What a difference 44 years make.  Real New Yorkers remember ’68 vividly.  The war.  The politics.  The drugs.  The riots.  The rip of our social fabric.

But what do you remember of the daily life?  What was it like, to live here in ’68?  Check this video out to see it all, in 2 minutes and 40 seconds.  http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/strolling-through-1968-new-york-in-160-seconds/?ref=nyregion 

The German filmmaker flashes images on the way uptown to Central Park and we get a feeling, a vibe, via rapid-fire imagery, of the tone and tempo of NYC 44 years ago.

I was 17 that year. A dopey kid, in a fog.

See the video.  What are your net takeaways?  Here are some of mine:
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Back then (compared to 2012) there was less glitz. Ours was a city steeped in a sort of decayed, 40s-ish look and feel.  The blocky look of the massive cars.  The still-visible hand-painted ads on the sides of buildings.  The whole black-and-white look of the place. Remember: The parks were threadbare.  More park schmutz. 

On the other hand: More “dressed up” people walking the streets of Manhattan.

Overall, I remember — or I think I remember — a less “modern” feel. This was the last legs of old school NYC, before it hit bottom with the mid-70s financial crisis. The city only started to transform into a shrink wrapped, sanitized Disney resort as crack burned itself out and the markets rebounded. Then the rising housing prices in Manhattan increased the velocity of movement to Brooklyn and, now, here we are: land of 1,000 dancing trustafarians on every brownstone block.

So, what’s my opinion, after viewing the video? I look back fondly at the things I did in those days (late shows at the Fillmore! Schafer concerts! $1 movies on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark’s Place, next to the library!). Me and all my friends were all in the same boat.  Sons and daughters of WWII vets still in the five boroughs.  No white flight for us.  We had no money, were worried sick about the war (and we all had friends who didn’t come back) and yet…maybe it’s the haze of time, maybe it’s a faulty memory, maybe I’m geezering out, but despite all the political upheaval back then, I still remember a feeling, a sense, that there was hope — and I don’t have that optimism these days. I dunno.  Maybe I’m worn out from the 24/7 bad news whirl of the Internet.  Maybe 9/11 just kicked my ass, mentally.  Or maybe, it’s just the reality that our country is split in two and rows in opposite direction, so that we go ’round in circles.

Yeah, NYC today is shiny, new, happening and hip, but it ain’t got no soul. Anyone out there know what I’m saying?