Reeling from a decade of social turmoil, New York in the 1970s fell into a deep tailspin provoked by the flight of the middle class to the suburbs and a nationwide economic recession that hit New York’s industrial sector especially hard.
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| New York in the 1970s taken by Ernie Viskupic |
Combined with substantial cuts in law enforcement and citywide unemployment topping ten percent, crime and financial crisis became the dominant themes of the decade.
Depopulation and arson also had pronounced effects on the city: abandoned blocks dotted the landscape, creating vast areas absent of urban cohesion and life itself.
American photographer Ernie Viskupic took these amazing black and white photos to document street scenes of New York during the 1970s.
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| Peeking, New York, 1972 |
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| Steuben Day Parade, New York City, 1972 |
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| Steuben Day Parade, New York City, 1972 |
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| Steuben Day Parade, New York City, 1972 |
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| Steuben Day Parade, New York City, 1972 |
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| Steuben Day Parade, New York City, 1972 |
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| The Collector, New York, 1973 |
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| McSorley's Old Ale House, one of the waiters in the back room, New York, 1974 |
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| See Bischoff in a cemetery on Staten Island, New York, 1974 |
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| The Old Man and the Restroom, New York, 1974 |
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| Cigarettes, New York, 1975 |
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| Co Faisor, New York, 1975 |
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| Derelict Under the Manhattan Bridge, New York, 1975 |
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| Fast Mover, New York, 1975 |
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| Gene Palma, '70s Subway Drummer, New York, 1975 |
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| Greenwich Village, New York, 1975 |
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| Heavy Industry, New York, 1975 |
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| Manhattan Bridge, New York, 1975 |
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| Neighborhood Kids, New York, 1975 |
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| Penn Station (5417), New York, 1975 |
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| Possessive Shadow, Forest Hills, Queens, New York, 1975 |
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| Road Work, New York, 1975 |
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| Stripped and Burned Corvette, Somewhere in Brooklyn, New York, 1975 |
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| The Artist, New York, 1975 |
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| They Paved Paradise, New York, 1975 |
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| 6 South Street, New York, 1976 |
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| World Trade Center, Parade of Ships, Bicentennial Celebration, New York, 1976 |
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| A New Town in Town, New York, 1978 |
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| Action News, New York, 1978 |
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| Impending Progress, New York, 1978 |
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| Rectangles, the World Trade Center Towers, New York, 1978 |
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| Urban Renewal, New York, 1978 |
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| Urban Solitude, New York, probably the Wall Street area on a Sunday, 1979 |
