Wednesday, June 11, 2008

80 Blocks From Tiffany's

This 1979 documentary focused on gang culture in the South Bronx, specifically, the Savage Skulls and the Nomads. It features members with such colorful sobriquets as Fly, Comanche, and Crazy Joe — as well as Bob Werner, a member of the Youth Gangs Task Force that oversaw the area at that time. The film doesn’t spend a whole lot of time digging into just how violent these gangs were, but it does offer an interesting snapshot of New York at the time. Crime in the 70s was on a slow and steady upward climb as the city verged on the edge of bankruptcy and the increase in gang activity was one of the more direct results of an ever growing under class confined to the outer boroughs. Few perhaps realized how bad it would become in the 80s with the introduction of crack until its peak in the early 90s. Also, notable for the plethora of 70s pornstar moustaches on display.

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