Shortline Bus Posted July 15, 2012 Share #1 Posted July 15, 2012 There was an infamous anniversary this weekend about the big apple. On July 13-14, 1977, was a power outage hit NYC. It caused about tens of billions in damage in 2012 dollars from lost worktime to the damages caused by the looting. Not to mention rioting and looting some of the worst in the city since the race riots of the 1960's. Unlike in the previous 1965 or later 2003 blackout. A factor was a major heat wave that occured prior to the event. I let these videos tell you more. ABC News is the first clip and yes Baraba Walters now on the "View" was the chief anchor back then the first woman to ever reguarly host a prime time national newscast. And the second link is from a VH1 documentary from a few years back focusing on hip-hop, disco and punk wave developing in 1977 with a major section on the Blackout. Enjoy 1)ABC News http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_nEGZpXeZg 2)VH1 Special "NY 77" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B3 Via Av U Posted July 15, 2012 Share #2 Posted July 15, 2012 ...and by some oddball coincidence, I was reading and thinking about it when I saw this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubwayStation Posted July 15, 2012 Share #3 Posted July 15, 2012 ...And, by coincidence, there was a blackout in Atlanta during the Mets game two days ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom909 Posted July 15, 2012 Share #4 Posted July 15, 2012 I had played a softball game that night at victory field, and was enjoying an ice cold brewski at willy`s bar at the corner of 87th street and 97th ave in ozone park when the lights went out. joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCtrainfan01 Posted July 15, 2012 Share #5 Posted July 15, 2012 My dad told me all about that blackout..... I wonder how folks who rely heavily on technology ( Mainly young kids ) would survive a blackout like this... Certain kids go crazy when their cell phone dies so imagine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threxx Posted July 15, 2012 Share #6 Posted July 15, 2012 My dad told me all about that blackout..... I wonder how folks who rely heavily on technology ( Mainly young kids ) would survive a blackout like this... Certain kids go crazy when their cell phone dies so imagine... They'd probably rob Home Depot to get a generator... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shortline Bus Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share #7 Posted July 15, 2012 My dad told me all about that blackout..... I wonder how folks who rely heavily on technology ( Mainly young kids ) would survive a blackout like this... Certain kids go crazy when their cell phone dies so imagine... They survived the most recent in 2003. FYI. In July 1977, I barely remember that one as a 5 year old. Lived near Prospect Park w/ my family at time. Was watching tv w/ my mom when the lights went out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCtrainfan01 Posted July 15, 2012 Share #8 Posted July 15, 2012 They'd probably rob Home Depot to get a generator... LOL... They probably would... They survived the most recent in 2003. FYI. In July 1977, I barely remember that one as a 5 year old. Lived near Prospect Park w/ my family at time. Was watching tv w/ my mom when the lights went out. '03 was nothing like the '77 blackout though.... I remember my dad told me he was watching a show called "Beretta" Right when a guy from the show shot his gun, the TV went out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shortline Bus Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share #9 Posted July 15, 2012 LOL... They probably would... '03 was nothing like the '77 blackout though.... I remember my dad told me he was watching a show called "Beretta" Right when a guy from the show shot his gun, the TV went out... Oh yes. My late Dad loved those cop theme songs like Baretta. So in your honor, NYCfan the theme song to that series sung by Sammy Davis, Jr. And a song written by 1970's R&B/Disco group the Trammps (the band that most famous for singing their classic hit "disco inferno")about the '77 Blackout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCtrainfan01 Posted July 15, 2012 Share #10 Posted July 15, 2012 Excellent choices SB! B) I really like both songs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realizm Posted July 16, 2012 Share #11 Posted July 16, 2012 Was this blackout in '77 why the areas in Williamsburg in Brooklyn seemed to be so run down during the 1980's and 1990's? I can remember when there were abandoned buildings everywhere in that area. Friends were telling me this was the result of the rampant looting that was going on in that area during that blackout. Edit: I was'nt even born yet either during that time lol, hadda ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alejr88 Posted July 16, 2012 Share #12 Posted July 16, 2012 I didn't exist back then and my parents were still teenagers...they probably won't know about this blackout since they didn't made it to the US yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shortline Bus Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share #13 Posted July 16, 2012 Was this blackout in '77 why the areas in Williamsburg in Brooklyn seemed to be so run down during the 1980's and 1990's? I can remember when there were abandoned buildings everywhere in that area. Friends were telling me this was the result of the rampant looting that was going on in that area during that blackout. Edit: I was'nt even born yet either during that time lol, hadda ask. Correct. The looting was citywide but the poorer neighborhoods of then in '77 was hardest hit. They include Bed-Stuvy(also suffered during race wars in 1960's)Harlem, South Bronx(Yankee Stadium area)Crown Heights and Williamsburg. It took over 25 years after the '77 blackouts for neighborhoods like the South Bronx, Williamsburg and Harlem to recover. Now those hoods are now 'damn' expensive lol. Amazingly the so called "rich" areas Manhattan south of 96th Street was basically almost untouched. So if you were in Times Sq. right after the blackout you saw nothing. I seen from news reports that the National Guard was in Manhattan right away to protect the city's elite business i.e Macy's to Wall Street but were slow to restore order to the outerboros hit hard by looting. Hope you understand guys why the 1977 blackouts was maybe the lowest point for NYC in the 20th Century at height of the fiscal crisis and out of control crime era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realizm Posted July 16, 2012 Share #14 Posted July 16, 2012 I never knew other neighborhoods in Uptown Manhattan and the South Bronx were so dramatically affected by that blackout as the neighboorhoods in Brooklyn. I got a gripe about those areas in in Brooklyn now: There's too much of these fancy gourmet coffee shops at every other corner popping up like a bad fashion trend. I'm NOT paying $4.25 for a cup of coffee in shops from "baristas" who look like angry nerds in Buddy Holly glasses and must had just crawled out from under a rock that morning...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shortline Bus Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share #15 Posted July 16, 2012 I never knew other neighborhoods in Uptown Manhattan and the South Bronx were so dramatically affected by that blackout as the neighboorhoods in Brooklyn. I got a gripe about those areas in in Brooklyn now: There's too much of these fancy gourmet coffee shops at every other corner popping up like a bad fashion trend. I'm NOT paying $4.25 for a cup of coffee in shops from "baristas" who look like angry nerds in Buddy Holly glasses and must had just crawled out from under a rock that morning...... My friend my last point on this. If you get a chance get the book "Bronx is Burning". Great detailed "411" on what led NYC to the crises of 1977 which includes of the course the nyc blackout. Sorry i forget the author name of "Bronx is Burning." Matter of fact during a world series game that October, there was arsons and shooting right outside Yankee Stadium telecasted to a live TV audience across America and dozens of countries worldwide. Not to mention how the Yankees(if you a sports/baseball fan)won the 1977 MLB/World Series Championship in spite of the city's crisis and crisis among that team. Another great way to learn about the blackout and life in NYC in '77, is a Spike Lee movie that came out around 2000 called "Summer of Son." It was a flop at the box office but a descent look at life also with the other big news story in NYC the Son of Sam seriel murders as well. Hope this explains things lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Concourse Posted July 16, 2012 Share #16 Posted July 16, 2012 Interesting perspective about the past. So while 2003 may have affected more of the country, NYC is still more well off compared to the past. Thus making 77's worse? Speaking of 2003, boy did i dodge a bullet there. I was down in Florida at the time and I think I experienced some light flickering and maybe some other brief shutdowns, but I guess backup power was restored or the outage never touched the state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shortline Bus Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share #17 Posted July 16, 2012 Interesting perspective about the past. So while 2003 may have affected more of the country, NYC is still more well off compared to the past. Thus making 77's worse? Speaking of 2003, boy did i dodge a bullet there. I was down in Florida at the time and I think I experienced some light flickering and maybe some other brief shutdowns, but I guess backup power was restored or the outage never touched the state. Yup. 1977 blackout and similar damage here in 2012, ie. looting/business gone due to the riots to lost manpower due to subways not running, etc. would be at least $10 Billion from recent news article on topic. It happened right after the city had just started to get out of the fiscal crisis that almost made NYC bankrupt 2x in 1975 and '76. Bright spot is in sense the Rap/Hip-Hop culture was born in way due to the 1977 blackouts lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mediccjh Posted July 17, 2012 Share #18 Posted July 17, 2012 The movie is "Summer of Sam." Not a bad movie. The book was "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning" by Jonathan Mahler. Excellent read. http://www.amazon.com/Ladies-Gentlemen-Bronx-Burning-Baseball/dp/0312424302 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.