There will never be another decade as special as the 80's, the movies, music, television, and everything else, were unique unto themselves. Every decade since has lost something, and today we have nothing much to define the decades to come. I wish that I could return to the 80's and stay there, but then it would be very much like groundhog day, I guess that it's best to just hold onto memories instead.

i love the cars back then

This is one of the best videos of New York City in 1987! This is part of New York and American history as well!

The concrete canyons of NYC will always hold a special place in my heart. I love my city!

I like it when people walk normal and not looking at their phones and admiring the world around them. Better times no annoying devices no smart phones no distractions.

Thanks for the upload! It is 2019 now. And 1986 was the first time I visited NYC as a teen. Wow this encapsules exactly the feeling and vibes that NYC had for a 1st time visitor. I was soooo overwhelmed by the almost exotic diversity, the smells and the noises. The streets were almost jumping. I had never ever seen something like that. Also fun to see Trump Tower in this clip. Was inside in 86. Guess it was built a year or a couple of years before. At that time it was kind of unique and impressive with the marble and waterfall. I accompanied my dad on a business trip and I asked him "How can I earn so much money to build such a tower?" And I remember his response very well: "In any case not with honest work." Period. At that time I did not know what to make of it. Back in the day I thought every American only by working hard could achieve something. Today I know better ;) I know NYC back then was not "paradise on earth" actually it was dangerous. I couldn't understand how my dad didn't let me out at night alone (as you would've wanted as a teen of course) Our hotel was around Times Square which was totally different back then. It cannot be compared to what it is like today. I would have never believed such a change would EVER be possible at all!!! It is unreal! But even knowing all this was not necessarily "better", I do know from my last visit (2016) that the NYC of today has lost its character. It could be anywhere. Times Square might've been edgy or seedy back then. But it had character. ALL kinds of people belong to a city - and ESPECIALLY to THE city of the world (as it used to be) NYC!!! It is nice to sit now in a safe and clean Park but where did all the normal, even crazy people that simply just belong to a city go??? Where are artists? There's nothing "special" anymore about NYC. I do remember Breakdancing, Preachers, perfomance artists and yes also street people of all kinds were in the streets back then. Normal people and even less fortunate could afford living in this city. They were part of it and added character. Today it seems to be a place only for well to do and the rich - and that is ... jep, almost boring?! Times Square has become a Disneyland and everything else is like a huge open air mall. It is sad. And I am glad I had the opportunity to have seen both NYCs as it was in the 80s as well as today. Thanks again. This clip is history!

I remember back then,. we didn't have social media, no facebook, no youtube. most of the computers, and tvs were huge and bulky, not flatscreen. I remember I was just 14yo at that time. There were no smartphones, but we had the house phones back then. Wow, have times changed, in the sense of technology. Now if you want to talk to a friend, you have to use your smartphone , and not the house phone. Now, you can talk to your friends or relatives on Facebook, you can't talk to them face to face anymore. Back then you actually hung out at your friends house, now you hang out with your friends on Facebook, snapchat and the other social media. I truly miss the 80s.

Best time to be tin New York City - the 80s. Miss that time. So different now.

The year I was born. 1987. Somewhere in that massive urban metropolis, Patrick Bateman is doing unspeakable things with a womans insides.

An 80 year old today would only be 49 at the time... crazy

oh man how awesome it was to have been a kid visiting the city during this era. so fascinating exciting…new. i can only imagine what it must have been like for a person in their 20s during this time.

I first went to New York City in 1997 from England and having been obssessed with the place throughout my childhood it was like walking in a dream, not just Manhattan but Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. I went to them all. Ive been back four times since but Ieish I could have gone in the late 70s when it was at its grittiest. Long live NYC

wow I was born and raised in the bronx and this sure brings back some memories of how great the 80's was lets see october 1987 i was in junior high school 162 in the 8th grade... I LOVE MY NEW YORK BACK THEN

I remember when I walked in these streets... with a walkman and "Pump up the Volume" by MARRS...XDDD

i was actually in new york in october of 87 visiting relatives!! i was a teenager then!..damn im old now!!

Its so werid not seeing a starbucks on every cornor lol

Today, in the city, everyone is looking at their cell phones as they walk.

this video is 1990, not 1987, the guy on radio said Davey johnson was just fired from the Mets which happened in 1990.

When Chevy Caprice and Impala owned the taxi fleets.

Is it possible that you have this video, mislabeled...?? I only ask because WFAN playing in the background (begining around the 1:30 mark) mentions how Davey Johnson was fired by the Mets. That didn't happen until *1990*, and not...1987.

I love 80s era

This is right when I got out of the military I arrived home just a week or so before this was made I remember driving tho the city on my Harley Davidson with my duffle bag on back. What a time.

I realise it's only 1987 but, comparing to just 25-26 years later, it does seem a bit more honest and wholesome. No one ramming their current status update down your throat or rubbing their latest celebrity endorsed purchase in your face. Please can we go back to a time before social network media applications?!

I guess you're glad that you did this, you caught the last era of it all before it got cleaned up. I wish you have more footage :))

John Candy was filming the spectacular movie, planes, trains and Automobiles in 1987.

@weaponexpert1 Because only REAL New Yorkers like myself, born and raised, would appreciate a vid like this. This WAS the real New York. NO MORE! It practically lost its soul, nothing more than a name, that's all. P.S. And, yeah, you're right: NO ugly and repulsive SUVs; it was BEAUTIFUL!

Ahh... What I'd do to go back 25 years and see how simple life was back then compared to today, If I only I were born a couple of decades earlier...

Not one person on a cell phone. No Blackberrys, Ipods! nothing. I vividly remember this very month and find it hard to believe it been nearly 26 years. My god, that was fun on every level.

@weaponexpert1 Only REAL NEW YORKERS like myself would appreciate a vid like this, weapon! And believe me, the memories really do come to the surface. I remember EVERY DETAIL of where I was and what I was doing in October 1987....New York then was a world better than today. It lost it's style and soul now and ,as far as I'm concerned, it's nothing more than just a NAME! P.S. Yeah, you're right: NO UGLY, REPULSIVE SUVs! It was BEAUTIFUL!!

My earliest memories, I was 3 and lived in the city

I was there that month. So cool to have this.

No I do not. I was just visiting the City on the day that I shot this footage as I do not live in New York. I live in Florida where it's nice and warm.

this is when phil Collins was tearing up the airwaves Factz

haha wow, no SUVs on the streets! but why the hell has such a great and rare material like this only 347 views???

5:33, that's the real sadness of NYC.

Very cool to see footage from the year I was born. I am originally from Lynbrook, NY.

This was the year I was born wow I really feel old looking at this my god the country change so much sense those days wow

Back when life was liveable.

Still looks the same to me just with different cabs and people with 80s looking hair styles and cloths and more diverse.

Wonderful video! Thank you for sharing!

Great video. I was born that year at Columbia Presbyterian. I miss my childhood and how NYC used to be in the early to mid 90s.

Cool video . I visit New York in August 2006

This is great footage so many changes since that time, My best friend just passed away ,I wish i can go back to 1987 and see her again ,Thank you for this back in time moment...

Thanks for taking me back down to memory lane, ironically i turned 9 years old in October of 1987. Nostalgia

The hot dog & pretzel vendors still look the same. Some things never change, although they don't serve Slice soda anymore.

LOVE IT,,thankyou for sharing this,i'm fascinated by new york in particular,the 70's and 80's such an amazing place....:-)

Fantastic video! I was 4 at this time and we had just moved from Staten Island to NJ. I was exposed to the city at a very young age so a lot of this does light up many familiar memories in my mind's archives! What's great is that this is not a movie - just candid footage of thousands of ordinary people going about their business. No yuppies or hipsters either, yay!... though the trade off is rampant crime and decay in many parts of the city.

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

Wow, imagine that.....no walking cell phones with their human attachments.

this guy was lucky to have that camera in 1987. it must have been a big beta cam

Ahhhh, not a Starbucks is sight. Those were the days.

They should make a HD digital scan of these old videos and upload it .

New York is still unique and still has most of its old flavor.

Carriage horses have miserable lives in NYC, pounding the pavement for 10 hours a day, 7 days a week ruins their hooves, then instead of getting rest and treatment, they get sent to slaughter. It’s such a blight on our city that this exploitative, inhumane industry still exists.

This. Is. Amazing.

The doorman at TrumpTower looks just like the doorman from the Seinfeld episode!

Hey, but that's what MADE New York NEW YORK! I was born and raised here, and used to it--I was in a street gang, I got pummelled, mugged, punched and I dished out some, too. Call me Old School BUT I was used to the hustle-n-bustle, rudeness, graffitti, hookers in good, ole Times Square, the high crime rate, the works. What many people, esp.outsiders don't realize is, THAT was ALL the REAL soul of NYC!!! Like Sinatra sang," IF you can make here, you can MAKE IT ANYWHERE"! How true that is.

Good times will never be retrieved :( just memories

Great stuff!! Thank you

a precious witness about a certain time, thanks a lot

Love the cars

The taxis! I'd be in heaven if I was surrounded by Caprice, LTD Crown Victoria and Diplomat/Gran Fury taxis as far as the eye could see! Great footage!

I LOVE CAPRICE CLASSIC ...

Dame New York feels like a film, from UK London and it was semi like this as London was getting on its feet, london felt busy when I went there. It's weird how the world has changed.

75-82 where the best years

My favorite year of the 80’s- 1987, anybody else?

Good God. it really is the New York from the 80`s ninja turtle cartoons

Cool video, 80s in NYC were rigid.. Thanks for the upload

When you look at the people on the streets you wonder where they are now

I was born this year. My first memories didnt come until the 90s, but its funny seeing all of the 1980s cars because these were the cars i grew up with. My family members never had new vehicles growing up lol. My grandpa was still driving 1980s vehicles in the year 2000 then he finally got himself a 90s model 😂

I think, I should go out and take some "normal day in the life" video of my city. Maybe someone in the future will appreciate it...

Back when cities had character

I just can imagine, this video after 500 years, if will be very interesting for future generations to see it , I’m from 2022

I am born in 10.09.1987 80s best time

This is great footage hoss

The glory days...

Saturday, October 10, 1987 (I think) a Joffrey ballerina canceled a date but I went up to the city anyway, won $125.00 at OTB, and played chess. I remember these streets well . I grew up on them but moved to Philadelphia in 1986. NYC was still very "gritty" back then but the signs of gentrification were there. Yuppies were invading in large numbers by then especially on the UES. This is when the term "Yuppie" was coined.

So this is NYC in the 80s? I wasn't even born yet! Sucks for me :(

I missth the 80s best time for New York People was nicer

The Brown line - Jamaica, The Orange line TriBoro, The Green Line ... - forgot. Daley Johnson getting canned... Thanks for upload. Refreshing.

I was born May of 87, I'm currently now 33 years old and it is October 2020... doesn't seem like I've been alive for a lot very long time but it does go very quick if anyone's wondering, I have a wife and a child, and lived a crazy life so far and I'm from New Jersey which is 30 minutes from where this video was took in place

Am I buggin’ or is that a Los Angeles RTD bus at the beginning of this video in front of McDonalds?

Amazing seeing this. I was born in 1989 :D

Good stuff. Almost 30 years later, people are dressed pretty much the same now as they were then. The men might have worn a few more suits in those days, and the hair length is a bit shorter today. Quite the contrast compared to 1967 to 1977 when everything changed. The main change compared to now is that there are many more Latinos and Asians today. But you could transport your average person back in time to 1987, and they would fit right in.

THIS IS 1990, NOT 1987...radio announcer talks about Davey Johnson being fired by the Mets, which was in '90.

Is it just me or did anybody notice that nobody was running their mouth on their cell phones or texting and not paying attention to whats in front of them? Oh wait that stuff didn't exist back then...the good ole days....smh!

@4:27 Tony Danza's iconic van.

Wow amazing

belive it or not this looks alot like Atlantic City , i only live 20 minutes from AC so i've been there alot the two cities dont look much different.

Can you imagine, in another 25 years, people will most likely wish they could go back to now and probably say the same about it being more simple? I'm actually scared to think how crazy it's going to be to want to come back to now for a simple life!

Back when taxis actually took you were you had to go 😂

J'aurais tellement aimé connaître les années 1980 mais je suis née plus tard.

I turned 9 that year on the 9th that year wow

7:47 “Hey! Hey! Hey!” What was that about?

I mean, I don't live there anymore but the honking...the 'busyness'...the graffiti....the rude people...there all still there. The crime has decreased....yes...but is that really worth to complain about.

To think, somewhere among those people there lied a Patrick Bateman trying to return some video tapes.

is the couple that are in many shots of this video you're parents?

When ppl had brains and a half !!

For some reason Americans say it this way, why I have no idea. Just like when they say 'I had a couple beers,' instead of 'a couple of beers.'

I'm guessing you had a really big camera back then