NYC's unforgettable '77 summer

[Analogman]

NEW YORK - It was the summer of Reggie, the summer of Sam, the summer when the lights went dark and the Bronx burned bright.

 

Thirty years ago, as the temperatures soared and its morale plunged, New York City endured a scathing summer custom-made for tabloid headlines: A crippling July blackout, complete with arson and looting ("24 HOURS OF TERROR"); a media-savvy serial killer dubbed the Son of Sam ("NO ONE IS SAFE"); and a dysfunctional, sensational New York Yankees team ("THE BRONX ZOO").

 

There was more: A bitterly contested mayoral race, the lingering threat of fiscal disaster, the perception that crime was turning New York City into Dodge City (albeit with a splashier skyline). The nation's largest city was becoming a punchline, but those who resisted the urge to flee the five boroughs weren't laughing.

 

"There were three things that were bad for the city: First was the blackout and the looting," recalled Ed Koch, who was running to unseat incumbent Mayor Abe Beame. "Second was the fear in the city with the Son of Sam. And third was Howard Cosell's comment that the Bronx was burning."

 

The air of desperation eventually led to inspiration: ESPN is revisiting 1977 with its eight-part serialization of the Jonathan Mahler book "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning," while Spike Lee directed the slice of '77 life "Summer of Sam" back in 1999.

 

But it's not an era that inspires nostalgia.

 

"You had looting, you had a homicidal maniac, you had the city in dire straits fiscally," said Mitchell Moss, a professor at the New York University Urban Research Center. "There was a genuine breakdown in the city's self-confidence."

 

___

 

It was 9:34 p.m. on July 13, 1977, when the lights went out. All of 'em, in all five boroughs, when a lightning bolt knocked out electricity to about 8 million people.

 

When the power returned 25 hours later, it illuminated a city in chaos. Widespread looting and arson had raged, with Beame lamenting "a night of terror." The mayor's quote, in large type, became newspaper shorthand for the destruction: more than 1,700 stores looted, more than $150 million in property damage, more than 3,000 people arrested.

 

Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin remembered walking along Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue around 6 a.m. on July 14, watching a woman and a small boy lugging a dining room table.

 

"The boy is struggling," Breslin said. "Out of the goodness of my heart, I hold up the back end of the table. I took four steps, and the thought occurs to me: I'm a looter. I told the kid, `Sorry, you'll have to do it yourself.'"

 

For Koch, Beame's failure to maintain order provided a huge campaign boost. Koch was a law-and-order candidate in a city where anarchy had ruled for a day.

 

"The blackout probably meant the difference between my winning and losing," Koch now says. "I was then, and am now, for the death penalty.

 

"Although not for looters."

 

___

 

Even when the power disappeared, this was the summer when Reggie Jackson owned the spotlight.

 

The power-hitting right fielder arrived in New York with a huge contract and an ego to match, announcing

[aricandover]

 

I used to eat these

[bjorn_skurj]

Ah, those were the days. That show is really good. Very well acted, at least the first episode.

[Sir Stewart]

The Bronx is Burning

Ep 1 is viewable on that site.

And Reggie bars tasted great.

[gogo]

My brother watched the first episode of The Bronx is Burning, and really liked it. Then he asked me, "So when is the last half on, is it tomorrow night?"

 

Dude. It's an 8 part miniseries.

 

He just doesn't have that kind of attention span.

[quarter23cd]

I didn't care too much for Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam" movie.