Downtown Manhattan in the 1970s Was New York’s Golden Era for Nightlife
There will always be those storied bars and clubs that speak to the zeitgeist in which they thrived—spaces that synthesize the creative essence of their patrons, and by extension, society. And if we’re talking about New York City, there may never again be a nightlife scene as representative of the city’s freewheeling spirit as downtown Manhattan in the 1970s.
It’s easy to see why we continue to talk about this legendary decade. When remembered through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia, the 70s represent the last vestige of New York history in which the city might have been considered egalitarian—when it didn’t matter whether or not you were wealthy, as long as you carried yourself like a star. It was a time when cheap rent meant the artistic class ruled downtown Manhattan, before MTV (and, later, the Internet) commercialized the underground and its creative output.