I’ve lived in New York City all of my adult life—that’s long enough to have experienced a bit of the “bad old days” when crime & grime reigned and Manhattan was a the center of the all things cool & edgy.
I remember avoiding subways at night and even calling a car service for a lift home from a party in Brooklyn. Now? I just hop on the subway like everyone else. I remember that my friends had a 10pm rule, before 10 we could take the subway alone, after 10—only with company.
The bad old days are long over. Crime is down and, although the city is not clean & neat, there have been significant changes that should have erased the city’s nasty reputation, but haven’t. In fiction the stranger danger of New York’s streets continues to haunt those of us who live here. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve tried to divest tourists of misconceptions. Don’t hang your purse on the back of your chair in a restaurant or leave you laptop unattended on a table at a coffee bar, but honestly that’s just common sense. Be aware, be awake, and be confident and you will be all right.
Times Square is so family friendly that many locals are nostalgic for ‘girly shows’ and seedy bars. Yes, between the Disney Broadway musicals, brand name stores, familiar chain restaurants, and school groups in matching T-shirts heading to see ‘Wicked’ ‘Evan Hansen’ and‘The Lion King,’ Times Square is SQUARE in the parlance of the nasty past. SoHo is cleaned up. The East Village is gentrified. The Lower East Side is so cool it’s being eaten up and replaced by cooler, further corners of the City.
And yet, in fiction New York remains a dark, mysterious, and dangerous place full of violent crime. From a fiction reader’s perspective, I see the potential for more nuanced stories and the rationale for jettisoning the clichés of the bad old days, but I also see the lure, from a writer’s perspective, of those old foils. Is there a solution? Sure, set the story of the mobster with a heart of gold in 1978, 88, even 98, but not now. Feature technology crimes or use social media to hire the professional killer, if you must set your crime novel in 2018. There are lots of great stories in the real life crimes centered on greed, real estate & investment scandals, and more. Explore the real fear of losing a neighborhood to change & ‘progress.’
But whatever you do—don’t rely on movies and TV shows from the bad old days to help you create a credible New York of today!
Walking by the Jefferson Library after midnight. It was originally a courthouse and prison.
Washington Square Park is a party place on summer nights.
lol – I have to say this post was an eye-opener for me. Never having been to New York, I was definitely one of those who saw the city as dark and dangerous! As for taking a train after 10…I don’t think I’d do that here in Melbourne! In fact I know I wouldn’t. I’m glad New York has become a little tamer. 🙂
Tame it is! Some of the changes are obviously good, but there’s a weird yearning for the bad old days. In addition, the replacement of old, one-off, eccentric shops & restaurants with chain stores and “casual dining” chain restaurants in Manhattan breaks my heart. I seek out owner-operated places. NON-corporate food and stores are always my first choice. I walk away from the Starbucks and toward the local joint whenever possible and it’s still possible here in New York. I hope it’s always an option!