Funny, hadn’t watched this in a while and it’s pretty stunning to see it again – and remarkable to think this was once New York. The South Bronx was particularly bad, and notorious, but there were once abandoned neighborhoods from the Lower East Side to Harlem to whole swathes of Central Brooklyn, including the one I live in now. Most of these areas have been restored and many, like the LES and Harlem, are very expensive, in-demand places to live. But America has no shortage of semi-abandoned cities. You can find images just like the one in the video in Detroit, Buffalo, St. Louis, parts of Ohio, New Jersey, Gary, Indiana. Really, the list is quite remarkable.

Beyond Blondie and Grandmaster Flash, I don’t recognize any of the musicians. You might try contacting the youtube poster. This seems to be part of a film, I’d be curious to find out the title and watch the whole thing . .

best

t.

Interesting videos, never been to New York, but am really interested in the rise-and-fall-and-rise of cities… One question, what are the two songs on the second film? Great music.

Cheers

t.

I confess I was a little disappointed to find out ‘Escape from New York’ was really ‘Escape from St. Louis’. I am fascinated by apocalyptic scenarios and places – aren’t most people – but it amazes me a little bit that this wholescale abandonment of American cities has gone so little remarked. Sure, we talk about ‘the rust belt’, urban sprawl etc, but no one seems to question why a culture that put so much energy into building these cities, then just forget about them. I thought of that often walking around Detroit a couple of years ago.

Thanks for the link – I’d never heard of this fire. Amazing.

Interesting site btw – keep up the good work.

t.

ultimately, the film is not about new york. it is about st louis and how representation disavows real issues (and real places) for the promise of entertainment. st louis had lost 300,000 residents when the crews came around – since 1950 the city has lost about 600,000.