The Restaurant That Has Helped New Yorkers Feel Famous Since 1984 and other links to NYC

For fans of NY back when, or people just curious about a very different New York then the current one, here’s a bunch of links worth reading:

• The Restaurant That Has Helped New Yorkers Feel Famous Since 1984 – The New York Times – I remember going to Indochine when it first opened. It was a big deal. I can’t believe it is still going, and it still looks much like it did. In some ways I am glad for this.
• More places from the 80s still going strong – Not just Indochine.

• ‘Welcome to Fear City’ – the inside story of New York’s civil war, 40 years on | Cities | The Guardian – A good reminder of just how gritty New York used to be.

• Brutal, intimate photos depict the 1980s ‘heroin epidemic’ of the East Village | Dangerous Minds – More grit.

• Remembering Kenny Shopsin, the Irascible Chef-King of Lower Manhattan | The New Yorker – this was a good piece, by the always great Helen Rosner. I really enjoyed reading about Shopsin and his family in Arbitrary Stupid Goal.

• The city that sleeps: deserted New York City – in pictures | Art and design | The Guardian – finally, a beautiful photo essay on New York. Yes, it is not busy all the time.