New York City in the 1970s was the setting for Taxi Driver, Annie
Hall, and Saturday Night Fever, the nightmare playground for Son of
Sam and The Warriors, the proving grounds for graffiti, punk,
hip-hop, and all manner of other public spectacle. Musicians,
artists, and writers could subsist even in Manhattan, while
immigrants from the world over were reinventing the city in their
own image. Others, fed up with crime, filth and frustration, simply
split. Fast-forward three decades and today New York can appear a
glamorous metropolis, with real estate prices soaring higher than
its skyscrapers. But is this fresh-scrubbed, affluent city really
an improvement on its grittier - and more affordable - predecessor?
Taking us back to the streets where eccentricity and anomie were
pervasive, New York Calling unlocks life in the unpolished Apple,
where, it seemed, anything could happen. All five boroughs - the
Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island - comprising
hundreds of neighborhoods and the interlaced worlds of politics,
crime, drugs, sex, and mischief, are explored with a love of the
city unclouded by romance yet undimmed by cynicism. Acclaimed
historian Marshall Berman and journalist Brian Berger gather here a
stellar group of writers and photographers who combine their
energies to weave a rich tale of struggle, excitement, and wonder.
John Strausbaugh explains how Uptown has taken over Downtown, as
Tom Robbins examines the mayors and would-be mayors who have
presided over the transformation. Margaret Morton chronicles the
homeless, while Robert Atkins offers a personal view of the city's
gay culture and the devastating impact of aids. Anthony Haden-Guest
and John Yau offer insiders' views of the New York art world, while
Brandon Stosuy and Allen Lowe recount their discoveries of the
local rock and jazz scenes. Armond White and Leonard Greene
approach African-American culture and civil rights from
perspectives often marginalized in so-called polite conversation.
Daily life in New York has its dramatic moments too. Luc Sante
gives us glimpses of a city perpetually on the grift, Jean Thilmany
and Philip Dray share secrets of Gotham's ethnic enclaves, Richard
Meltzer walks, Jim Knipfel rides the subways, and Robert Sietsema
criss-crosses the city, indefatigably tasting everything from giant
Nigerian tree snails to Fujianese turtles. It's a long way from old
Brooklyn to the new Times Square. But New York Calling reminds us
of what has changed - and what's been lost - along the way.
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