By Mark Reiter, edited by Jim Luce
New York, N.Y. I’m a native New Yorker who’s been around long enough to remember what this city was like in the 1970’s – like, how you would see graffiti on the side of a building or a subway car, not hanging on the wall of an art gallery. Or, how the sidewalks of the Meatpacking District were packed with animal carcasses, not trendy fashion victims. Do I sound nostalgic for a rawer New York? Yes, certainly for some aspects of that era. But, I also remember the day, October 6, 1977, when the front page of The New York Times reported on President Carter’s visit to Charlotte Street in the South Bronx - the epicenter of urban blight and despair.
What was once a solid, working-class, Jewish neighborhood was now, as far as the eye could see, rubble strewn lots and burnt-out buildings. A now famous picture of Carter touring the ruins became a national symbol for what was wrong with America’s cities. And then, just a few days later, on October 12, sportscaster Howard Cosell was reporting on the World Series from Yankee Stadium. Between innings, an ABC News helicopter camera panned a few blocks from the stadium, capturing an image of what was then a nightly occurrence - a building in flames. Cosell, broadcasting to the world, remarked, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is burning” (or something close to that).
Charlotte Street -- the South Bronx - - having a very bad day.
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