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Description
In 1970s, New York City was dubbed "Fear City" since it was so dangerous to visit. In the summer of 1975, tourists were greeted with this ominous brochure at the airport. It featured nine survival tips for navigating the city, including not taking the subway and not walking in any part of the city after 6 pm. Which I'm not going to lie, it's quite true on these tips.

The city was in brink of bankruptcy, at that time President Ford REFUSED to bail out the city and let the city "Drop Dead." Mayor Abe Beame who was the mayor of New York City at that time had no choice by avoiding bankruptcy was to laid off the police department, fire department, and education.

South Bronx was burned down to the ground because of landlords who could no longer afford to maintain their buildings would occasionally burn them down to collect insurance money. Because of this, the Bronx lost over 30 percent of its population. Arson became a major problem New York, rising from just 1 percent of fires in the 1960s to over 7 percent of fires in the 1970s. One-fifth of all public workers were laid off in 1975 alone. With substantially fewer firefighters and police, many crimes and fires were simply not responded to. Prostitution became a city wide problem, with over 2,400 arrests for the offense in 1976 alone. New York City became the capital of adult stores with Times Square as its epicenter. As the Guardian wrote, "Times Square’s venerable old theatres and spectacular movie palaces were torn down for office buildings or allowed to slowly rot away, showing scratchy prints of cheesy second-run films or pornography, which any casual visitor might have thought was the city’s leading industry." The New York City Subway became jokingly referred to as "The Muggers Express." By 1979, over 250 felonies were committed every week on the transportation system, making it the most dangerous subway system in the world. In 1977, New York experienced a 25-hour citywide blackout that led to looting and arson. When all available police were ordered to duty, 40% of the off-duty force refused to show as a result of the escalating animosity between the police union and the city. Just five years from 1969 to 1974, the city lost over 500,000 manufacturing jobs, which resulted in over one million households being dependent on welfare by 1975. In almost the same span, rapes and burglaries tripled, car thefts and felony assaults doubled, and murders went from 681 to 1690 a year. Welcome to Fear City folks!

If you're curious, the Twin Towers completed in 1973.

I also can't believe this what New York used to be, it's like a different world. Today, the city is in high spirits, more safer than before, a lot more police on the streets keeping an eye out for trouble. The crimes that happens and you heard them on the news or whatever, it's nothing compare to the 1970s in NYC. I can't believe some people are so freaked out now a days, about a car was set on fire. I'm not too afraid about things anymore, since I drive a taxi and I've seen a lot of craziness.

Description
In 1970s, New York City was dubbed "Fear City" since it was so dangerous to visit. In the summer of 1975, tourists were greeted with this ominous brochure at the airport. It featured nine survival tips for navigating the city, including not taking the subway and not walking in any part of the city after 6 pm. Which I'm not going to lie, it's quite true on these tips.

The city was in brink of bankruptcy, at that time President Ford REFUSED to bail out the city and let the city "Drop Dead." Mayor Abe Beame who was the mayor of New York City at that time had no choice by avoiding bankruptcy was to laid off the police department, fire department, and education.

South Bronx was burned down to the ground because of landlords who could no longer afford to maintain their buildings would occasionally burn them down to collect insurance money. Because of this, the Bronx lost over 30 percent of its population. Arson became a major problem New York, rising from just 1 percent of fires in the 1960s to over 7 percent of fires in the 1970s. One-fifth of all public workers were laid off in 1975 alone. With substantially fewer firefighters and police, many crimes and fires were simply not responded to. Prostitution became a city wide problem, with over 2,400 arrests for the offense in 1976 alone. New York City became the capital of adult stores with Times Square as its epicenter. As the Guardian wrote, "Times Square’s venerable old theatres and spectacular movie palaces were torn down for office buildings or allowed to slowly rot away, showing scratchy prints of cheesy second-run films or pornography, which any casual visitor might have thought was the city’s leading industry." The New York City Subway became jokingly referred to as "The Muggers Express." By 1979, over 250 felonies were committed every week on the transportation system, making it the most dangerous subway system in the world. In 1977, New York experienced a 25-hour citywide blackout that led to looting and arson. When all available police were ordered to duty, 40% of the off-duty force refused to show as a result of the escalating animosity between the police union and the city. Just five years from 1969 to 1974, the city lost over 500,000 manufacturing jobs, which resulted in over one million households being dependent on welfare by 1975. In almost the same span, rapes and burglaries tripled, car thefts and felony assaults doubled, and murders went from 681 to 1690 a year. Welcome to Fear City folks!

If you're curious, the Twin Towers completed in 1973.

I also can't believe this what New York used to be, it's like a different world. Today, the city is in high spirits, more safer than before, a lot more police on the streets keeping an eye out for trouble. The crimes that happens and you heard them on the news or whatever, it's nothing compare to the 1970s in NYC. I can't believe some people are so freaked out now a days, about a car was set on fire. I'm not too afraid about things anymore, since I drive a taxi and I've seen a lot of craziness.