In the 1970s, New York City was described as a broken, chaotic capital bolting into anarchy. The residents remember this decade as the most desolate, uncertain time the city has faced.
Vergara came across the camera first during the 1970s; his attention was on the individuals who resided in physically disorganized neighbourhoods. He mentioned that “the images of the physical communities in which people often live better reveal the choices made by residents and city officials over the long haul.”
With time, Vergara came up with different methods of capturing neighbourhoods in a straightforward, unemotional manner and recapturing them over the years to follow up on their transformation.
During the 1970s, New York City was bankrupt and was experiencing an exploding population. The subway trains were coated in graffiti, inside and out, the crime rate was high, and women were careful not to walk the streets with their valuables or risk being stolen.
HuVastreas of the Bronx and Upper Manhattan were torched. There was a surge in prostitution as pimps often hung around Times Square while Central Park became known for shoplifting, robbery and rapes. Abandoned buildings were occupied but homeless persons and criminals.
Affected by economic unproductivity, industrial decline, and the emerging threat of bankruptcy, the City of New York responded by discharging the city workers and reducing community services such as sanitation, water supply and after-school programs.
Unemployment rates grew higher, so many average-class families moved to the outlying district for better lives and jobs; this migration was known as white flight.
A blackout occurred on July 13, 1977. Lasting over 25 hours, it was during this blackout that black and Hispanic neighbourhoods fell victim to robbery and destruction. About 3,000 people were arrested in connection with the event,t and the city’s overcrowded prison became overloaded and unbearable.
