Blue Guide New York - from our story 'New York 1982 / 1983: Before Big Money Buried The City’s Character'

"Blue Guide to New York" book, published in 1983. New York was a different place in the late 1970s and early 1980s to how it is now. It was an edgy and sometimes dangerous place to be. When I first visited New York City in 1982 I only used the Subway once. When I returned the following year I used buses to get around the city, because I wasn't comfortable using the Subway. There is some advice on travelling by subway in this 1983 Blue Guide: “SUBWAY SAFETY: The New York subway system has a reputation for crime and filth which is not undeserved. Stations have been vandalised, cars sprayed with graffiti, platforms are smelly and filthy in many stations. In 1981 there were 15,812 felonies in the transit system including 13 murders, but it is also true that more than three million travellers ride the system daily and survive. Use common sense; be alert to your surroundings; stay with other people; don’t go down empty stairwells or ride in empty cars; don’t lean over the edge of the platform; if in doubt stay near the conductor who has a telephone, as does the attendant at the toll booth.”

"Blue Guide to New York" book, published in 1983. New York was a different place in the late 1970s and early 1980s to how it is now. It was an edgy and sometimes dangerous place to be. When I first visited New York City in 1982 I only used the Subway once. When I returned the following year I used buses to get around the city, because I wasn't comfortable using the Subway. There is some advice on travelling by subway in this 1983 Blue Guide: “SUBWAY SAFETY: The New York subway system has a reputation for crime and filth which is not undeserved. Stations have been vandalised, cars sprayed with graffiti, platforms are smelly and filthy in many stations. In 1981 there were 15,812 felonies in the transit system including 13 murders, but it is also true that more than three million travellers ride the system daily and survive. Use common sense; be alert to your surroundings; stay with other people; don’t go down empty stairwells or ride in empty cars; don’t lean over the edge of the platform; if in doubt stay near the conductor who has a telephone, as does the attendant at the toll booth.”

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