As you can see, the Sept. 17, 1990, issue of Time had this cover story, The Rotting of the Big Apple.
Excerpt:
Skyrocketing real estate prices (a one-room apartment that rents for $800 a month is considered a bargain) have driven middle-class families out of Manhattan and are threatening the creative enterprises that make the island a cultural oasis. Twenty years ago, about 50 or 60 new productions opened on Broadway each year. Today soaring costs have driven the price of an orchestra seat to $60, and a healthy season yields no more than 35 new shows, only 12 of which are deemed successes. In dance alone, New York lost 55 world-class studios in the past four years. Others, including Martha Graham Dance, are considering following the example of the Joffrey Ballet by establishing second and third homes in other cities. That means a shorter season in New York. "This is the most expensive, difficult and competitive city for arts organizations," says David Resnicow, president of the Arts and Communications Counselors, which arranges sponsorships for corporations and cultural institutions. "You don't have to be in New York to make it. "
Full article here.
That was back when these socioeconomic developments were still considered bad by the media. The whole culture was more liberal then, in that the media still portrayed openly elitist developments as a bad thing (and large, angry protests over offensive developments-even if they were relatively trivial-were still a very real concern to those in power). I miss the culture of the early 90's.
ReplyDelete"The whole culture was more liberal then,"
ReplyDeleteCorrection: The MEDIA was more liberal then, not the culture.
(Gasp!) You don't mean the LIBERAL MEDIA!!!
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, I beg pardon, but I think you're remembering wrong.
This is why I pointed out that protest (and even riots) was a very real concern if something was found offensive during the 90's. Don't you remember the whole PC movement?
Let's take, as an example, college students. Throughout most of the 90's it would have been hard to find an unabashed conservative on many campuses (this was a common conservative complaint of the time), where articulate indignation and impassioned protests could easily be found over something. In fact, people could find themselves ostracized by their more enlightend fellow students for the kind of opinions on gender and race that the yuppie/hipster airs routinely today.
The same applied, to a lesser extent, in the workplace. You don't remember? Expressing conservative opinions could get you complained about.
I sure remember.
I'm a bit surprised I have to explain this. I assume you're an indignant right-leaning person; I would expect you to angrily remember the 90's in all it's "PC Nazi" glory.
Were you not lucid at the time or just too young? Or did you grow up in one of those Christian compounds that voted for Dole and never watched TV? I'm confused.
I attended college from 89 to 93. I am conservative yes, but I am in no way "angry" although it seems to me that folks with politics that would be called "liberal" particularly in these parts equate conservatism with "anger" for some strange reason. I grew up in the Bronx, a distinct minority (I'm white) and almost every one of my friends has turned out to be conservative. Probably due to constant harrassment at the hands of blacks and dominicans. I'll never forget my brothers being savagely beaten by a gang of blacks for being white literally 2 weeks before the Howard Beach incident. We never alerted the media but once the Howard Beach incident hit we did and we got a small mention in NY Post, like page 42. No other paper touched it because it wasn't politically correct to do so unless it was whites beating blacks. That is my fond NYC memory.
ReplyDelete