Photos of the NYC subway 70's-80's

[left-of-center2012]

Last edited Wed May 10, 2017, 02:11 PM - Edit history (1)

Here are some photos of the New York City subway from the 1970's and 1980's. The seventies is when I spent a lot of long weekends in NYC, and often rode the subway. The article calls it "Hell on Wheels" but I never experienced any problem. Click on link and scroll down for more pics.

(There are four pages of photos. Click on the orange link near the bottom)

Rare Photos Of NYC Underground In The 70’s And 80’s

[HockeyMom]

1. That is modern

I remember 50"s and 60's with cane seats which ripped my pantyhose. Leather straps to hold onto standing up. Damn, I am old.

[left-of-center2012]

2. Modern compared to your 50's and 60's

Not modern compared to today.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. The first time I ever road the NY subway

was in 1980, and I was shocked at the graffiti all over the cars, inside and out.

I was living in DC at the time, and certainly never saw anything like that on the Metro.

[Runningdawg]

4. I lived in NYC from 1979-1983

I worked as a courier and spent a lot of time on the subway. I know it looks stupid to most today, but these pics brought back a lot of good memories for me. I watch the opening credits to NYPD Blue for the same reason - that's the NYC I remember and love.

[left-of-center2012]

5. In the 70's ...

I was living in Hartford, CT and road down by train for long weekends.

I had a tour book "New York City On $45 A Day".

I would stay at the Abbey Victoria Hotel around 52nd and 7th for $17 a night.

[BigmanPigman]

22. I lived at Union Square the same years.

The park was full of junkies and pimps and I couldn't even get off at my stop (too dangerous). Now it's farmers markets, playgrounds, and hipster shops. I kind of miss it the original way.

[moonscape]

6. I lived in NYC 73-78 and rode the subway day and night. Never had

a problem except once during rush hour (!) had a knife put to my throat. A very young Puerto Rican gang was on, one lit a cigarette, and a tall man in a business suit asked him to put it out. The kid - very slight and short - attacked the man physically and I was between his friends and them. They moved to go help in the fight, while everyone in the crowded car made room - mashing away from the fight.

I was young, but still older than them, innocent, and believed in reason. Tried to keep them from joining in - the man would have been really hurt - and one whipped out a knife. She put it to my throat, stared at me dead on w/out moving, and told one of her friends to light a cigarette for her. Then, while not moving her gaze, blew smoke in my face from maybe a foot away from it while the knife was to my throat. This was at maybe 8:30 AM on my way to work, and all happened between stops (en route to change at 42nd). Doors open and nobody moves. I lifted my head to clear my throat from the knife and slowly backed away to get off the train. The passengers were frozen, the girl glared but didn't move. Got off the train and ran like hell to find police but there was nobody.

The most remarkable thing was how crowded the car was. During rush hour, people would literally push people into sardines (no strap hanging needed!) to get in the car.

Ah, memories ...

[left-of-center2012]

7. " The kid - very slight and short"

I worked "the most disturbed male unit" in a psychiatric hospital for five years and the little "wiry" guys were the most dangerous.
The big guys we could topple over.

[rug]

8. TAKI 183

https://www.taki183.net/

[LeftInTX]

9. I was there in 2015 - no graffiti

[left-of-center2012]

10. How much did it cost to ride the subway?

In the 70's it was 10¢

[LeftInTX]

13. We got a week's pass. I think it was like $20

I looked up the current subway fares on Wikipedia. They are the same as our bus fare here in San Antonio.
Our bus in San Antonio has limited service. Many areas only have a bus that arrives once an hour with service that stops at 8 pm.

The subway goes everywhere, arrives every 5-10 minutes and goes 24 hours a day. So it is a much much better bargain than our local bus service. So for the price you get a whole lot more!

The subway fare in the 70s ranged from 30-50 cents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_transit_fares

[left-of-center2012]

14. "The subway fare in the 70s ranged from 30-50 cents."

Thanks for the link. I found it very interesting.
I wonder why I remember 10¢. But then, it's been over 40 years ago --> the days of which I am thinking.

[jmbar2]

11. No one is overweight!

I immediately notice how healthy all the younger folks are. I noticed the same when watching a 1970s documentary on a soul music festival. The young people were all very healthy-looking compared to today.

Something dramatically wrong has happened to our food system to create entire populations so overweight. If it were only individuals overeating, you would see a few outliers, not the entire population.

Or perhaps it's the computer era. Would be interesting to compare photographs of groups of average people at various timepoints to see when the weight issues started. Computer era (sitting on butts all day) vs something in the food.

Reminds me of my first visit to NY in 1979 for my first business trip, in my first job. I took the train/subway in from the airport, stayed at the Barbizon Hotel for Women ("Where the good girls stay&quot for $19/night, had my meeting, grabbed a snack from a deli, then returned to the airport. Total cost for overnight was $27. When I got back to my company, they screamed at me for being so cheap - "Were you trying to get yourself killed?!" Nah. I enjoyed the adventure.

Riding on the train, I got to see more of NY than I would have in the taxi. Saw Jane Curtin of SNL on the train. The Barbizon Hotel was a cultural experience all in itself. Many single women lived in rooms the size of jail cells for years in order to be able to live in NYC. The streets were filthy, but the Jewish deli was wonderful.

Thanks for posting this - triggered fond memories of my one day adventure in NYC in the 70s.

[left-of-center2012]

12. Cheap lodging

I usually stayed at the Abbey Victoria Hotel around 52nd and 7th for $17 a night,
but a couple times I stayed at the YMCA (in the Village?) which at the time had a cafeteria open 24/7.

I want to say it was around $7 a night, but I don't really recall as it was over 40 years ago.

[Yavin4]

19. It's the food. This was before the fast food explosion in America. n/t

[karynnj]

23. True and everyone I knew growing up in the 1950s drank milk at every meal - and it was whole milk

My kids had 2% and then 1% at the recommendation of their pediatrician. When they were 5,7, and 10 we went to France. At the advice of a friend who had taken a trip there with his kids, we felt into a practice of whichever grown up and kid woke up first going to get pastries, coffee, milk and fruit at the various places on the block selling them. The place near us had only whole milk for sale. For several weeks afterward our kids spoke of how much better French milk was than ours.

Now I am one of 9 kids - none of whom had a significant childhood or young adult weight problem -- and most of us never worried about it.

[thesquanderer]

25. Are you sure it's that different now?

I live in the suburbs, but when I go into the city, I notice that people seem to be in better shape. Even subway riders have to walk a lot, go up and down stairs, etc. I haven't noticed subway riders (or people walking on the street) being heavier now than they were decades ago. There's always a mix, but I think they skew healthier looking in Manhattan than they do outside of the city in car world.

[gay texan]

15. wow!

Picture #3 brings back a funny story.

when I was a little kid in the 70's, I so wanted a pair of those pants the women are wearing as well as wanting my hair like Farrah Fawcett.

I told mom what I wanted and me being a boy, that sort of statement didn't set to well with her.

At the age of six I learned what awkward silence was

[left-of-center2012]

16. Aren't they just overalls?

[gay texan]

17. yeah,

But I wanted the complete look LOL

[BlancheSplanchnik]

18. I hung out in NYC sometimes, during that time!

I was in college near NYC. When I wasn't too sick (I had a chronic, serious illness), I'd take the train into the city.

I remember the subways. I stomped around in my hiking boots and leather bomber jacket, and my long crazy frizzy hair. No one ever bothered me.

[Madam Mossfern]

21. I grew up in Brooklyn and Queens

and lived in Manhattan from 1970 to 1979.

Believe it or not, I used to sleep on the subway! One learns how to deal with crowded cars, being groped, and how not to look at people. I do remember that when I had to travel to grad school (Pratt) I used to wear clogs for kicking and carry an umbrella that could be used as a ersatz sword if necessary. Of course the Canarsie line was not the train for naps.

I don't think I miss it, but think that it did in some way effect my character and personality.
The things one learned on the NYC subway ...

[mwooldri]

20. Daily Torygraph... erm... Telegraph has a London Underground montage from same period

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/10204874/London-Underground-in-the-1970s80s.html

Click on picture to load next one. No graffiti in these pictures... but it existed.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

24. I think the dudes with machine guns were effective at discouraging that

I guess that would have been after the Green Park IRA attack.

[Kath2]

26. Ever see Spike Lee movie, "Summer of Sam?"

I lived in Baltimore at the time but that movie captured the spirit of the times perfectly.

[Mike Nelson]

27. I remember...

...the sound of the subway... the way the lights went off and on... I saved some tokens.

[NNadir]

28. As a sometime veteran of that time and place, I find a weird kind of beauty in these wonderful...

...photographs.

New York City was broke, near bankruptcy, but as always, still the greatest city in the world.

I was writing fiction in the 1980's, and, I recall, one of the favorite passages I wrote back then, evoked exactly what is pictured here.

Thank you for this wonderful link.