New York City in the 1970s Through Fascinating Photos

In the 1970s, New York City was a broken, ungovernable metropolis barreling into anarchy. New Yorkers remember this decade as the bleakest, most crime-ridden, and most uncertain time the city has ever faced. It was a time of economic, criminal, and cultural shifts occurring at once that changed the city’s prospects.

The New York City of the 1970s was practically bankrupt and hemorrhaging population. Subway trains were covered in graffiti, inside and out. Crime was rampant. Women were warned to remove jewelry while walking the streets for fear that their necklaces would be ripped from their necks.

Vast areas of the Bronx and Upper Manhattan were torched. Prostitutes and pimps frequented Times Square, while Central Park became feared as the site of muggings and rapes. Homeless persons and drug dealers occupied boarded-up and abandoned buildings.

These fascinating photos captured street scenes of New York City in 1976 and 1977.

Greenwich Village, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976.

Chinatown, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976

Financial District, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976

Greenwich Village, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976

House, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976

Market, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976

Plaza Hotel, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976

Times Square, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976

Trinity Church, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976

United Nations, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976

Wall Street on Sunday, New York City, photographed by Nicolai Canetti, 1976

125th Street, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

Bowery, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

Dominoes, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

Drug deals in Harlem, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

East 125th Street, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

Empire State Building, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

Harlem from the air, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

Harlem from the ground, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

Harlem, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

NW corner Houston and West Broadway, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

Opposite Radio City, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

Pike Street mural, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

South Bronx, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

Subway, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

Twin Towers, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

West 57th Street, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

West 59th Street, New York City, photographed by Gilbert Millstein, 1977

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Topics: American History American