HBO’s latest drama The Deuce portrays New York City in the 1970s, a tumultuous decade that saw crime soar, a blackout darken the city, and the president of the United States tell the city (in so many words) to drop dead. These 50 images offer a glimpse into the city and the people living there during this turbulent era—from the X-rated movie theaters in Times Square to the artists and everyday residents who gave the city a unique vibrancy.
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The Gay Pride parade in Times Square in 1973.
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Radio City Music Hall in 1977.
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Debbie Harry, lead singer of the band Blondie, on the beach at Coney Island in 1976.
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The Avon Theatre near Times Square, famous for its X-rated films, in a photo from January 1972.
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A porn shop with cinema and live shows in the Times Square area in October 1975.
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A jazz band plays on the back of a truck as it drives through the streets of Harlem in the summer of 1970.
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A porn shop with films and live shows near Times Square in 1975.
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A large Christmas peace message from John Lennon and Yoko Ono on a billboard in Times Square in 1971.
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The painter Nobu Fukui plays ping pong during a party in his live-in work loft in SoHo in 1971.
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Four boys play atop the hood of an abandoned car on a street in the South Bronx in May 1972.
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The Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline lit up at dusk in 1973.
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Women march down Fifth Avenue as a part of the Women’s Equality March on August 26, 1970.
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The band New York Dolls in 1978.
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Jackie Curtis, an actress, writer and singer who appeared in several Andy Warhol films, in Times Square in 1975.
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People wait in line outside Studio 54 in 1978.
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The Village People at Madison Square Garden in June 1979.
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A store clerk arranges Elvis Presley records at a music store in 1977.
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The Rolling Stones on a flatbed truck outside Fifth Avenue Hotel on May, 1 1975. The Stones held a portable, if brief, concert from 12th to Ninth Streets.
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John Lennon and Yoko Ono with attorney Leon Wildes as they leave the Immigration and Naturalization Service at 20 W. Broadway in 1972.
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A subway car at the 145th Street station in 1973.
