New York faces some challenging times now, but before COVID emptied office buildings, before the devastation of 9/11 and even before “the Bronx was burning," the city I grew up in in the early 1970’s was in deep trouble. 700,000 New Yorkers moved out along with a third of the city’s corporate headquarters. Crime was up, subways were covered with graffiti and there was no money to fix it.
The world though seemed different to my 10-year-old self, growing up near Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan.
Recently I reunited with four old friends from those days. We talked about being city kids in an often forgotten era in New York. We also spoke with a renowned expert on the history of New York to find out why the city was in decline --and it's not for the reasons you might think!
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
This podcast was edited by Montclair State University student Peter Guziejewski with music edited by News 4's Linda Gaudino.
