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Video: Revisiting The "Wonderfully Sleazy" New York City Of 1977
By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 4, 2012
Modified Sep 4, 2012
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 4, 2012
Modified Sep 4, 2012
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People love to wax nostalgic on the good old gritty days of New York, pre-Giuliani's clean sweep of the city. In 2007 we took a look at the then just-released documentary The Coolest Year In Hell, which focuses on the year 1977 (you know things are dark when even cutesy animal sculptor Tom Otterness is making puppy snuff films!). The full movie is online now (hat tip to Reddit), so let's take a look back yet again at the year that gave us a massive blackout, a notorious serial killer, a controversial mayoral election that was seen as "the election for the soul of the city," and the most horrifying thing of all: the rise of disco. Thankfully, the foundation of hip hop was also being laid during the decade, and also gets a lot of screen time in the doc.
Tagged
documentary
flashback
history
ny77
the coolest year in hell
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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