NYC in the 90s(pics)

[beanz]

the Cuban spot near my old block before it got moved I haven't had a Cuban sandwich in years

 

[360dagod]

..I remember the one near 149th st

..They had one on fordham...

We gettin old

 

[Malcolmxxx_23]

Was once the goat city

 

[Dynamite James]

 

[Tim2520]

this. growing up in NY during the 90s was the shyt IMO, especially the early-mid 90s. it was a special time, just like the 80s were but in the 90s so much shyt came together at the same time in an official way; music, fashion, sports (MJ era Bulls), technology started to pop, things were still affordable to the masses.....and even tho crack and AIDS ballooned into a huge problem you felt like life was good. Even when the Gulf War happened, the shyt was over so fast that the US was really feeling itself

but NYC, regardless of how much $$ you had, felt like it was YOURS and you could pay $1-1.25 for a token to get on the train and experience shyt like Washington Sq Park, 125th Street, Grants Tomb, grimy ass Times Square, the Heights, Spanish Harlem, Puerto Rican parade before them dudes fukked it up for good, Brooklyn before gentrification, old Yankee Stadium just as the team started whooping everyones ass, MSG when the Knicks looked like contenders, World Trade Center, Columbus Circle, chilling late night in the summer on the block, Rucker/Kingdome/Dyckman for them bball tourneys, NYC high school bball running shyt nationally, track meets at the Armory, Corona Park in Queens, Shea Stadium before they knocked it down, seeing mad movies/TV shows being filmed everywhere, that DMX/Ruff Ryders era that had the whole NY buzzing, record label street teams putting up posters/stickers and giving you cassette tape samplers, Clue/S&S mixtapes, parties at Minisink in Harlem, The Tunnel/Limelight/Carbon/Zanzibar/Demerara/Speed if you were old enough to get in, Staten Island Ferry and chilling out there with bytches in the projects you just met, Polo Grounds/Lincoln projects/Red Hook projects/Taft houses/QB projects/Grant projects being wild as fukk, baggy clothes, getting chicken late night at Caporal in Harlem or soul food at M&G's, middle aged Dominican bytches selling pastellitos in the heights or 181st Street, Coco Helado Delicioso italian ices only costing a quarter or 50 cents, Cablevision finally bringing cable to the hood, the Mister Softee anthem, Flex/Angie/Wendy Williams/Dr. Dre & Ed Lover on the radio, urban labels like Karl Kani/Cross Colours/Phat Farm/Walker Wear/Pelle Pelle/Parasuco/Iceberg, and just feeling invincible even tho it was the Giuliani era and cops were cracking motherfukkas skulls open.....

...some good times back then brehs.......

Damn near shed a tear , this post is so on point

 

[OGBobbyJohnson]

this. growing up in NY during the 90s was the shyt IMO, especially the early-mid 90s. it was a special time, just like the 80s were but in the 90s so much shyt came together at the same time in an official way; music, fashion, sports (MJ era Bulls), technology started to pop, things were still affordable to the masses.....and even tho crack and AIDS ballooned into a huge problem you felt like life was good. Even when the Gulf War happened, the shyt was over so fast that the US was really feeling itself

but NYC, regardless of how much $$ you had, felt like it was YOURS and you could pay $1-1.25 for a token to get on the train and experience shyt like Washington Sq Park, 125th Street, Grants Tomb, grimy ass Times Square, the Heights, Spanish Harlem, Puerto Rican parade before them dudes fukked it up for good, Brooklyn before gentrification, old Yankee Stadium just as the team started whooping everyones ass, MSG when the Knicks looked like contenders, World Trade Center, Columbus Circle, chilling late night in the summer on the block, Rucker/Kingdome/Dyckman for them bball tourneys, NYC high school bball running shyt nationally, track meets at the Armory, Corona Park in Queens, Shea Stadium before they knocked it down, seeing mad movies/TV shows being filmed everywhere, that DMX/Ruff Ryders era that had the whole NY buzzing, record label street teams putting up posters/stickers and giving you cassette tape samplers, Clue/S&S mixtapes, parties at Minisink in Harlem, The Tunnel/Limelight/Carbon/Zanzibar/Demerara/Speed if you were old enough to get in, Staten Island Ferry and chilling out there with bytches in the projects you just met, Polo Grounds/Lincoln projects/Red Hook projects/Taft houses/QB projects/Grant projects being wild as fukk, baggy clothes, getting chicken late night at Caporal in Harlem or soul food at M&G's, middle aged Dominican bytches selling pastellitos in the heights or 181st Street, Coco Helado Delicioso italian ices only costing a quarter or 50 cents, Cablevision finally bringing cable to the hood, the Mister Softee anthem, Flex/Angie/Wendy Williams/Dr. Dre & Ed Lover on the radio, urban labels like Karl Kani/Cross Colours/Phat Farm/Walker Wear/Pelle Pelle/Parasuco/Iceberg, and just feeling invincible even tho it was the Giuliani era and cops were cracking motherfukkas skulls open.....

...some good times back then brehs.......

one of the best posts i have ever read on here and any message board.....nearly teared up

Could only imagine how wild it was to roam free in the city like that then..Pre social media

 

[UberEatsDriver]

Was once the goat city

There was nothing goat about nyc in the 1990s.

 

[UberEatsDriver]

Growing up the 90s in nyc in a safe area was even more the shyt. Having the same fun without all the drama. One thing we did as a youngster that I don’t see anymore is play hockey in the streets with rollerblades.

 

[fifth column]

I remember those paper bus passes with color in the middle. You could just cut out the color and replace it with the current one

 

[TripleAgent]

I really wish I spent more time in NYC when it was NYC.

 

[morris]

 

[boriquaking]

I was just at Village East today.

 

[DatNkkaCutty]

I remember visiting my brother in Flatbush. I have family out there. We were riding through Brooklyn and listening to OB4CL and I swear it sounded like a different album

This is a thing. You can't be in the burbs or a different ambiance. Even the highway. That music HITS DIFFERENT in the city period (nighttime, in the city, especially). IDC if it's NYC, Philly, or NJ. When you're buzzin thru streets, the buildings, blocks, the lights, etc, ppl on the block (in a nice ride, music thumpin), it's another feelin.


SIDENOTE: when I was in Cali and had some Curren$y bumpin in LA (on a a nice summer day), that shyt hit SUPER different, than back on the east coast. The vibe of the music, and the environment, COMPLETELY lined up.


It's a surreal experience.

 

[Knuckles Red]

Its crazy how I look at the pictures posted in this thread, read through all the first hand accounts, live vicariously through the memories of others, and reminisce for a place that I've never lived. During a period of time that I never lived in it. Its like I was there even though I was not, but I can still feel it. Crazy. Great thread!

 

[SupaDupaFresh]

The right here the one pick of 90s NYC that takes me back

You nit old enough to claim the 90s if you dont rememberr when this was a thing. Nikkas stealing bus rides by holding on too the back of busses, sometimes with roller blades on juist hanging on to that vent. Free ride. Back then was wild. Nikkas knew how to make life work with nothing but a dollar in your pocket.

Also anyone remember when selling pets on the street was really common? Folks walking around with pythons wrapped around the neck and shoulders, little turtles or angel fish in tiny plastic tanks, lizards, rabbits, and parrots. No license no nothing!

Also when Chinese and Korean cats would walk into any pizza shop, subway station, wherever announcing "movies movies" and moms wit they kids would be like "you got toy story? Oh let me get the players club too"! For the record I first watched one of those banned racist Bugs Bunny cartoons when my mom bought one of those bootleg cartoon compilation tapes!!

Friday nights at Blockbuster video for a weekend movie and Sega Genesis cartridge.

Meeting up at the video arcade in the local plaza.

Every corner store was a dungy spot with cages and bullet proof glass, but I love those old school light bulb displays that have since been replaced by LED displays. Everytime I see a corner store that still has that old bodega aesthetic Iit brings me back.

Cigarette ads that had cartoon mascots or cheery college aged teenagers displayed from the sky like no big deal.

Shooting dice and three card monte tables in the middle of Fordham road.

Young folks and everyone e hanging out in the park on summers blasting Hot 97 on the radio while the kids are all doing the latest dances. In person with friends and neighbors, not over the internet.

NYC parks association, and Christian groups organizing events for kids in the park all summer.

DJs throwing block parties in the park all summer.

Actually seeing a honey bee.

Trains draped inside and out with artwork.

I barely even see kids pop open fire hydrants for a hood pool party no more. Can't blame em when they have tablets n shyt. Thats becoming long gone retro NYC shyt.

Yup, fine memories.