While white flight reduced the Bronx’s population by 30 percent during the 1970s, much of the borough literally burned to the ground. New Yorkers often reflect on the 1970s as the bleakest, most crime-ridden, and most uncertain time the city has ever faced – with good reason. There was a whirlwind of tectonic economic, criminal, and cultural shifts occurring at once that must have made the 1970s seem like the end times, particularly in the Bronx.
The Bronx Is Burning Among Urban Decay
The impoverished, crime-ridden, and decaying New York City of the 1970s bears almost no resemblance to the booming metropolis of 2019. In 1977, the unemployment rate in the city was two and a half times what it is today, according to the Department of Labor. Infrastructure was crumbling, and buildings were left abandoned. As The New York Times remembers it, 1976 saw the largest spike in reported felonies on record – a shocking 13.2 percent. In the meantime, funding reductions for vital fire companies in the Bronx over the decade led to an astonishing amount of devastating blazes.
The Summer Of Sam: From The New York City Blackout To Serial Murders
New York City couldn’t get any wilder than it was in 1977. In addition to the peak of Studio 54 and an infamous blackout that led to mass looting, there was a serial killer on the loose, terrorizing the city through the pages of the New York Post and New York Daily News. The Son of Sam had begun leaving notes behind for the police at the scenes of his murders, and the media printed and reprinted the messages throughout the summer of 1977. Then, on July 13-14, there was an abrupt and total loss of power throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The city’s electric utility, Con Edison, called the power outage an “act of God” – one that led to immediate rioting and looting in many areas of the city, especially the Bronx.
Baseball, Gang Culture, And The Birth Of Hip-Hop
As gang activity soared in the Bronx and street warfare became a way of life, many looked for a refuge from violence in dance parties around the Bronx, fueled by a whole new sound: Hip-Hop. Bronx residents sought refuge in these parties to musically experiment and avoid the growing gang culture outside. It was in the Bronx that Hip-Hop was born when DJ Kool Herc hosted a party at the 1520 Sedgwick Avenue apartment building. With two turntables and a sound system, he ushered in a music genre globally popular to this day. The South Bronx was also responsible for ushering in Hip-Hop’s outdoor elements, like breakdancing and graffiti.