When I moved to New York a few years back, my grandmother gave me a piece of advice: “Don’t ride da subway. It looks dangerous.” Now, my grandmother had never been to New York, and certainly not in the 21st century when things are much…cleaner. Her opinion of the subway was likely the result of its depiction in pop culture in the 60s, 70s and 80s, which was, well…dirty.
With that said, here is a supercut of shots of the NYC subway system from movies of that era.
A mix of clips of the New York City subway system on film, mostly from the ’70s and early ’80s, when graffiti was a mainstay on train cars and everything underground was, for the most part, grittier and more worn than it is today.
Enjoy.