Originally Posted by
Terry
NYC even into the early 1990s was a shithole.
Had spent a couple of months there in late 1992/early 1993, and even Times Square was still pretty seedy.
Didn't go back there for ten years. Spent a week there in 2004 on the Lower East Side, and by then Times Square looked like something you'd see in Downtown Disneyland. The transformation was shocking.
Went back in 2008 and spent a week in Chelsea a couple of blocks from the Chelsea Hotel. The architecture of the place looked the same from the outside. The friends I was staying with remarked that the current management were pretty fervent on trying to clean up the image of the place in terms of the atmosphere and the clientele/tenants, that even though it was landmarked the vibe of the place was no longer a free-for-all in terms of looney, outrageous behavior happening at all hours all day every day.