In many ways New York City is a very different place to how it was in the 1970s and early 1980s, writes Paul Wright, whose album Come Feel The Noize harks back to the 1070s. I first visited Manhattan in 1982 when parts of the city looked semi-derelict. It was edgy and sometimes dangerous, but the city also had a character that has been buried by property developers and chain stores.

Hanging-out in Greenwich Village record stores, braving the subway, not making eye contact with anyone and watching movies at St. Marks Cinema are all in the past. But great cities like New York and London never stand still for long, they are constantly changing.

There is some advice on travelling by subway in this 1983 Blue Guide:

“SUBWAY SAFETY: The New York subway system has a reputation for crime and filth which is not undeserved. Stations have been vandalised, cars sprayed with graffiti, platforms are smelly and filthy in many stations. In 1981 there were 15,812 felonies in the transit system including 13 murders, but it is also true that more than three million travellers ride the system daily and survive. Use common sense; be alert to your surroundings; stay with other people; don’t go down empty stairwells or ride in empty cars; don’t lean over the edge of the platform; if in doubt stay near the conductor who has a telephone, as does the attendant at the toll booth.”