True. I was thinking the same thing. The 70s were crap in many North American cities but few more crappy than NYC in certain senses. Once the unfortunate Viet Nam vets starting coming back and added to the already burgeoning hard-drugs scene, it was nearly game over.
I've seen a lot of NY subway videos on YT but this one was unique and rare. That was really the beginning of a bleak period for NY because by 1975 we almost went bankrupt, and Ford wouldn't bail us out. After the mess that was 1977 (it was kinda fun for me because I was just a kid) my father packed us up and moved to Long Island.
This video is funny because as the lady is complaing about how crowded and hot the subway cars are during commission hours, you have the camera man filming in a very crowded car. Makes you wonder how they got that 70s style camera in that crowded car in the first place.
The shot of the TA logo on the R-17 shuttle car. I have seen tens of thousands of historic transit images and never once seen a TA disc on any non World's Fair livery IRT car. Everything those people complained about was true. The subway of today is more comfortable, easier to navigate (if not handicapped physically), and cheaper for riders connecting to both local and express buses.
Interesting that she speaks on the IRT and the intense heat on the trains/platforms. In 2024, it's sadly still the same. The Union Square stop in particular is dangerously hot during the summer, to the point where people waiting for the train are drenched in sweat when it finally arrives 🥵.
The lowest level of the West 4th Street Station is also Hell on Earth during the Summer. One of the most unbearable stations to spend more than a few minutes on the platform.
She had every right to complain at that time, most of the trains didn't have air conditioning, now most of the trains have air conditioning, maybe one or two cars of the train set the air conditioning is broken. She would probably smack y'all for complaining about that today compared to back then.
When they mention the fare increase, I wonder if the "graffiti era" that was to come had the intended consequence of keeping fares down? I admit that this is purely speculative but I never considered this connection before.
Honey, I wish the fare was still that price. I can't afford to go out anymore because the fare is so high; I used to have to pay over thirty dollars a week when I was working on that frickin' unlimited ride MetroCard!🤬
These complaints sound so lame in today’s world …what can people expect when u have so many millions of people living in the limited land mass of the five boros.
I remember when the bus and train was 15 cents.I could swing from one end the subway car to the other using just the hand straps and my feet never touching the floor when we were kids.OF course the car had to be empty and moving.Urban gymnastics.
Big whining babies. NY isn’t paradise we know… the subways aren’t easy to deal with… but what do you expect when millions of people ride it a day? What do expect when it is the fastest way to get you where you wanna go? I mean they can always walk… that would save them that 60 cents a day. 😂😂😂
Great document of NYC just as it was beginning its notorious descent. The issues plaguing the Transit Authority and the city writ large would all come to a head by the mid-1970s when President Gerald Ford infamously told New York the federal government wouldn't bail the city out until it got its sorry finances in order. I'm sure few New Yorkers at the time of this nadir could have imagined that 50 years hence NYC would be one of the most expensive, fast-growing, and (statistically, if not actually) safest cities in the nation!
That sure sounds like Karen Lynn Gorney ( Saturday Night Fever/All My Children actress) in spots. But the ridership drama here real, and true to this day, except more costly and worse!
The subways were better in the 70's - 90's. Very few if any people with mental illness, homeless people less crime. If that woman was complaining about the subways then i wonder if she's still alive to complain about the Subway today
WTF are you smoking???? The guardian angels started in 1981 because the amount of crime in the subways in 1981. You definitely didn’t live thru that time so don’t say it was better
@@vladimirputinforUSA Exactly, and in Brooklyn they were calling one Summer "Chain Snatching Season". The Transit Police were fighting a losing battle for quite a while.
@@vladimirputinforUSA oh yes I did I'm a 60's baby that grew up in the 70's , became a teenager in the 80's and used to go to the clubs in the mid-80's and nothing happened to me on the subways so what are you smoking?? K2? Meth ??? Or Fen fen. And to add to that I was raised in now what they call the murder capital of New York City Brownsville Van Dyke Projects from 1967( when I was born) to 1983
It seems laughable now; imagine commuters complaining about a 10-cent fare increase, from 20 cents to 30 cents in 1970. And the cost of living was comparatively much cheaper than it is today. But the minimum wage in 1970 was about 1.25 an hour, I believe, at a time when most NYers made roughly about 80-100 dollars a week, give or take. Now it's almost 3 dollars and the cost of living in this troubled city is far, far higher than it was even in 1970.
It feels like I enter a time machine watching your videos. Thank you.
seriously i love this channel
My Father started at the TA this year as a cleaner and retired 1991. Ten years as a maintenance worker for NYCHA before that. RIP Daddy
In 1970 the NYC subways were like first class luxury compared to what it would become as the decade progressed.
True. I was thinking the same thing. The 70s were crap in many North American cities but few more crappy than NYC in certain senses. Once the unfortunate Viet Nam vets starting coming back and added to the already burgeoning hard-drugs scene, it was nearly game over.
This is easily one of the best channels on youtube, I appreciate you a lot
👍
I've seen a lot of NY subway videos on YT but this one was unique and rare. That was really the beginning of a bleak period for NY because by 1975 we almost went bankrupt, and Ford wouldn't bail us out. After the mess that was 1977 (it was kinda fun for me because I was just a kid) my father packed us up and moved to Long Island.
Based on the US Inflation Calculator, 30 cents in 1970 is equal to $2.43 in 2024. And I see the NYC subway fare is now $2.90.
The beginning of the graffiti era 1969 to 1989.
Hip Hop '73
Actually more like 1970 to 89
@@TheLordAI 1972 to 1989 actually.
1973 to 88
@@HelloooThere 1972 to 1989
New Yorkers were hardcore back then
These videos are awesome.
Back to the 70's
When the subways were the Rough and Tough
Same sh… different day, Americans complaining about everything
Not much reason to complain to much today about compared to back then.
I remember when the fare went up to 30 cents, and with it came the quarter-sized token.
I can't help but admire how valuable change was then😮
You had to buy subway tokens.
This video is funny because as the lady is complaing about how crowded and hot the subway cars are during commission hours, you have the camera man filming in a very crowded car. Makes you wonder how they got that 70s style camera in that crowded car in the first place.
Some of them were annoyed by it,one guy put up his newspaper to cover up his face, today they will attack you for videoing them today
The shot of the TA logo on the R-17 shuttle car. I have seen tens of thousands of historic transit images and never once seen a TA disc on any non World's Fair livery IRT car. Everything those people complained about was true. The subway of today is more comfortable, easier to navigate (if not handicapped physically), and cheaper for riders connecting to both local and express buses.
Riding Bay Area Rapid Transit is an interesting experience as well.
Interesting that she speaks on the IRT and the intense heat on the trains/platforms. In 2024, it's sadly still the same. The Union Square stop in particular is dangerously hot during the summer, to the point where people waiting for the train are drenched in sweat when it finally arrives 🥵.
Well..."she's just another girl on the IRT"
That was a 1992 film of the same name by the way
The lowest level of the West 4th Street Station is also Hell on Earth during the Summer. One of the most unbearable stations to spend more than a few minutes on the platform.
She had every right to complain at that time, most of the trains didn't have air conditioning, now most of the trains have air conditioning, maybe one or two cars of the train set the air conditioning is broken. She would probably smack y'all for complaining about that today compared to back then.
@@mtasubwaymartasubway I didn't say anything about AC on the trains but thanks for telling me I'm prob getting smacked 🤨😏
I dug the Country Joe and the Fish lyric that goes: ''The subway's not the word for the sucking,squeezing herd...''
No going back to Lindsay and Koch eras!
Hearing the lady complaining about 60 cent train fare is wild lol
inflation in the last 50 years is a MFer lol
It comes out to $2.43 today. The current fare is 2.90 so it makes sense to complain.
@@Tj11813 yeah absolutely I just looked up minimum wage in 1970…. $1.60 per hour and it went up to $1.85 in July of that yea
@@stephenheath8465 🎯🎯🎯
And they didn’t “finish” the 2nd Ave runway until 50 years later .
thats a small piece done. It'll never be finished.
4:28 - 6:26 Y’all should focus on this segment. Instead yapping about someone complaining.
The complaints they had back in the 1970s are the same ones NYers have today
that affect. ugh, i miss it.
When they mention the fare increase, I wonder if the "graffiti era" that was to come had the intended consequence of keeping fares down? I admit that this is purely speculative but I never considered this connection before.
Honey, I wish the fare was still that price. I can't afford to go out anymore because the fare is so high; I used to have to pay over thirty dollars a week when I was working on that frickin' unlimited ride MetroCard!🤬
These complaints sound so lame in today’s world …what can people expect when u have so many millions of people living in the limited land mass of the five boros.
I remember when the bus and train was 15 cents.I could swing from one end the subway car to the other using just the hand straps and my feet never touching the floor when we were kids.OF course the car had to be empty and moving.Urban gymnastics.
What a catchy song. I wonder who sang it?
The Beatles
3 cool cats 🐈
Big whining babies. NY isn’t paradise we know… the subways aren’t easy to deal with… but what do you expect when millions of people ride it a day? What do expect when it is the fastest way to get you where you wanna go? I mean they can always walk… that would save them that 60 cents a day. 😂😂😂
Great document of NYC just as it was beginning its notorious descent. The issues plaguing the Transit Authority and the city writ large would all come to a head by the mid-1970s when President Gerald Ford infamously told New York the federal government wouldn't bail the city out until it got its sorry finances in order. I'm sure few New Yorkers at the time of this nadir could have imagined that 50 years hence NYC would be one of the most expensive, fast-growing, and (statistically, if not actually) safest cities in the nation!
$1.20 a day lol 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Exactly 😂
😅😅😅😅😂😂😂😂😂
That sure sounds like Karen Lynn Gorney ( Saturday Night Fever/All My Children actress) in spots.
But the ridership drama here real, and true to this day, except more costly and worse!
Thats when the taking of Pelham 1-2-3 happened.
They're complaining about a 30 cent one way fare?
Yes it was the 70's! That's $12 a month just to get to work and back 5 days a week, a lot back then.
Some things never change haha.
No smartphones
The subways were better in the 70's - 90's. Very few if any people with mental illness, homeless people less crime. If that woman was complaining about the subways then i wonder if she's still alive to complain about the Subway today
WTF are you smoking???? The guardian angels started in 1981 because the amount of crime in the subways in 1981. You definitely didn’t live thru that time so don’t say it was better
@@vladimirputinforUSAExactly NYC was way worse back then
@@vladimirputinforUSA Exactly,
and in Brooklyn they were calling one Summer "Chain Snatching Season". The Transit Police were fighting a losing battle for quite a while.
@@vladimirputinforUSA oh yes I did I'm a 60's baby that grew up in the 70's , became a teenager in the 80's and used to go to the clubs in the mid-80's and nothing happened to me on the subways so what are you smoking?? K2? Meth ??? Or Fen fen. And to add to that I was raised in now what they call the murder capital of New York City Brownsville Van Dyke Projects from 1967( when I was born) to 1983
Lot of truth, and a lot of misinformation in this video.
Like what
Human cattle cars 😮
🐈🐈⬛🐈😎 3 cool cats 🎶 🎵
Wow, by the complaining, it seems that they had millennials back in the 1960s too?
How do you get this vintage footage
It's wonderful stuff. Very interesting and informative in so many ways. Keep the films coming, Hezakya.
It seems laughable now; imagine commuters complaining about a 10-cent fare increase, from 20 cents to 30 cents in 1970. And the cost of living was comparatively much cheaper than it is today. But the minimum wage in 1970 was about 1.25 an hour, I believe, at a time when most NYers made roughly about 80-100 dollars a week, give or take. Now it's almost 3 dollars and the cost of living in this troubled city is far, far higher than it was even in 1970.
Salaam my brotha
We need a live stream from Hezekiah, inquiring minds need it and miss him and girlfriend videos!
Oh stop complaining!
👍🏽👍🏽