New York City has mad love for The Warriors. But why, exactly? It's a cult film, but what is it about the movie that resonates so deeply with NYC millennials today?
Could it be that we yearn for the grit of the city we remember from our childhood, or maybe, only heard about from the elderly and bitter cynical aging punks who love to complain (we get it, CBGB's was cool...)?
If you were born in the earlier parts of the 80s, you might remember the city being significantly more shady back in the day. If you're an early-mid 90s baby, you probably never saw firsthand what we're talking about. Even late 80s babies came in on the end of the old NYC; the way it used to be...
But the age The Warriors lived in was an entirely different story; different City; different time. Many things were different back then. We're talking the late 70s. Before our time, basically.
If you're a fan of classic NYC films, art, literature, or music-- basically any artistic medium-- you've probably absorbed the general ambiance of what the City used to be like.
Our popular imagination may wander back to imagery from Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), or Taxi Driver (1976).
The reality of the city's crimescape in the 70s and 80s is insane compared to what we're used to now. Crime began to rise in the mid 70s, peaking in the early 90s and finally tapering off in the mid 90s.
To put the film and the crime it shows on a timeline, Sol Yurick's novel The Warriors, a NYC gang spin on the Greek Anabasis which inspired The Warriors movie (released in 1979 and filmed earlier in the decade), was published back in 1965.
Now, it's true that the gang summit from the beginning of the film actually happened in 1971, though after the novel was written, long before the film was adapted and is strangely an accurate, though unintentional prediction by Yurick.
So, the criminal atmosphere we see portrayed in The Warriors movie is actually a downplayed version of the real life violence that was happening the year the film was released, and based on a time when the crime rate was even lower.
Between 1965, when Yurick's novel was released, and 1979 when the film was released, the NYS crime index rose from 554,050 to 1,095,140.
That means that when we yearn for The Warriors-age grittiness (the date on that grit portrayed in the film falls around 1977), we're yearning for a year that saw 1,557 murders in NYC, up from 636 the year the novel was written, and 1,733 the year the film was released.
So read on, and then drop by the Coney Island Film Festival this Saturday. They'll be showing The Warriors at 10 p.m. It's a good time to catch a movie at Coney before autumn and reflect on how things are, and how they used to be.
1. People used to kill each other
Okay, so pretty broad statement. But people used to kill each other. Constantly, for almost no reason. It's not like NYC isn't dangerous anymore; it's not like you won't get your hide turned for looking at the wrong person the wrong way...but the point is, this used to happen just for walking.
Not only that, you'd get your shoes stolen, your wallet emptied, your half soft pack of menthol 100's lifted, and frankly you might not have made it without being stabbed.
[anad]
In 1979, the violent crime index for New York State was 161,906.
One good thing about our shinier, family friendly NYC is that you truthfully don't have to worry about this kind of violence as much, especially in many parts of Manhattan. Other parts of other boroughs? Maybe not so much.
2. We might not be as violent
Violence still happens a lot, but it's surprising how much safer we are now.
A lot of the fighting that went down in The Warriors and indeed the 70s was vicious, but gun violence on the whole rose in the 80s with the onset of crack in NYC in 1984, contributing to an overall rise in violent crime that lasted through the mid 90s.
In 1979, 1,733 people murdered in NYC; 1,905 in 1989; down to 671 in 1999. It's clear NYC (and the state at large) used to be a way more violent place.
Whenever you're scoffing at a gentrification coffee shop in Bushwick, ask yourself the question: "Would I rather be getting jumped and probably murdered in front of this property?" The answer should be "No." We should be grateful the City is safer, while not forgetting its wild past.
3. Coney Island nurtured a wholly different atmosphere back then
Way back in the day, Coney Island was the prototypical American dreamland. We had the tallest ferris wheel in the world, for a little while. Supposedly it was really fun and family friendly. Now it's full of junkies.
Families and individuals from around the city and in fact the country made their way out to the iconic beach location that, by the 70s, certainly had its own layer of grime on it.
[anad2]
But nothing like it is now. If we're sticking to movies, The Warriors ends in the same setting that Requiem for a Dream takes place, mostly. So there's some perspective on Coney Island, however depressing it might be. Jeez.
,4. Times Square is just the opposite of that
On the flip side, Times Square used to be considered a scary place dominated by crime and prostitution. It used to be full of addicts and prostitutes; now it's a tourist trap featuring painted breasts.
Now, it's a high rise strip mall complete with people in Elmo costumes. The only element harkening back to Times Square's olden days are the topless body-painted women you can take photos with.
[anad]
Except back in the day, you did a lot more than take photos with the women hanging out in Times Square.
5. Subways used to be Hell holes
We think we have it bad now? No way, Jose. One thing lots of people like to act like they're nostalgic for is the unimaginable graffiti bombing of the NYC subway system.
The subway is a big part of the circulatory system of our city and it's only appropriate that our disenfranchised visual artists would project their attitude, angst, pride, and humor onto that system. Apparently, you couldn't get away from it.
There were no "clean" trains. If they were cleaned on Tuesday they'd be graffiti bombed on Wednesday. Reliability issues, matters of comfort and decorum on the subway-- these have always been problematic things.
But back then, it's safe to say things didn't run as "nicely" as they do now. Example: air conditioned subway cars.
6. It's always getting "nicer"
..or at least kind of perpetually "fixed up/expanded."
It might not appear that too much has changed on the subway. And it's true that around much of the city, the subway has remained basically the same with some basic upgrades over the decades.
A good, huge example, not just for the subway but the city on the whole and the direction thereof is Hudson Yards. Hudson Yards is such a huge development that it will amount to a tiny city within the city.
The 34th Street-Hudson Yards 7 train expansion opened recently, and it is where it is not because the far west side was super under-serviced; it is where it is because Hudson Yards will need it there.
[anad2]
A development of this magnitude was unheard of back in the days of The Warriors. In fact, it probably would have been impossible, or close to it.
It's likely that without the low crime rates we've been enjoying for years, compared to the 70s, 80s, and half of the 90s, the investments necessary to achieve such a massive development wouldn't be available.
The 34th Street-Hudson Yards 7 train and Hudson Yards itself are pretty profound illustrations of the city's direction compared to its past.
Check out 5 Reasons Why the NYC from ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ is Different from Today’s.
[Feature Image Courtesy: Instagram]