Remembering NEW YORK IN THE 70s

Here's to New York in the '70s - pictured here is Truman Capote at the bar in Studio 54.

Leonard Quart of the Berkshire Eagle recently reviewed New York in the 70s: "Photographer Allan Tannenbaum's book, New York in the '70s, evokes a world of Puerto Rican street gangs, hotels for the homeless, hookers in Times Square, and rubble-filled South Bronx lots that all existed simultaneously with the transformation of SoHo from a neighborhood of warehouses and the light manufacturing of small machine parts to one of artist lofts and the city's lively art gallery center. In fact, the city's economic decline meant there were many cheap spaces for artists to live and work in that allowed for a great deal of artistic experimentation. The book's photos by Tannenbaum, the Soho Weekly News' photo editor, emphasize that aspect of the '70s, and the sexual adventurism of its intense, burgeoning club life. The '70s also carried over some of the political protest from the '60s. There are photos of anti-Vietnam War protests, demonstrations for the rights of farm workers, and the first big Gay Pride Parade in 1975. The book also contains photos of the city's iconic figures including such disparate personages as Ed Koch and John Lennon, Roy Cohen and Andy Warhol. As one can see, decades defy neat categories. They are a combination of objective facts, and the way we perceive them." - Leonard Quart, Berkshire Eagle