From the EV Grieve archives: Looking at 1980s New York via network television

Originally posted on July 17, 2008....

Rolando at Urbanite brought back a memory for me with a post on The Equalizer from 1985. As he notes, The Equalizer shows Times Square in all its pre-Giuliani glory. (Via Jeremiah)

Here's a clip I found from the show's opening (New York looks so SCARY!):



And where was the Olde Garden, which you see at the 21-second spot?

Oh, and all this makes me think of Cagney & Lacey from 1982 (and what happened to Meg Foster?):


Still, I prefer the gritty realism of other shows. (ACID RAIN in MANHATTAN! @ the 2:26 spot)

Looking at the "OMG! Car Hit and Flipped By Wrecking-Ball in NYC!" video

In case you haven't seen this viral YouTube thing yet...

According to the description:

Dodge minivan that entered a closed construction zone in Manhattan was accidentally hit and flipped over by the wrecking ball as onlookers watch in horror and ran for cover. Driver escaped with minor injuries.



Mashable discusses the video's authenticity.

Not to mention Dennis Franz through the years

Just in time for the new fall TV season, reportedly. Thanks to the EV Grieve reader who came across this mashup of the "NYPD Blue" intro...which covers all 129 seasons. Past and present NYC icons include the Mars Bar, Leshko's, the Tower of Toys and the DKNY mural...



Is it me, or does this show seems as if it was on about 50 years ago?

What celebrity lives here?

Here's a "celebrity offering" at the Albert, 23 E. 10th St. (between University and Broadway). And look, there's even a margarita machine!



(And I hope the celebrity doesn't mind his/her address was included on the video!)

P.S.
According to the YouTube description, this "can be combined with Apt 811 to create duplex. Offered at $1,599,000."

Funky

Thanks to the reader who sent along this gem...

Do not attempt to adjust your computer

Oh, just screwing around with some video I shot. It's best to play the videos at the same time.





[NYC's A Place to Bury Strangers at the Bowery Ballroom; Spider Man on Avenue C]

Vicious

For no reason. Good use of "Vicious" perhaps?

New Yankee Stadium wasn't built in 26 seconds -- or was it? (Plus, where is the old stadium?)

As you read here exclusively, the Yankees have a new stadium. And today is the home opener in said stadium. And here it is being built.



And here is a video uploaded in March 2008 titled "Yankee Stadium 2009 Opening Day Presentation." Notice anything missing in this soundless video? Like the old Yankee Stadium? And what about some of those businesses that line River Avenue? Where's Ball Park Lanes?

Overpowered by Funk

Filmmaker Paul Dougherty passed along the link to his most recent creation, White Collar Funk 1. (A sequel to his July 2008 video White Collar Funk.)

As Paul notes on YouTube, "In the summer of 1975 while working on E. 23rd St. I'd take a porta-pak out at lunchtime for people watching and capturing street scenes. The area, not *that* different from today, was east of the Flatiron building (district) and was/is kind of a office area, lacking the glamour of midtown (hence the tape name). A little like today, it harkened to an earlier era. It was grey and gritty and I liked it just fine. Besides the office workers, some "street" types came from a welfare hotel(s) east of Lexington. I'm pretty shy so I couldn't bring myself to follow or go up to people, so I did a kind of surveillance. For those reasons many of the shots are very short. Anyway taken together you get a feel for a NY street at the time. Enjoy."

Previous Paul Dougherty videos posted on EV Grieve can be accessed here.

Kiss me you fools

null - Watch more free videos

Happy Valentine's Day! A day early. (And if anyone can explain this to me...)

Day to night in Manhattan in 2:21

Titled "Twilight Timelapse from Roosevelt Island." According to conorfuhdu on YouTube: "Taken with a Canon PowerShot SD870IS using the time-lapse movie feature. 2sec delay between shots." (Via Roosevelt Island 360)

Greenwich Village Sunday -- 1960 (also, 1944 and 1981)

The Times examines the ongoing battle for Washington Square Park today.

Meanwhile, let's take a look back at the Park and neighborhood in something called "Greenwich Village Sunday -- 1960."



Here's a little more of the neighborhood, circa 1944:



And 1981:

Memories of Election 2008

Oh, my apologies: That headline should have read Bad memories of Election 2008!

Shadows at the Last Shadow Puppets show

At the Manhattan Center tonight on 34th Street. Yeah, the band was good too.

Come aboard, we're expecting you (well, not really...)

Andy Warhol appeared on the 200th episode of The Love Boat, which aired Oct. 12, 1985.

The money shots of Wall Street (so to speak)

Someone did a nice little edit job on Wall Street, as in the 1987 Oliver Stone film.

Breaking records; wasting gas

Hot off the wire! (And I'm assuming this is today...since it's hot off the wire and all...)

NY attempt at record for largest tow truck parade

NEW YORK (AP) -- Get ready for the rumble of 400 or more tow trucks parading through the streets of Queens and Brooklyn.

New York's towing industry plans to break the world record for the largest tow truck parade with a procession of 50-ton rotators, medium-duty trucks, flatbeds and wreckers.

The procession is slated to leave Shea Stadium and cruise along the Van Wyck Expressway before finishing at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. The trucks will then park on the 5,000-foot runway to spell out the words "New York."

Guinness Book of World Records representatives will be on hand to certify the results of the parade. The previous world record was set on Aug. 20, 2004, at Wenatchee, Wash., by a parade of 83 tow trucks.

Hmm, given the price of gas these days....seems like money well spent. Good luck fellas! Anyway, this is all well and good, but does anyone remember what happened last time?

Blowing smoke in Times Square, and other delights from 1964

Home Movie taken (by Castlemainer) in New York in 1964 on standard 8 film & transfered using a Workprinter XP from Moviestuff.

New York TV party today

Inspired by a post by Rolando at Urbanite, I started revisiting some TV shows of yesteryear that were set in New York. Posted a few yesterday. EV Grieve commenter Eric suggested Bosom Buddies. As he wrote, "Pretending to be a woman to have an apt. in NYC, now that's gritty." Indeed! (Sidenote: It's too bad that both leads from Bosom Buddies faded into obscurity!)

Anyway, here are the intros to a handful of TV shows from the 1970s and 1980s that show some NYC scenery. I missed a lot. Feel free to offer any suggestions. (Oh, and I couldn't find McCLoud...)









Sorry, commercial break.






This includes the opening scene of Bridget Loves Bernie, one of my favorites -- a wealthy Catholic woman marries a Jewish cab driver. Ran for one year, 1973-74. Lead actor David Birney went on the play the lead in the understandably short-lived Serpico TV series.









Time for more commercials




Our sponsors insist we close with more commercials. Sorry.

Looking at 1980s New York via network television

Rolando at Urbanite brought back a memory for me with a post on The Equalizer from 1985. As he notes, The Equalizer shows Times Square in all its pre-Giuliani glory. (Via Jeremiah)

Here's a clip I found from the show's opening (New York looks so SCARY!):



And where was the Olde Garden, which you see at the 21-second spot?

Oh, and all this makes me think of Cagney & Lacey from 1982 (and what happened to Meg Foster?):


Still, I prefer the gritty realism of other shows. (ACID RAIN in MANHATTAN! @ the 2:26 spot)