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Boo! It's The '80s: Haunted House Brings Back NYC's Bad Old Days
By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 24, 2014
Modified Sep 24, 2014
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 24, 2014
Modified Sep 24, 2014
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Junkyard subway, circa 1980s... though not far off from what the running cars looked like at the time(Photo by Steven Siegel)
Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back, it's decorative gourd season, and the city's haunted houses are getting ready to unlock their doors. This year, Nightmare: New York will make our own city the boogeyman, bringing the Bad Old Days back. While the experience will feature everything from alligator-centric urban legends to Cropsey to Typhoid Mary, it will also have a focus on New York in the 1980s. From their description:
"1980s New York has been romanticized and vilified: Street punks with mohawks robbing old ladies; pimps, prostitutes and hustlers as the only people that populated Times Square; gangs of switchblade wielding 'warriors,' corporate suits taking taxis to avoid the riffraff. Although based on some truths, the mythology of the city popularized by the movies and television of the time was a place that you would have to 'escape' from if you were caught in it. There was no place that epitomized this perception of New York more than the New York City Subway system with its graffiti, breakdancing, panhandling and most notoriously, vigilante justice; A place that seemed to be a criminal’s paradise. Were the horror stories real, or were they merely urban legend?"
We're gonna go with yeah, that shit was real.
Photo by Bruce Davidson
Nightmare: New York opens September 26th and runs through November 1st. It's located at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center at 107 Suffolk St. Buy tickets here.
Tagged
Bad old Days
halloween
haunted house
haunted houses
nightmare new york
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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