The ragged, jagged, terrifying crime spree that peaked in the early 1990s was not unique to New York.
The half-empty warehouses and semi-derelict factories -- for so long seen as post-industrial blight -- now give Gowanus a special cultural edge, like a miniature Baltimore or Detroit (with terrifying pollution substituting for terrifying crime).
IN 1969, in the midst of devastating strikes, rising racial conflict, sinking finances, terrifying crime rates and an expanding, dysfunctional city bureaucracy, the pugilistic writer Norman Mailer made a quixotic bid for mayor of New York.
While we've certainly been blessed with parodies like Netflix's American Vandal, there hasn't been nearly enough jokes to keep up with this constant stream of earnest and terrifying crime podcasts.
It often seems that ANC leaders, ensconced in their luxury houses and cars and surrounded by armed guards, have been switched off from the reality of terrifying levels of crime.
"The 90s were terrifying – there was crime everywhere, not even the quietest street was safe," Kirill pronounces, as several students indicate they won't cast their vote for the ruling party.
Cable, which has to offer something different, inverts the formula, creating villains who are amusing or intriguingly self-aware even while their crimes are terrifying, be it the serial killer with a soul on "Dexter" (Showtime) or the high school teacher turned meth dealer on "Breaking Bad" (AMC).
While the Department of Justice no longer funds these types of programs, many localities and families around the nation continue to spend their own money terrifying young people about crime in spite of the evidence that it may cause more harm than it prevents.
Yet it is terrifying to think that such serious crimes are essentially being brushed under the carpet, hidden from view.
