so much, just come to Skid Row in LA today. Yeah... Didn't think so!

I'm from California - the California landscape is beautiful especially when you add in the weather - I look at these old videos of New York and think - Why would anybody want to live there ??? Especially in 1977 - but New Yorker's love New York - it is all they think and talk about with their little ascents and such - Thank God for Hip Hop or I just wouldn't understand it -

When there were NO cell phones!!!!!

like the Rolling Stones say, " to live in this town, you must be tough tough tough tough tough tough tough tough ..."

I was 15, years old going on 16, in 1977, growing up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (The South Side) second largest Puerto Rican, neighborhood at the time behind Spanish Harlem. There was another candidate running for mayor in 1977, his name was Herman Badillo, from the Bronx. As far as I know Brooklyn, wasn't as bad as the Bronx, during that time. At least one good thing came out that decade for New York City. It was the best decade for all types of music. From Classic Rock, Disco, Salsa, Funk, you name it. But, I think the year 1978, stands out the most.

thanks that was very informative.......one of the scenes were filmed really close to my house in broadway junction actually......man i really wish i was born before 96....it was soo cool here in nyc

If Bella Abzug had married Jim Fregosi,she would have been Bella Fregosi.

Overall great documentary. Excellent overview of life and culture of the infamous but historic year of 1977. Especially in music as the birth of both Hip-Hop/Rap and Punk Rock would laid the groundwork for contemporary music for the last 2 decades of the 20th Century and also the first two decades of the 21st century. Only thing missing in this documentary that should had at least a short mention was the 1977 NY Yankees Baseball club winning the world series. The George Steinbrenner-owned and Reggie Jackson-led "Bronx Zoo" team turmoil was also a big part of NYC culture in the summer of '77. And when the Yanks won the series that fall, it briefly brought the city together. This video should be played at any school(high school and college due to the adult chat used by those interviewed)that teaching a course on NYC history. And finally NYC and America in 2016 really misses a very good then-future mayor in Ed Koch. Mr. Koch had his flaws and stayed in office as NYC Mayor too long.(several scandals in his 3rd term) However Koch did play an important role in ending the fiscal crisis. Abe Beame other than Jimmie Walker was probably the worst NYC mayor of the 20th Century IMO. PS it would been nice if say Debbie Harry or an Greenwich Village area artist could also been interviewed for this special.

I'm out here on the opposite coast but New York has always peaked my curiosty the culture, the diversity, the mindset. its always been to me a city oozing substance, alot of it so familiar yet so opposite, tight..bigups from LA

1977 I was growing up on Staten Island. I remember rides on the trains, subways, the SI Ferry, the schoolyards still had a pecking order enforced by bullies (I was one of the bullied, which sucked), got a $20 bill for my birthday & got sick blowing it all at the 7/11. I saw the original Star Wars at the New Dorp Theater, had my first girlfriend (though it didn't last long) and a candy bar was a quarter. I have a lot of fond memories & a lot of bad ones, too, but I still miss this time. I left NYC in 1980 & know that it has become so overpopulated I'd never live there again. Thanks for posting this video!

Yeah I was there then. I miss the decay.

How I would have loved to been born early enough to be an adult in NYC of the 1970's! THE GOLRY DAYS OF SEED!

Mike tyson grew up in this generation no wonder he was tough

That's cool. I really like the Springfield Gardens area; spent many of my summers visiting my grandparents there and having a ball.

I'm only 21 NYC back then def seemed mad fun but also way too chaotic, I wish I could time travel just to see what it was like but I wouldn't wanna live back then even compared to now. And even though it was less sterile and more free back then the reason a lot of you prob loved it so much because you were in your teens and 20's which is usually the most fun times in most ppl's lives.

Soundtrack (fill the gaps pls): 0:28 Bob James - Take Me To The Mardi Gras 2:05 Bob James - Take Me To The Mardi Gras 3:11 The Jimmy Castor Bunch - It's Just Begun 4:14 Unidentified 5:29 The Beginning of The End - Come Down 6:45 The Beginning of The End - Funky Nassau, Pt. 2 8:55 Unidentified Thanks goes to others that help me find this jewels and gems of 70's music

Taxi Driver captures that atmosphere of NYC. The paranoia and the decadence of it. I just saw Death Wish, the original with Charles Bronson also seems quite realistic.

I'm from Boston, and now I live in LA. I've visited NYC over 100 times. I was born in 1980, so I missed the madness of the 70s. I visited New York in the summer of 1995 and there were still some X-rated shops and theaters near Times Square. Midtown Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn may be more upscale and tourist friendly, but there are still gritty areas of the city. There is still crime, graffiti, poverty, homelessness, panhandlers, prostitution, live music venues, street performers, etc.

born 12/31/76, Glad i wasn't around this until 1988

I agree 1977 was the best year ever in NYC. You had to be there to understand.

The last vestige of hip NYC officially died in 1995. You could feel it was on life support for sometime, starting in '91 when they closed The World, the last cool nightclub in town.

I've been awaiting a DVD release of this film for years! It occasionally pops up on VH1 in the wee hours. Seen it at least twice. Thank God for KZfaq!

Damn shame what they did to the peep shows,, but just off of Farmers and Rockaways Queens there's one still a available 🤯🤯🤯

Sure, some elements of danger are found today in Camden, but with the danger in NYC in '77 also came the once in a lifetime ascendancy of hip hop, punk rock, disco etc. There were elements of adventure and it was cheap to live here. It was less repression and less a city for rich yuppies. Like Tommy Ramone says, sure NYC had its rough edges but some of the best things in life have rough edges. Camden has none of the art, culture and energy that NYC had then.

Would love to of visited New York back then. Absolute madness but so much going on!

That intro * Intalian Kiss * is some of the best infographic work I've seen

I was born in the Bronx in 1977

Did I hear John Montone? Love this video!

wow, NYC has come a long way since these days. I live in Astoria and ride my bike through Queensbridge everyday and to think how dangerous that neighborhood once was

The best... born in 1958, I was 19 in 1977. Grew up on Gunhill Road in the Bronx. Gangs were everywhere. We would go to the city everyday, it was raining money in the city back then. As long as you didn’t use, you made $$$$$$$$$ all day with it.

Yes back then we’re rough times but called the good old days if you were mob connected

Shout out to my fellow 1977 babies.

"My attitude was...fuck 'em." So New York.

Love mayor Koch’s attitude & expression- “fuck ‘em !” 2:54

I was 16 years old. Now I realize the meaning of being taught at the School of Hard Knocks.

January 13th 1975 Queens miss those days growing up to break dancing in the 1980s

As a kid growing up in the Midwest in the 70’s, NYC as portrayed on TV and movies scared the crap outta me. This was only reinforced by the Son of Sam and blackout coverage on TV news.

I cant believe I've never seen this! Just stumbled upon it and I'm glad I did.