I have been photographing the streets and neighborhoods of New York for the past 40 years. When young people today look at my shots from the 1980’s, they are aghast. To them, New York of the 1980’s is almost unrecognizable. And they are right.

Among those who lived through New York in the late twentieth century, the reactions to my photos vary widely. Some people remain nostalgic for New York’s “the good old days.” For example, they remember the Times Square of the 1980’s… and what they remember is not so much the danger but the grittiness and the authenticity. Yes, there was sleaze, but there were also video arcades, cheap movies, restaurants, and weird places. These same people resent the “Disney-ification” of Times Square and the gentrification of virtually all of Manhattan and many areas of the boroughs, and the loss of cheap housing and local stores everywhere.

Others’ reactions to these same photos could not be more different. They remember the high crime, the twin crises of AIDS and crack, the racial tension, the lurid tabloid headlines about the latest street crime. They say: It was a nightmare, and thank God that the worst of these conditions appear to have receded.

Of course, both views are right.