Feminism and androgyny and transvestitism were in the air

epub or mobi, with thanks to the original sharer

People talk about how bad-off the U.S. was economically in those years of the seventies and how filthy and crime-ridden New York was. It’s true, but my friends and I in the East Village didn’t know any better, and terms like “recession” and “stock market” were meaningless to us. The streets of the city were smelly with both garbage—sanitation workers were striking—and dog shit (the scoop law wasn’t passed until 1978). On the Lower East Side, people assumed their apartments would be burglarized every two or three years. Many buildings and sometimes whole blocks in the area were burned out and abandoned, others staked by squatters. Drug-dealing gangs ruled districts. Sidewalks for blocks would be matted with blankets of housewares and junk peddled by the jobless. It was a slum, but it was where we wanted to live because it was cheaper than anywhere else while also hosting the best bookstores and movies and drugs and people and music.

Our band had to figure out where to play next. I’d noticed how the Dolls had associated themselves with a particular venue. If a band always played the same nights at the same place, it was easier for them to build a following, since anyone interested would always know where to find them. There were plenty of nasty, hungry little joints around.