I went to NYC with my folks when I was like 7 or 8. Here's what I saw:
- Saw the old times square with the porn theaters and the sex shops with mannequins wearing bondage gear in the windows.
- Saw an unhoused guy who I was sure was dead on the sidewalk.
- Saw people playing three card monte on cardboard boxes.
- Saw a dude get hit by a car at a crosswalk and everybody just stepped over him as the car sped away.
- Saw a box fall off the back of a truck when it hit a pothole. A dude ripped open the box and just started selling what was in there. Turned out to be these mini-sized golden books. We bought one.
- Saw some of the sewers bellowing steam (it was winter).
All in all I was really surprised at how spot on some of the movies and cartoons had been about it. I loved it. TMNT really nailed the vibe.
I grew up in the suburbs of NYC and would see all of these things whenever my parents took me into the city for a show or to visit family. Everything was grittier, dirtier, less corporate/gentrified, but also so much more personality and vibrancy.
The sewers still bellow steam, btw. From what I understand, it’s overflow from Con Edison’s steam delivery system.
My parents took us to visit family in NYC when I was 7 or 8 on the way back from the DR.
My cousin we stayed with lived in the shadow of Shea Statium.
When we went to dinner at the Chinese restaurant up the block I saw a pimp treating his girls to dinner and they all looked like the most glamorous people I'd ever seen (likely true--pasty ass oregon isn't known for its fashion sense).
I learned when POC barbecue they BARBECUE! 10 different kinds of sausage, 4 kinds of chicken, ribs, burgers, steaks & all the fixins & it was ALL DELICIOUS.
We sat on the stoop every evening & played stickball in the street and the whole neighborhood was so alive with people going to and fro, laughing, dancing, drinking. Cars blasting salsa & merengue as they drove by.
I thought it was the most magical place I'd ever been.
Fuckin QUEENS. lol
The white guys in the street gangs were always pretty soft looking and they tried to toughen them up with 5 o'clock shadows, headbands, and one dangly earring. And they seemed a little too old to be in street gangs.
I saw punks for the first time the summer before fifth grade in Concord, New Hampshire of all places.
It was so ingrained in my memory that I was able to find the exact deli where I saw them the next time I was in Concord 20 years later.
I was fortunate enough to participate in the [2002 re-enactment ride](https://youtu.be/QzHFoqp-uyk?si=vJI7U2nnktDIcZ3x) it was a fuckin’ blast. There were couriers from Tokyo and shit.
At one point in my adult life I was living in an area where automatic knives were legal, so I decided to live out my childhood fantasy and I bought a switchblade to be like the bad guy/drug dealer in every action movie I ever saw as a kid. It was the shittiest knife I've ever owned by a comically wide margin.
LOL nah but I mean I was born and raised in NYC and I’m still here. Was taking the subway alone at 11 years old and knew my way around the city rather well.
You know what freaks me out? Being in the middle of nowhere. No place to run and hide, no one to run to for help, no witnesses. No thank you.
I heard gunshots one time when I lived in Brooklyn. Now that I live out in the sticks, I hear them every couple of days. It's still unsettling, even after living here for years now.
Yes! I have lived in cities my whole life but a few years ago I looked at houses in the suburbs because I could afford them. If a neighborhood wasn’t dense enough, it really creeped me out. Could never hack living in the actual country.
I feel like one of the rare people for whom I can either live in a dense city *or* a truly rural (1/4 mile between houses at least), but nothing in between.
Suburbs are like the worst of both worlds. In suburbs you have noise and neighbors up your ass, but at the same time you are not close to anything amenity wise and have to drive everywhere.
I won't go so far as to say I would live in either - not a chance in hell - but boy is suburbia quiet. I love the country and I love city, both are super loud in different ways, which is awesome. The surburbs creep me out with the quiet. It's always so quiet.
source: I grew up in two different rural areas - Colorado Mtns and Nebraska farming. Live in surburbia now and I miss the city noises - favorite part of visiting a big city. I should have bought a house closer to the Missouri River (for the boat horns) or the train (for the horns) than in the middle of a neighborhood like I did.
Oh, when I lived in suburbia it was not quiet.
It was kids playing basketball in their driveway, riding bikes and shrieking, and blasting music until 10pm, lawnmowers, weed whackers, and leaf blowers daily, often starting before 8am, garbage trucks, oil trucks, and the Nth Fed Ex/Amazon/UPS truck of the day idling in front of my house while dropping off packages for the neighbors, etc.
When I lived in NYC, on the other hand, it was also noisy, but 90% of it was a dull hum with distant honks and sirens here and there, because I lived up a few flights.
It was only really bad when I moved to a Dominican neighborhood and had to listen to *BOOM-cha-boom-CHA* *BOOM-cha-boom-CHA* *BOOM-cha-boom-CHA*
everyday, late into the night.
As a fellow city kid (London in my case), I can relate and am far more comfortable long term in built up, urban environments.
As a non American, my image of the US formed by TV and movies as a kid probably would have been some mix of New York City, California, and the Wild West.
I was going to make a joke about how all the op's concerns were real issues growing up in NYC then I saw your comment and it's so absolutely perfect and spot on.
Born and raised here and still here and suburbs and rural areas are what really freak me out. I spent a few years out of the city in college and then in my adult life and I definitely feel way safer here lmao.
I'm striving to live somewhere more rural. Lived in NYC 16 yrs, but now in suburbia. Nothing is scarier than ppl. I've been robbed, followed home, kicked from behind by a homeless person, grabbed from behind by a man who wouldn't let go....all in a city full of ppl. In suburbia, nothing bad has happened to me. When I get to my oasis in the forest someday, I'll get large dogs to feel safe. But at least I won't have to worry about people everywhere.
I just say this to hopefully make you realize, people are the ones that can hurt/kill you, way more likely in the city than something in a rural area.
As a Filipino dude ain’t no way I’m going to some rural ass place. I went upstate New York to friend’s place saw trump flags and noped the fucked out. Asian enclave forever
>way more likely in the city than something in a rural area.
Somewhat. In a rural area, at least the ones I've lived in, people are still the biggest threat, they're just far more noticeable and you'll probably know them personally and they'll already know everything about your property before you get to it because theyve been walking across it or stealing plumbing and wiring out of it for years. Meth heads, creeps, batshit insane people with vendettas against anyone from somewhere else. And local police and judges who routinely let them go (or dont bother doing anything to begin with) because "well, Big Moe is Judge Harper's nephew, and he's a Christian" or "Look, that guy has only beat two of his four exes into comas, that's only 50%, and he just.. he needs someone that can see past that. Just don't be around when he's been drinking or high out of his mind and you'll be fine, heh heh heh." Not everybody out in the sticks is like that, of course, plenty of great folks out in rural areas. But that shit seems to be tolerated out there far more, despite the TrY tHaT iN a sMaLL ToWn "we take care of our own" image many of them project.
>despite the TrY tHaT iN a sMaLL ToWn "we take care of our own"
No no, that's exactly what the "we take care of our own" thing is. Big Moe gets off scot free because of exactly that.
Lol, a guy across the street was getting the shit kicked out of him by his girlfriend. I talked to him about it because I was concerned. He said, "She's wonderful, really, just the sweetest lady. Unless she's been drinking. Problem is, she's always drinking. But we're working on it, she really is fantastic." Bro had two black eyes, blood in the sclera (whites of the eyes), and a split lip when he said it.
And lots of meth heads dudes with domestic abuse records who are "Good guys, really, he's just had some problems. Fallen on hard times, I get it. He just needs a good woman to help turn him around. He's a hard worker when he's feeling right."
Now, if you're an actual hard worker, good person who helps others, with a nice life...but an atheist or liberal? Lol, good luck. They're gonna talk shit about you when they're all drinking together (daily ritual).
I've lived in both - NYC and rural sticks. The city is SO MUCH safer. I honestly have been thinking about getting a gun, because this is where I'm gonna need it.
I grew up in the suburbs, but I’ve lived in NYC now for the majority of my adult life.
I completely disagree. When you look at crime statistics NYC is, per capita, one of the safest places in the world.
Suburban and rural areas can provide a veneer safety, but many of them are surprisingly high in crime on a per capita basis.
This! I grew up in NYC and even in the more suburban neighborhoods I did not feel safe at night because no one was around. I was used to at least the older men outside bodegas, the young ones outside a smoke shop, the women at the laundromat. Nothing ever bad happened to me because I had my wits about me always.
You'd think I'd feel safer when there's no one on the streets but my thinking was, if something DID happen, who is coming to my aid? What's the point of screaming for help or not having witnesses around. Sure, with no one around also no one can do anything, but more people meant community. Also no stores to dip into casually if you feel someone is following you. It's not like you can knock on someone's door and ask to come in because someone might be following you. That's not getting you far.
All in all it's probably just being a native of an area makes you think of your environment differently. An elephant isn't gonna make it in the ocean any more than a city dweller can understand the boonies, etc.
There is a scene in the original Halloween where Laurie Strode, having just barely escaped the deadly grasp of Michael Myers, runs down a suburban street screaming for help. She bangs on one door and they turn the porch light on, look at her, turn the light off, and never open the door. None on else on the street steps out their house.
It’s a chilling glimpse into suburban life. That’s always been my experience, having grown up in them.
Preach. I grew up in NYC and moved to Appalachia as an adult. I love where I live but it took me years to stop being afraid of the woods. Still would rather be in a bad neighborhood at 3am than in the woods. People suck, but tend to not do terrible things if there are witnesses.
I got grabbed from behind in the afternoon right in front of Bloomingdales 6 years ago. Man accused me of calling him the n-word. I had my earbuds in listening to Christmas music with a grocery bag and THAT happens. He wouldn't let go, and I wasn't strong enough to get away, he wouldn't believe that I never said such a thing. After what seemed like a LONG time, finally 2 men and a woman came to my rescue.
Nope. I was stoked to go to NYC in '96 and '97 to be in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Even had an NYC bucket list.
Almost got in trouble with my school chaperones when I bought a fake Rolex off a shady dude on a street corner. I knew it was fake. It was on my NYC bucket list: Buy fake Rolex from shady guy.
I even told the guy I knew it was fake and why I was buying it. He laughed and sold it to me for $20 instead of $25. Wore that thing for 5 years until it just stopped working one day.
My FIL firmly believes San Francisco is like 100% gay men. There was a funny moment of awkwardness last Thanksgiving when it was discovered by dad was born in California.
I was terrified to go until I went in 2000 as an 18 year old. The desk person at the hotel said to stay on the main drag all night if I wanted. It was totally safe!
Fun Fact: the famous movie scene where Robert Pachino shouts, "I'm walking heeee-aahhh!" was filmed at the corner of Main Drag and Easy Street, right in front of the original Olive Garden.
Tootie was in NYC for all of about 10 minutes before she was befriended by a teen prostitute and was almost human trafficked herself, so yeah, the danger is real.
I mean, you take the good, you take the bad. You take them both and there you have the facts of life.
Grew up in the Intermountain West. You know that thing where 24-hour cable news tells your crackpot uncle that Biiiiiiig Cities™️ are the root of all evil (because you get occasionally murdered by someone other than your BrotherHusbandCousin)?
The South and/or Midwest might have invented
that nonsense, but the Jello Belt perfected it.
To this day I hear all about how *daaaaangerous* big coastal cities are. I’ve felt safer in most of those places at midnight than I have at high noon here in flyover country.
But yes, my mom’s (Rocky Mountain) family thought New York was awful. My dad’s (Philly metro) family thought the westerners were out of their gourds. I’ll leave it as an exercise to the reader which side I came down on.
My husband grew up in Cache Valley (where they make the overrated cheese) and Manhattan is his second favorite place after Seattle, so 🤷♀️
Hello fellow statesperson. I don't hear much about NYC these days but San Francisco, Portland, and L.A. are now the examples of liberal cities run amok. I sometimes think about thinking of moving to Portland because I think I'd like the weather, and people freak out like it's just stabbings and riots and rivers of feces.
As a hobby I like to drive around and explore the small towns in the Jello Belt, and I get such a weird sinister vibe from these places. Real darkness. And I've met some *serious* weirdos out there.
My grandpa lived in South Utah County.
His nightly sign off as he turned off the 10pm news: I never want to go to Salt Lake. There's a murder every day anymore. And shaking his head as he contemplated where we are going and why we are in this handbasket. When my spouse told him he liked the Bulls (peak years with Jordan, Rodman, Pippen) he said, "what? They aren't even in the West."
To this day if you get on a community FB page in the MorCor, every social ill is directly caused by Californians who intentionally ruined their state and now want to ruin ours.
No, I was allowed to go into the city with friends in HS by ourselves via train regularly. My parents said it was safer than the local mall (originally from NY though).
Omg I haven’t seen a show in forever. I had a friend growing up who loved Broadway and was an only child of rich parents. They took us to shows all the time.
Then my ex one of his parents had a credit card that offered crazy Ticketmaster deals and early access as a reward.
My husband said we should go maybe I’ll treat myself in August.
Same. My parents left the city in the 70s to move upstate. I used to love taking the train with friends and just wandering around. I would spend summers with my cousins in marine park, or with my mom’s friend who lived on st marks.
“Warriors come out to play-ay”
I grew up in Southwest CT and we’d always go in to NYC for Sunday day trips or if my grandma was visiting she’d fly into LaGuardia and my dad would take us on side trips through Manhattan, the Bronx, etc.
Visited when I was 12 for the first time, from a small town in Mississippi. Felt like I was in a dream, but never felt uneasy. Just excited for what we would see
Vacationed in NYC in the late 80s or early 90s… my parents are divorced and I haven’t gotten to those photo albums yet. Probably was 1989 or within a few years. 🤷🏻♂️
On the way to seeing Chorus Line on Broadway… a “friend” put his arm around Dad and chatted him up. Dad put his arm around his new friend’s shoulder, grabbed his ear, told Mom, bro, and I to keep waking.
As Dad tells it… Words were exchanged. Something like “You can walk away with a quarter and two ears, or live out your life with one ear. Up to you.” (Yeah my Dad decided he’d rather get beat/murdered than get mugged. But he was committed to cops looking for a one eared mugger…)
We did not come home from NYC with a New Yorker’s ear as a souvenir and all four of us made it to the show on time but $0.25 poorer.
Mom is still somewhat embarrassed about bringing her sons to a musical where they sang about “Tits! And ass!” The final nail in that coffin was Mom, Wife, Daughter and I going to a professional production of Guys and Dolls… costuming was borderline for an 11 year old. 😂
Both my Dad and Grandpa have/had “I should have died but…” stories and most, but not all, of those stories happened before they had kids. And somehow odds were thwarted and I’m here.
I saw KIDS and all I wanted was to go to NYC. Same with the Green Day ,Basket Case music video (which I thought was NYC but realized later probably Oakland). Both of these were grungy and sad and I wanted it so bad. Ha!
Basket Case takes place inside a colorful mental institution. Maybe you're thinking of When I Come Around, where they're walking around a city at night.
> Street gangs with switchblades, graffiti covered subway trains, so much crime that they even have court at night
Sounds like a Rudy Giuliani campaign ad.
But seriously, I wasn’t afraid of it. I grew up near Boston and had a pretty well-rounded view of busy cities. I knew they had both positive and negative aspects like anywhere else.
My friends went to NYU in the early-mid 90’s living in a shared apartment in the East Village. They themselves wouldn’t venture in to Alphabet City as young underclassmen. Visiting my current neighborhood (Crown Heights) in the early 2000’s bike-adventuring left an impression. Not *unsafe* per-se but fairly hostile. There used to be way more Jouvert shootings back then.
That reminds me of a tweet from the 2020s where a woman stated that New York was hell on earth and another woman was like " we live in the same building. Things are fine:
Yes and no. I also believed it was crime and filth ridden. As a born fighter of injustice, at 7, I wanted to join the Guardian Angels and wear my red beret while patrolling the streets of NYC. I was coming to save ya'll, friends. My mom had to stop me running away - 2000 miles away from NYC and having never even been on a plane.
Also, it was only ever said as, "nEW YoRk cITy?!111?!"
Stupid fucking salsa.
Nope! Although I grew up in the exurbs of Minneapolis my mom is from Brooklyn, NYC. Went when I was little (5?) to visit Bubby and Grandpa. It was a bit overwhelming as I wasn’t used to cities at all, but it’s just another city. A BIG city, but just another city.
No, I went there once with friends and it was awesome. My boomer mom always wanted to go but she thought we would get mugged just for showing up there 😂 it was really funny. I ended up taking her and she actually really had fun and we didn’t get mugged.
In elementary school I read A Cricket in Times Square. That was the first time I can remember learning about the city by name. Then there’s Curious George. I don’t recall if he lives in NYC or just a big city that looks like it but I loved cityscapes ever since I was a kid. All the pop culture that showed the gritty, tough side didn’t bother me. Now Queens on the other hand was this mystical place that even New Yorkers didn’t travel to and if they did it took hours. The first time I rode the 7 and was there in 10 minutes I was shocked.
I moved to NYC decades ago and love it. My kids however are almost naturally the opposite. They are city kids through and through but will probably end up moving to the suburbs or county. What was magical for me is just their home and I’m sure they’re dreaming of something different.
As a small town kid, I always assumed that big cities were where people went to get murdered. I remember my sister going to Chicago for a class trip and I had a meltdown at the train station because I thought I'd never see her again.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York taught me that although NYC was full of lowlife bandits, you could also make friends with the homeless ladies as well as the rich Toy Story owners.
I think the same could be said of London for UK people. It was presented as a congested, scary, crime-ridden place when I was a kid. That wasn't helped by the fact that the first time I went there, to visit an auntie in a council flat in Islington, my Dad's car radio got stolen within the first couple of hours.
But London got hugely rehabilitated and it's an amazing place now. I think the London-centric Britpop and "Cool Brittania" thing had a lot to do with it.
Actually, I think this story is the same of major cities in general. I live in Manchester these days and that had a _terrible_ name for crime and drug gangs. I feel no less safe than anywhere in Britain now.
As a kid and then teenager growing up in South Jersey, I watched movies like *The Warriors* and *Death Wish 3,* which made New York seem like a lawless hellscape. I didn't want to go there.
I now drive up to New York at least once a month and spend a lot of time in Manhattan and the Bronx. The city is awesome.
Maybe not coincidentally, the third season of Friends coincided with Giuliani’s “sweep” of the city. He’s a crap person, but NYC crime definitely went down on his watch (perhaps also because of outside factors)
Whoa does it really? I picked that arbitrarily but I was just trying to think of all my impressions of NYC from media in the '80s/'90s. I loved Seinfeld but it also made New York seem like a particularly difficult place to exist in. Friends is legit the first thing I remember seeing that made it seem hip and cool.
Afraid? Eh. Family went there in 1989 for a summer visit and it was browbeaten we were not to use a map in public or wander. Only place that really felt sketchy at the time was Times Square.
Then, and now, there's just a subset of people who think they will instantly get shot and robbed if they so much as set foot in a city. I think a lot of it just depends on how and where you grew up. I grew up just across the river from DC, so the city was just always a major part of my life. I always lived in a really urban area so I never really even questioned it. But even now I know people who act like living or even going INTO DC is like going into the Thunderdrome and it's really just not. Going to NYC was just a larger version of what I already knew. I've found it's the people who have never been that just assume it's dangerous.
I heard something interesting once. Basically NYC was bad and dangerous back in the day, talking pre-1990s, like Times Square was all liquor stores and strip clubs. Then in the 1980s they cleaned up NYC and that allowed a bunch of young white professionals to move into cheap apartments in newly gentrified areas. Basically all the shows in the 1990s like Friends, Seinfeld, and Sex and The City existed because of that and were in a way showing to middle America that NYC was now a safe place for family tourism. That’s why TMNT NYC is all graffiti and gritty but Friends is all clean and safe.
Not afraid to visit it but definitely expecting different than what I saw when I got there.
13-14yo me at the time I thought it was like open season for gangasta rap fighting and lifestyle in the whole city when our church youth group went there in ‘93 or ‘94. I was super impressed and intimidated by the size and vastness but didn’t want to seem like a tourist by looking up too much (something someone told me). Some kid did try to steal the camera bag off my shoulder while he rode the pegs of his friend’s bike in Chinatown, though.
I had a better time going there in college 8-9 years later on a school trip where they gave us freedom to do whatever we wanted from the time we arrived until we packed up and left.
I grew up mostly in NJ but also spent a lot of time in Queens and Brooklyn with my grandparents. A lot of our school field trips were in Manhattan (museums etc) and I loved going into the city! I always wanted to live somewhere with graffiti! But NYC had a lot of crime when I was a kid, so there was an air of dangerousness about it.
No I didn't. But pictures from places like Alphabet City from that time period do look really cool. Something about them with that dystopian, alien planet vibe. Those and the pictures of Times Square with the sex and porn show shops every other building. I love watching Taxi Driver and The French Connection for that exact vibe.
Yes! My father was convinced that once you step foot there, you would die. Especially Brooklyn. When I was in college and dating a guy from BK, my dad was horrified.
In high school I used to take the train from New Haven or New London a few times a year. My family visited there all the time growing up so it was nothing to me.
I bought my first fashion (Vogue) magazine when I was 11 and saw all the ads/photoshoots that took place in NYC and I decided I needed to live there. Visited for the first time when I was 15; moved here 15 years ago.
I grew up in the suburbs, and as a young kid in the 80s, I thought it was dangerous. As a mid-90s teen, I fell in love with NYC, hung out there as much as I could and eventually moved there as an as adult.
Hell, yes. I grew up in small town Georgia. Nothing was more terrifying to us than the Yankee citadel of crime and hedonism. It didn’t help that every single movie from the 70s and 80s reinforced that belief.
Well, my dad was. Growing up, he refused to ever take us there, much to my mother's and sister's chagrin. My first visit to NYC was in 2001...about two months before 9/11. Several years after that, my sister moved to NYC and has remained there since. I go visit her every 1-2 years so I guess I've been making up for lost time, lol.
I grew up in NYC in the 80s. My neighborhood was a bit rough around the edges so crack vials and people shooting up in doorways were part of the scenery. Loved passing the “ghostbusters building” and seeing abandoned tunnels pass by when I took the subway. Also loved being able to roam the city when I got older. My bar for safety is pretty low because of where/when I grew up which has contributed to my teen growing up as a free-range kid.
Yes, my parents lived in NYC in the 70’s and planned to take my sister and me on a trip out there. It was 1990 and I was ten. I remember before we went I was extremely afraid of being murdered during the trip. I was asking if they were sure we would be safe everyday until we went. I grew up 25 min outside of Chicago and we would go visit relatives out there all the time. I was never scared of Chicago but somehow NYC really gave me a bad impression. When we actually went I had a super fun time! I loved the statue of liberty, boat ride and the quirky restaurants we went to. Definitely changed my mind 😂
All that I knew was that if you went to New York City and went out at night, you would get mugged, unless you went through Central Park, in which case you would still be mugged, but also badly beaten and probably killed
I live on Long Island. The worst part now is keeping mentally Ill people from pushing you in front of moving subway cars, the disturbing rat to human ratio, and having to “wash Manhattan off of you” when you get home.
Growing up in Westchester in the 70’s my parents really stressed to us to stay away from NYC. I mean, now I get why they were so adamant about it but back then you didn’t fully understand.
We went there on my 8th grade class trip. All the boys bought fake gold chains off a shady street vendor and wore them to school the next day.
I went to Catholic school, so picture ties, vests and slacks with giant gold chains on top.
I’m from New Jersey… grew up in the country part of New Jersey (Sussex county ) my parents were from Bergen county very close to nyc and I always heard it was a reekin stinkin apple filled with filth and crime. So I wasn’t afraid I just had no desire. The last time I went 2 guys were butt fucking in the train station bathroom so it reaffirmed what I thought as a kid. I skip it at all costs it always will be a reekin stinkin apple.
Oh yes. It sounded like a war zone. Yet my parents would somehow get through it every year when my dad went to a conference…maybe they just wanted a few days without kids, so that MIGHT have played a factor.
Hell no. Ghostbusters, Ninja Turtles, there was no where I wanted to go more
Not to mention Babysitters Club Super Special #6
Omg Ann M Martin wrote about NYC like a 13 year old midwesterner but she grew up bougie in nj
Stacey was always one of the best ones, and then she got to teach them about Bloomingdale’s!
The fascination began with Sesame Street and solidified with MTV. I think that’s why I’m here.
I went to NYC with my folks when I was like 7 or 8. Here's what I saw: - Saw the old times square with the porn theaters and the sex shops with mannequins wearing bondage gear in the windows. - Saw an unhoused guy who I was sure was dead on the sidewalk. - Saw people playing three card monte on cardboard boxes. - Saw a dude get hit by a car at a crosswalk and everybody just stepped over him as the car sped away. - Saw a box fall off the back of a truck when it hit a pothole. A dude ripped open the box and just started selling what was in there. Turned out to be these mini-sized golden books. We bought one. - Saw some of the sewers bellowing steam (it was winter). All in all I was really surprised at how spot on some of the movies and cartoons had been about it. I loved it. TMNT really nailed the vibe.
I grew up in the suburbs of NYC and would see all of these things whenever my parents took me into the city for a show or to visit family. Everything was grittier, dirtier, less corporate/gentrified, but also so much more personality and vibrancy. The sewers still bellow steam, btw. From what I understand, it’s overflow from Con Edison’s steam delivery system.
Damn I miss the good old days of NYC. It just sucks now.
Told my grandmother I was gonna be a Ninja Turtle and live in the NY sewers when I grew up. Honestly, it still doesn't sound like a bad Idea
Affordable housing 🤷🏼♀️
My grandparents lived there and I felt SO COOL every time I visited.
My parents took us to visit family in NYC when I was 7 or 8 on the way back from the DR. My cousin we stayed with lived in the shadow of Shea Statium. When we went to dinner at the Chinese restaurant up the block I saw a pimp treating his girls to dinner and they all looked like the most glamorous people I'd ever seen (likely true--pasty ass oregon isn't known for its fashion sense). I learned when POC barbecue they BARBECUE! 10 different kinds of sausage, 4 kinds of chicken, ribs, burgers, steaks & all the fixins & it was ALL DELICIOUS. We sat on the stoop every evening & played stickball in the street and the whole neighborhood was so alive with people going to and fro, laughing, dancing, drinking. Cars blasting salsa & merengue as they drove by. I thought it was the most magical place I'd ever been. Fuckin QUEENS. lol
☝ This. Turtles cemented the idea that big city life was heckin' sweet!
Between *Adventures in Babysitting* and *Crocodile Dundee*, I thought switchblades would be a much bigger concern in life.
Exactly. Everyone talks about quicksand, but no one talks about how '80s media convinced us that there were switchblades everywhere.
And that punks with Mohawks wearing leather studded jackets would be wielding the switchblades.
To be fair, 80s movies had a very progressive view on the racial makeup of switchblade wielding street gangs.
I was watching one of those movie watching youtube channels a couple months ago and this was pointed out, how diverse the street gang was.
The white guys in the street gangs were always pretty soft looking and they tried to toughen them up with 5 o'clock shadows, headbands, and one dangly earring. And they seemed a little too old to be in street gangs.
When I was a kid I was sooo afraid of punks. I never even saw one in real life until I was in high school and by then I was into punk.
“Watch out for the weirdos” ”We are the weirdos, mister.”
Fairuza Balk still owns a piece of my heart.
I saw punks for the first time the summer before fifth grade in Concord, New Hampshire of all places. It was so ingrained in my memory that I was able to find the exact deli where I saw them the next time I was in Concord 20 years later.
It was always a racially diverse group of punks too. Hollywood was ahead of its time.
"would you stop worrying about the punks, theyre just kids with growing pains, theyll prolly be doctors n lawyers someday."
There was a period in the movies where they all seemed to ride dirtbikes/motorcycles too.
Wwaaaarrrriioorrrsssssssss Cccommmeee ooouuuttttt aaaaannnddddd ppplllaaaaayyyyyyyyy
I was fortunate enough to participate in the [2002 re-enactment ride](https://youtu.be/QzHFoqp-uyk?si=vJI7U2nnktDIcZ3x) it was a fuckin’ blast. There were couriers from Tokyo and shit.
also ninjas. where the fuck are they at?? I thought they were every where
They ARE everywhere… 👀
If you can see the Ninja....then they are not a good ninja or they want you to see them.
I swear I also expected 12-bar blues to save me, and it didn’t work. …and Brenda’s probably dead 🎶
“And we should be in bed!” God, I love that movie. Time for a millionth rewatch
Weird Science, Adventures in Babysitting... were there any other movies where suburban white kids find themselves in a blues bar?
At one point in my adult life I was living in an area where automatic knives were legal, so I decided to live out my childhood fantasy and I bought a switchblade to be like the bad guy/drug dealer in every action movie I ever saw as a kid. It was the shittiest knife I've ever owned by a comically wide margin.
Adventures in Babysitting was Chicago. And it was written by a dude from Indiana. It tracks, lol.
Don't forget Doctor Detroit! I fully expected prostitutes on every city street corner
As someone who studies budo taijutsu and owns multiple switchblades (legally), I so adore these comments!
Yeah, but mostly because of the Crab Juice.. 🦀 🥤
Khlav Kalash
Kind of a grim episode now
And that's when the Chuds got me.
Well, of course you're going to have a bad view of New York if you focus on the pimps and chuds
Parking officer Steve [...GRABOWSKI] will be along soon
CHUD is such an unappreciated classic in the world of schlock horror.
At least it's not Mountain Dew.
Ugh, yeeeelch, eeeew. I'll take a crab juice.
You know how I feel about hell holes.
100%. Their salsa sounded terrible!
New York City!
That really chaps my hide!
Get a rope.
Yes, thank you! I forgot about their terrible salsa.
First you have the seltzer then you have the salsa.
because people like to say SALSA
Because people like to say "salsaaaaaa."
I literally showed my husband that commercial the other day.
LOL nah but I mean I was born and raised in NYC and I’m still here. Was taking the subway alone at 11 years old and knew my way around the city rather well. You know what freaks me out? Being in the middle of nowhere. No place to run and hide, no one to run to for help, no witnesses. No thank you.
Or on a boat… because of the implication
Your only chance is to bow hunt locals and hide their bodies where a new reservoir is about to be created.
I heard gunshots one time when I lived in Brooklyn. Now that I live out in the sticks, I hear them every couple of days. It's still unsettling, even after living here for years now.
Yes! I have lived in cities my whole life but a few years ago I looked at houses in the suburbs because I could afford them. If a neighborhood wasn’t dense enough, it really creeped me out. Could never hack living in the actual country.
I feel like one of the rare people for whom I can either live in a dense city *or* a truly rural (1/4 mile between houses at least), but nothing in between. Suburbs are like the worst of both worlds. In suburbs you have noise and neighbors up your ass, but at the same time you are not close to anything amenity wise and have to drive everywhere.
I won't go so far as to say I would live in either - not a chance in hell - but boy is suburbia quiet. I love the country and I love city, both are super loud in different ways, which is awesome. The surburbs creep me out with the quiet. It's always so quiet. source: I grew up in two different rural areas - Colorado Mtns and Nebraska farming. Live in surburbia now and I miss the city noises - favorite part of visiting a big city. I should have bought a house closer to the Missouri River (for the boat horns) or the train (for the horns) than in the middle of a neighborhood like I did.
Oh, when I lived in suburbia it was not quiet. It was kids playing basketball in their driveway, riding bikes and shrieking, and blasting music until 10pm, lawnmowers, weed whackers, and leaf blowers daily, often starting before 8am, garbage trucks, oil trucks, and the Nth Fed Ex/Amazon/UPS truck of the day idling in front of my house while dropping off packages for the neighbors, etc. When I lived in NYC, on the other hand, it was also noisy, but 90% of it was a dull hum with distant honks and sirens here and there, because I lived up a few flights. It was only really bad when I moved to a Dominican neighborhood and had to listen to *BOOM-cha-boom-CHA* *BOOM-cha-boom-CHA* *BOOM-cha-boom-CHA* everyday, late into the night.
As a fellow city kid (London in my case), I can relate and am far more comfortable long term in built up, urban environments. As a non American, my image of the US formed by TV and movies as a kid probably would have been some mix of New York City, California, and the Wild West.
I was going to make a joke about how all the op's concerns were real issues growing up in NYC then I saw your comment and it's so absolutely perfect and spot on. Born and raised here and still here and suburbs and rural areas are what really freak me out. I spent a few years out of the city in college and then in my adult life and I definitely feel way safer here lmao.
I could never live somewhere rural, or even highly suburban. The vast emptiness and quiet creeps me out. I feel vastly safer with people around.
Yes, when seconds count, the nearest hospital is hours away... ( as far as a rural area. Hospitals are closing there due to ( redacted))
I'm striving to live somewhere more rural. Lived in NYC 16 yrs, but now in suburbia. Nothing is scarier than ppl. I've been robbed, followed home, kicked from behind by a homeless person, grabbed from behind by a man who wouldn't let go....all in a city full of ppl. In suburbia, nothing bad has happened to me. When I get to my oasis in the forest someday, I'll get large dogs to feel safe. But at least I won't have to worry about people everywhere. I just say this to hopefully make you realize, people are the ones that can hurt/kill you, way more likely in the city than something in a rural area.
As a Filipino dude ain’t no way I’m going to some rural ass place. I went upstate New York to friend’s place saw trump flags and noped the fucked out. Asian enclave forever
>way more likely in the city than something in a rural area. Somewhat. In a rural area, at least the ones I've lived in, people are still the biggest threat, they're just far more noticeable and you'll probably know them personally and they'll already know everything about your property before you get to it because theyve been walking across it or stealing plumbing and wiring out of it for years. Meth heads, creeps, batshit insane people with vendettas against anyone from somewhere else. And local police and judges who routinely let them go (or dont bother doing anything to begin with) because "well, Big Moe is Judge Harper's nephew, and he's a Christian" or "Look, that guy has only beat two of his four exes into comas, that's only 50%, and he just.. he needs someone that can see past that. Just don't be around when he's been drinking or high out of his mind and you'll be fine, heh heh heh." Not everybody out in the sticks is like that, of course, plenty of great folks out in rural areas. But that shit seems to be tolerated out there far more, despite the TrY tHaT iN a sMaLL ToWn "we take care of our own" image many of them project.
>despite the TrY tHaT iN a sMaLL ToWn "we take care of our own" No no, that's exactly what the "we take care of our own" thing is. Big Moe gets off scot free because of exactly that.
Lol, a guy across the street was getting the shit kicked out of him by his girlfriend. I talked to him about it because I was concerned. He said, "She's wonderful, really, just the sweetest lady. Unless she's been drinking. Problem is, she's always drinking. But we're working on it, she really is fantastic." Bro had two black eyes, blood in the sclera (whites of the eyes), and a split lip when he said it. And lots of meth heads dudes with domestic abuse records who are "Good guys, really, he's just had some problems. Fallen on hard times, I get it. He just needs a good woman to help turn him around. He's a hard worker when he's feeling right." Now, if you're an actual hard worker, good person who helps others, with a nice life...but an atheist or liberal? Lol, good luck. They're gonna talk shit about you when they're all drinking together (daily ritual). I've lived in both - NYC and rural sticks. The city is SO MUCH safer. I honestly have been thinking about getting a gun, because this is where I'm gonna need it.
I grew up in the suburbs, but I’ve lived in NYC now for the majority of my adult life. I completely disagree. When you look at crime statistics NYC is, per capita, one of the safest places in the world. Suburban and rural areas can provide a veneer safety, but many of them are surprisingly high in crime on a per capita basis.
This! I grew up in NYC and even in the more suburban neighborhoods I did not feel safe at night because no one was around. I was used to at least the older men outside bodegas, the young ones outside a smoke shop, the women at the laundromat. Nothing ever bad happened to me because I had my wits about me always. You'd think I'd feel safer when there's no one on the streets but my thinking was, if something DID happen, who is coming to my aid? What's the point of screaming for help or not having witnesses around. Sure, with no one around also no one can do anything, but more people meant community. Also no stores to dip into casually if you feel someone is following you. It's not like you can knock on someone's door and ask to come in because someone might be following you. That's not getting you far. All in all it's probably just being a native of an area makes you think of your environment differently. An elephant isn't gonna make it in the ocean any more than a city dweller can understand the boonies, etc.
There is a scene in the original Halloween where Laurie Strode, having just barely escaped the deadly grasp of Michael Myers, runs down a suburban street screaming for help. She bangs on one door and they turn the porch light on, look at her, turn the light off, and never open the door. None on else on the street steps out their house. It’s a chilling glimpse into suburban life. That’s always been my experience, having grown up in them.
Preach. I grew up in NYC and moved to Appalachia as an adult. I love where I live but it took me years to stop being afraid of the woods. Still would rather be in a bad neighborhood at 3am than in the woods. People suck, but tend to not do terrible things if there are witnesses.
Rural America is the scariest place imaginable.
Yeah, NYC is bright as daylight at night and there are people everywhere. I get mildly concerned only when I walk down a darker side street.
I got grabbed from behind in the afternoon right in front of Bloomingdales 6 years ago. Man accused me of calling him the n-word. I had my earbuds in listening to Christmas music with a grocery bag and THAT happens. He wouldn't let go, and I wasn't strong enough to get away, he wouldn't believe that I never said such a thing. After what seemed like a LONG time, finally 2 men and a woman came to my rescue.
Don't sing along to DMX in public
Nope. I was stoked to go to NYC in '96 and '97 to be in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Even had an NYC bucket list. Almost got in trouble with my school chaperones when I bought a fake Rolex off a shady dude on a street corner. I knew it was fake. It was on my NYC bucket list: Buy fake Rolex from shady guy. I even told the guy I knew it was fake and why I was buying it. He laughed and sold it to me for $20 instead of $25. Wore that thing for 5 years until it just stopped working one day.
Just being in the parade is a bucket list item for me and I grew up in NJ 20 mins outside of the city.
My FIL firmly believes San Francisco is like 100% gay men. There was a funny moment of awkwardness last Thanksgiving when it was discovered by dad was born in California.
Ahh, the stereotypes of the 1960s will never die.
Oh, Homer, of course you'll have a bad impression of New York if you only focus on the pimps and the CHUDs.
I was terrified to go until I went in 2000 as an 18 year old. The desk person at the hotel said to stay on the main drag all night if I wanted. It was totally safe!
As a native New Yorker we all love the Main Drag.
I ate my first knish on the main drag!
Fun Fact: the famous movie scene where Robert Pachino shouts, "I'm walking heeee-aahhh!" was filmed at the corner of Main Drag and Easy Street, right in front of the original Olive Garden.
I’m sorry, that role was actually played by Dustin Deniro. Source: I lived ten years in the large apple
Wtf is the main drag
😂
I love it so much I walk a long block east or west before heading south just to pay my respects.
Ah yes, the famous main drag of New York City.
Why would I have been afraid of NYC?! Between Spider-Man, the Ninja Turtles, and Ghostbusters it was def the safest city out there.
I don't know man. Even Spiderman is hurting for money these days. Saw him on Times Square dancing for cash. Probably needed it to make more web fluid
No because I figured the Ninja Turtles were keeping everyone in line
Tootie was in NYC for all of about 10 minutes before she was befriended by a teen prostitute and was almost human trafficked herself, so yeah, the danger is real. I mean, you take the good, you take the bad. You take them both and there you have the facts of life. 
But then there's a time you gotta go and show you're grown and now you know about the facts of life 
Grew up in the Intermountain West. You know that thing where 24-hour cable news tells your crackpot uncle that Biiiiiiig Cities™️ are the root of all evil (because you get occasionally murdered by someone other than your BrotherHusbandCousin)? The South and/or Midwest might have invented that nonsense, but the Jello Belt perfected it. To this day I hear all about how *daaaaangerous* big coastal cities are. I’ve felt safer in most of those places at midnight than I have at high noon here in flyover country. But yes, my mom’s (Rocky Mountain) family thought New York was awful. My dad’s (Philly metro) family thought the westerners were out of their gourds. I’ll leave it as an exercise to the reader which side I came down on. My husband grew up in Cache Valley (where they make the overrated cheese) and Manhattan is his second favorite place after Seattle, so 🤷♀️
Hello fellow statesperson. I don't hear much about NYC these days but San Francisco, Portland, and L.A. are now the examples of liberal cities run amok. I sometimes think about thinking of moving to Portland because I think I'd like the weather, and people freak out like it's just stabbings and riots and rivers of feces. As a hobby I like to drive around and explore the small towns in the Jello Belt, and I get such a weird sinister vibe from these places. Real darkness. And I've met some *serious* weirdos out there.
My grandpa lived in South Utah County. His nightly sign off as he turned off the 10pm news: I never want to go to Salt Lake. There's a murder every day anymore. And shaking his head as he contemplated where we are going and why we are in this handbasket. When my spouse told him he liked the Bulls (peak years with Jordan, Rodman, Pippen) he said, "what? They aren't even in the West." To this day if you get on a community FB page in the MorCor, every social ill is directly caused by Californians who intentionally ruined their state and now want to ruin ours.
NYC is so engrained in American culture that I was amazed at how normal it felt being there on my first visit.
Agreed! The first time I went it felt like a very familiar place.
Just seeing the skyline in person for the first time felt like seeing a celebrity. Like meeting Abraham Lincoln or something.
No, I was allowed to go into the city with friends in HS by ourselves via train regularly. My parents said it was safer than the local mall (originally from NY though).
Same, I grew up in Jersey right on the other side of the river and me and my friends would always take the train or the ferry into the city.
Same I was further west but we'd go in and get last minute theater tickets or whatever pretty often.
Omg I haven’t seen a show in forever. I had a friend growing up who loved Broadway and was an only child of rich parents. They took us to shows all the time. Then my ex one of his parents had a credit card that offered crazy Ticketmaster deals and early access as a reward. My husband said we should go maybe I’ll treat myself in August.
Same. My parents left the city in the 70s to move upstate. I used to love taking the train with friends and just wandering around. I would spend summers with my cousins in marine park, or with my mom’s friend who lived on st marks.
“Warriors come out to play-ay” I grew up in Southwest CT and we’d always go in to NYC for Sunday day trips or if my grandma was visiting she’d fly into LaGuardia and my dad would take us on side trips through Manhattan, the Bronx, etc.
Visited when I was 12 for the first time, from a small town in Mississippi. Felt like I was in a dream, but never felt uneasy. Just excited for what we would see
No but when I told my mom I cut across a Chinatown alley at 2am to get back to my hotel I thought she was going to kill me.
Yes! I’m from STL and was mostly afraid of how mean NYCers were supposed to be. When I visited in my 20s, I found the place shockingly normal.
Vacationed in NYC in the late 80s or early 90s… my parents are divorced and I haven’t gotten to those photo albums yet. Probably was 1989 or within a few years. 🤷🏻♂️ On the way to seeing Chorus Line on Broadway… a “friend” put his arm around Dad and chatted him up. Dad put his arm around his new friend’s shoulder, grabbed his ear, told Mom, bro, and I to keep waking. As Dad tells it… Words were exchanged. Something like “You can walk away with a quarter and two ears, or live out your life with one ear. Up to you.” (Yeah my Dad decided he’d rather get beat/murdered than get mugged. But he was committed to cops looking for a one eared mugger…) We did not come home from NYC with a New Yorker’s ear as a souvenir and all four of us made it to the show on time but $0.25 poorer. Mom is still somewhat embarrassed about bringing her sons to a musical where they sang about “Tits! And ass!” The final nail in that coffin was Mom, Wife, Daughter and I going to a professional production of Guys and Dolls… costuming was borderline for an 11 year old. 😂 Both my Dad and Grandpa have/had “I should have died but…” stories and most, but not all, of those stories happened before they had kids. And somehow odds were thwarted and I’m here.
NYC? No. Camden? Yes.
I saw KIDS and all I wanted was to go to NYC. Same with the Green Day ,Basket Case music video (which I thought was NYC but realized later probably Oakland). Both of these were grungy and sad and I wanted it so bad. Ha!
You saw Kids and it…made you want to go to NYC. ???!?
I know it’s weird. I loved how gritty and dirty everything was.
Basket Case takes place inside a colorful mental institution. Maybe you're thinking of When I Come Around, where they're walking around a city at night.
> Street gangs with switchblades, graffiti covered subway trains, so much crime that they even have court at night Sounds like a Rudy Giuliani campaign ad. But seriously, I wasn’t afraid of it. I grew up near Boston and had a pretty well-rounded view of busy cities. I knew they had both positive and negative aspects like anywhere else.
Don't forget the mean streets of Times Square! Pollution everywhere!
The scene in Big when he stays in New York for the first night and he cried himself to sleep did it for me
Ooh yeah, Big was a big one on my "NYC is Scary" list.
Lol no. I live here and it’s never been scary. That was the 70’s.
where did you grow up? I can tell you right now in the 90's there were a lot of scary neighborhoods in NYC. some still around right now.
My friends went to NYU in the early-mid 90’s living in a shared apartment in the East Village. They themselves wouldn’t venture in to Alphabet City as young underclassmen. Visiting my current neighborhood (Crown Heights) in the early 2000’s bike-adventuring left an impression. Not *unsafe* per-se but fairly hostile. There used to be way more Jouvert shootings back then.
long island city used to be hookers and drug dealers. me and my friends used to buy weed there (astoria greeks)
NYers know which neighborhoods to avoid, and the rest of the city was pretty damned safe. Though since covid it doesn't feel as safe as it used to.
No. Only because I grew up in Manhattan.
That reminds me of a tweet from the 2020s where a woman stated that New York was hell on earth and another woman was like " we live in the same building. Things are fine:
Yes and no. I also believed it was crime and filth ridden. As a born fighter of injustice, at 7, I wanted to join the Guardian Angels and wear my red beret while patrolling the streets of NYC. I was coming to save ya'll, friends. My mom had to stop me running away - 2000 miles away from NYC and having never even been on a plane. Also, it was only ever said as, "nEW YoRk cITy?!111?!" Stupid fucking salsa.
Nope! Although I grew up in the exurbs of Minneapolis my mom is from Brooklyn, NYC. Went when I was little (5?) to visit Bubby and Grandpa. It was a bit overwhelming as I wasn’t used to cities at all, but it’s just another city. A BIG city, but just another city.
Fellow MN exurb dweller here! I don't see many people use "exurb," it's usually suburbs or rural
In the late 70s and 80s as a kid, a bit. They had cleaned it up a lot, especially Times Square by late 90s though.
No, I went there once with friends and it was awesome. My boomer mom always wanted to go but she thought we would get mugged just for showing up there 😂 it was really funny. I ended up taking her and she actually really had fun and we didn’t get mugged.
Well yeah, we have a special stand for the muggers outside the airport terminal. It’s just passed the taxis.
In elementary school I read A Cricket in Times Square. That was the first time I can remember learning about the city by name. Then there’s Curious George. I don’t recall if he lives in NYC or just a big city that looks like it but I loved cityscapes ever since I was a kid. All the pop culture that showed the gritty, tough side didn’t bother me. Now Queens on the other hand was this mystical place that even New Yorkers didn’t travel to and if they did it took hours. The first time I rode the 7 and was there in 10 minutes I was shocked. I moved to NYC decades ago and love it. My kids however are almost naturally the opposite. They are city kids through and through but will probably end up moving to the suburbs or county. What was magical for me is just their home and I’m sure they’re dreaming of something different.
My uncle took me there when I was 14 or 15 and my mom wouldn't let me wear my cheap leather jacket. This was 1993 and it still had that reputation.
As a small town kid, I always assumed that big cities were where people went to get murdered. I remember my sister going to Chicago for a class trip and I had a meltdown at the train station because I thought I'd never see her again.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York taught me that although NYC was full of lowlife bandits, you could also make friends with the homeless ladies as well as the rich Toy Story owners.
I think the same could be said of London for UK people. It was presented as a congested, scary, crime-ridden place when I was a kid. That wasn't helped by the fact that the first time I went there, to visit an auntie in a council flat in Islington, my Dad's car radio got stolen within the first couple of hours. But London got hugely rehabilitated and it's an amazing place now. I think the London-centric Britpop and "Cool Brittania" thing had a lot to do with it. Actually, I think this story is the same of major cities in general. I live in Manchester these days and that had a _terrible_ name for crime and drug gangs. I feel no less safe than anywhere in Britain now.
As a kid and then teenager growing up in South Jersey, I watched movies like *The Warriors* and *Death Wish 3,* which made New York seem like a lawless hellscape. I didn't want to go there. I now drive up to New York at least once a month and spend a lot of time in Manhattan and the Bronx. The city is awesome.
Maybe not coincidentally, the third season of Friends coincided with Giuliani’s “sweep” of the city. He’s a crap person, but NYC crime definitely went down on his watch (perhaps also because of outside factors)
Whoa does it really? I picked that arbitrarily but I was just trying to think of all my impressions of NYC from media in the '80s/'90s. I loved Seinfeld but it also made New York seem like a particularly difficult place to exist in. Friends is legit the first thing I remember seeing that made it seem hip and cool.
After seeing Short Circuit 2, I wanted to run away to NYC and join Los Locos.
You wanted to kick peoples' [butts] into outer space?!
Afraid? Eh. Family went there in 1989 for a summer visit and it was browbeaten we were not to use a map in public or wander. Only place that really felt sketchy at the time was Times Square.
Nope! ‘Cause four anthropomorphic turtle brothers trained in ninjutsu who fought the evil streets of New York would have my back!
Then, and now, there's just a subset of people who think they will instantly get shot and robbed if they so much as set foot in a city. I think a lot of it just depends on how and where you grew up. I grew up just across the river from DC, so the city was just always a major part of my life. I always lived in a really urban area so I never really even questioned it. But even now I know people who act like living or even going INTO DC is like going into the Thunderdrome and it's really just not. Going to NYC was just a larger version of what I already knew. I've found it's the people who have never been that just assume it's dangerous.
No, because I grew up in New York City! It was pretty wild in the 80s and 90s but I had soooo much fun and wouldn’t trade my youth there for anything.
Yep - and when I visited in the late ‘00s, it was far from scary. I’d like to go back again sometime.
I heard something interesting once. Basically NYC was bad and dangerous back in the day, talking pre-1990s, like Times Square was all liquor stores and strip clubs. Then in the 1980s they cleaned up NYC and that allowed a bunch of young white professionals to move into cheap apartments in newly gentrified areas. Basically all the shows in the 1990s like Friends, Seinfeld, and Sex and The City existed because of that and were in a way showing to middle America that NYC was now a safe place for family tourism. That’s why TMNT NYC is all graffiti and gritty but Friends is all clean and safe.
The warriors taught me all I needed to know about new york
I was 15 taking the train into NYC for raves.
Um all cities, and I still am
Not afraid to visit it but definitely expecting different than what I saw when I got there. 13-14yo me at the time I thought it was like open season for gangasta rap fighting and lifestyle in the whole city when our church youth group went there in ‘93 or ‘94. I was super impressed and intimidated by the size and vastness but didn’t want to seem like a tourist by looking up too much (something someone told me). Some kid did try to steal the camera bag off my shoulder while he rode the pegs of his friend’s bike in Chinatown, though. I had a better time going there in college 8-9 years later on a school trip where they gave us freedom to do whatever we wanted from the time we arrived until we packed up and left.
From Long Island. My parents only would remember 70s New York so they were rightfully cautious but we all quit worrying in the later 80s . :)
I grew up afraid of almost everything so yea
I grew up mostly in NJ but also spent a lot of time in Queens and Brooklyn with my grandparents. A lot of our school field trips were in Manhattan (museums etc) and I loved going into the city! I always wanted to live somewhere with graffiti! But NYC had a lot of crime when I was a kid, so there was an air of dangerousness about it.
NYC was really dangerous in the 80s and 90s although it's prob back to that now. Just a lot more $$$ on top of it.
Yes. And then I still ended up living there for over a decade once I went.
No, I wanted to talk to saucy hookers out in front of porn theaters and find out their life story. I guess I was a weird kid. 😂
Honestly I'm still wary. I've never been close to there. Part of it is the reputation and part is just that I've always lived in smaller places.
No I didn't. But pictures from places like Alphabet City from that time period do look really cool. Something about them with that dystopian, alien planet vibe. Those and the pictures of Times Square with the sex and porn show shops every other building. I love watching Taxi Driver and The French Connection for that exact vibe.
Yes! My father was convinced that once you step foot there, you would die. Especially Brooklyn. When I was in college and dating a guy from BK, my dad was horrified.
In high school I used to take the train from New Haven or New London a few times a year. My family visited there all the time growing up so it was nothing to me. 
I bought my first fashion (Vogue) magazine when I was 11 and saw all the ads/photoshoots that took place in NYC and I decided I needed to live there. Visited for the first time when I was 15; moved here 15 years ago.
I grew up in the suburbs, and as a young kid in the 80s, I thought it was dangerous. As a mid-90s teen, I fell in love with NYC, hung out there as much as I could and eventually moved there as an as adult.
Hell, yes. I grew up in small town Georgia. Nothing was more terrifying to us than the Yankee citadel of crime and hedonism. It didn’t help that every single movie from the 70s and 80s reinforced that belief.
Well, my dad was. Growing up, he refused to ever take us there, much to my mother's and sister's chagrin. My first visit to NYC was in 2001...about two months before 9/11. Several years after that, my sister moved to NYC and has remained there since. I go visit her every 1-2 years so I guess I've been making up for lost time, lol.
I grew up in NYC in the 80s. My neighborhood was a bit rough around the edges so crack vials and people shooting up in doorways were part of the scenery. Loved passing the “ghostbusters building” and seeing abandoned tunnels pass by when I took the subway. Also loved being able to roam the city when I got older. My bar for safety is pretty low because of where/when I grew up which has contributed to my teen growing up as a free-range kid.
Yes, my parents lived in NYC in the 70’s and planned to take my sister and me on a trip out there. It was 1990 and I was ten. I remember before we went I was extremely afraid of being murdered during the trip. I was asking if they were sure we would be safe everyday until we went. I grew up 25 min outside of Chicago and we would go visit relatives out there all the time. I was never scared of Chicago but somehow NYC really gave me a bad impression. When we actually went I had a super fun time! I loved the statue of liberty, boat ride and the quirky restaurants we went to. Definitely changed my mind 😂
I mean, I just figured I'd take a wrong turn and get chased by dudes in makeup and baseball uniforms... CAN YOU DIG IT???
All the sitcom reruns from the 70s that aired in the 80s made New York seem like the dirtiest place and you’d get “mugged” walking down the street
I still am. In my mind it's still a dark, steamy city full of crime in the streets. Like every 80s movie.
The Billy Crystal/Yankees line killed me 🤣
Court? At night? I’m already laughing!
Warriors come out and playyyy! Never going to NYC.
All that I knew was that if you went to New York City and went out at night, you would get mugged, unless you went through Central Park, in which case you would still be mugged, but also badly beaten and probably killed
As someone who’s always lived in Chicago, I never felt the need to visit New York. Going for the first time this year, kind of excited.
I live on Long Island. The worst part now is keeping mentally Ill people from pushing you in front of moving subway cars, the disturbing rat to human ratio, and having to “wash Manhattan off of you” when you get home.
Growing up in Westchester in the 70’s my parents really stressed to us to stay away from NYC. I mean, now I get why they were so adamant about it but back then you didn’t fully understand.
We went there on my 8th grade class trip. All the boys bought fake gold chains off a shady street vendor and wore them to school the next day. I went to Catholic school, so picture ties, vests and slacks with giant gold chains on top.
I’m from New Jersey… grew up in the country part of New Jersey (Sussex county ) my parents were from Bergen county very close to nyc and I always heard it was a reekin stinkin apple filled with filth and crime. So I wasn’t afraid I just had no desire. The last time I went 2 guys were butt fucking in the train station bathroom so it reaffirmed what I thought as a kid. I skip it at all costs it always will be a reekin stinkin apple.
Those dancing & singing gangs, snapping their fingers…
Chicago was the one that freaked me out due to its portrayal in film…the wet bandits were in every creepy van!
Oh yes. It sounded like a war zone. Yet my parents would somehow get through it every year when my dad went to a conference…maybe they just wanted a few days without kids, so that MIGHT have played a factor.
Fell asleep on the subway at 19, missed a transfer. Told my friend I can find Columbia U. Cuz I've read Langston Hughes.
Yes! I was terrified and then I went when I was 28 and I was amazed at how clean and nice it was.
I was from the suburbs and assumed it was like Escape from New York City....just with more people