These gritty, black-and white photographs depict a period of violence and soaring crime, budget problems, cuts and several calamities New York City experienced: fiscal, an arising HIV/AIDS crisis and the invading crack cocaine gangs.
Jill Freedman, a photographer from 1939-1999, was on hand to document the beauty and tragedy of New York City in the 1970s and 1980s. Freedman enjoyed unprecedented access at NYPD’s Midtown South of Times Square & Penn Station as well as the Ninth Precinct of the East Village. Freedman documented the camaraderie and interactions among officers and was there to make arrests.
Freedman stated once that he set out “to deglamorize violent crime.”
These images still resonate today. Crime spiked during the Pandemic and the subsequent Shutdown. Crime rates continue to rise, according to NYPD’s latest numbers for October: overall crime rose 11.2 percent, robbery increased by 15.8 percent and felony assault jumped by 13.8 percent. While there’s been an increase in murders, the number of homicides is still much higher than it was in 2018 or 2019.
Eric Adams, the new mayor, is a former police officer. He said that he will once again have plainclothes officers on the streets. These are anti-crime units which were disbanded last year after the defunding of police protests following the death of George Floyd. Hawk Newsome, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter in New York, said there would be ‘riots,’ ‘fire’ and ‘bloodshed’ if the controversial units, involved in the killings of Eric Garner, Sean Bell and Amadou Diallo, return to the city’s streets.
“Sometimes, you question yourself. Why do you want to go outside looking? Street Cops was her 1981 book. It was recently reissued by the New Yorker. “What’s the point of riding in Harlem or South Bronx during the day?”
Jill Freedman (1939-1999) was an American photographer who stepped into New York City’s darkest hours during the turbulent 1970s-80s to capture its firefighters, cops, and other people. For two years, she had unprecedented access to the NYPD and spent ‘entire days touring the streets and entire nights drinking with the men and women of the NYPD,’ according to press release for her book, Street Cops, which has been recently reprinted. Below is an illustration from her book, in which police officers take a man out of buildings.
Freedman’s involvement with the NYPD in the 1970s and 1980s was fundamental. He was part of two precincts of the NYPD: Midtown South of Times Square (Penn Station) and the Ninth Precinct of the East Village. Due to several factors including New York City’s financial crisis, crime soared in the 1970s. In the 1960s, financial problems in New York City began. They got worse over time due to the shrinking federal monies and ballooning debt. People also moved out of the city. Above is a police officer leading a man with handcuffs up the stairs
Freedman wasn’t born to become a photographer. Freedman studied sociology before she went on to travel. She moved to New York City in 1964 and bought a camera two years later. According to her October 9th, 2019 New York Times obituary she wrote, “I hadn’t taken a photograph and I woke awake wanting one.” Above: Two arrested men, one with bloody faces. Freedman took their photo.
America’s 1960s saw a decade of turmoil, fueled by counterculture movements and social justice, war in Vietnam, and music. This was also a time of great loss. John F. Kennedy, the President of the United States was assassinated on 1963. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 and Martin Luther King Jr. were civil rights leaders. According to the obituary, Freedman was the first person to report on the Poor People’s Campaign following King’s passing. These images appeared in Life Magazine, and later in Old News: Resurrection City. Above are two police officers with their billy club.
NYPD union leaders were furious at then Mayor Abraham Beame in 1970s New York City, and cut the force’s budget due to its massive debts and fiscal crisis. A flyer was created with the grim figure of death and dire warnings to tourists regarding the city’s subway system. Above: A boy points his toy gun at another boy, while a police officer looks on.
Below, officers allowed boys to play in their cars. Today the NYPD is active in community outreach. This includes block parties like National Night Out Against Crime. These events often include food, entertainment, and booths. There are also community councils within each precinct where residents can voice safety concerns and other quality-of life issues to the detectives.
“After spending days on the streets with NYPD officers and drinking all night, she began to appreciate the kindness and heroism of these cops. These were the cops that no one talked about. They went above and beyond to assist their community, seeing both the good and the bad. According to the press release, these were “the ones that people love and respect.” Freedman captured the camaraderie between cops. See it above
Freedman, who was born October 19, 1939 in Pittsburgh wasn’t originally meant to become a photographer. She studied sociology, and she traveled. She moved to New York City in 1964 and, two years later, bought a camera.
According to the New York Times’ October 9, 2019, obituary, she stated that “I had never taken pictures and I woke awake wanting one.”
The United States’ 1960s saw a decade of turmoil, fueled by music and anti-war movements as well as the Vietnam War and the social justice movement. This was also a time of great loss. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. His brother Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were also assassinated.
Freedman first chronicled the Poor People’s Campaign after King’s death and those images were featured in Life Magazine and then in her first book, Old News: Resurrection City, which was published in 1971, according to the obituary.
New York City almost went bankrupt during the 1970s. The debt forced Abraham Beame, then mayor of New York City to cut budgets for firefighters, the NYPD and other departments like sanitation. NYPD union furious that they handed out flyers calling Gotham “Fear City” and warning tourists to avoid the dangerous and graffiti-ridden subway.
It was into this bedlam that Freedman photographed and ’embraced what she called the theater of the streets — “the weirder the better,” she said,’ according to the obituary.
After chronicling the Poor People’s Campaign, she then spent years documenting the city’s firefighters in Harlem and the South Bronx. According to the Times, Freedman slept often at stations and in chief’s cars. These photographs were published in Firehouse, her 1977 book. Cheryl Dunn (a photographer and filmmaker) said that she had seen’macho men like firemen and cops letting down facades’. Freedman was one the street photographer included in Dunn’s 2013 documentary Everybody Street. Two cops appear to be holding a man up in the photo above
Freedman spent many years in the NYPD after her stint with firefighters. Her time spent mostly with police officers in Midtown South or the Ninth Precinct was her most memorable. Midtown South is Times Square. This was Times Square in the 1970s, when it was an area renowned for its sex workers and peep-shows. The white sweatshirt that a man wears on the streets is worn by one of the cops in the photo above
The city was in deep debt, which led to fiscal crises. They cut services and departments like sanitation. Also, they reduced the budgets of the firefighters’ and police forces. Many were fired. Flyers warning of dangers in the area were distributed by the police union to all tourists at the airport. Above is an example of a man who requires medical attention.
Freedman once stated that “I spent a lot time trying to be invisible.” “When I was young, I wished that I could have one of those rings and cloaks to make me invisible. Years later I discovered that I was invisible behind a camera. It is a camera. One officer is holding a woman’s arms, while the other two are speaking with a father with children.
Above: Cops attempt to put a wounded man in a squad car
“For more than two years Jill Freedman joined the NYPD’s precincts in responding to violence and unpredictability. She placed herself directly on the frontline as an invisible witness,” according to Street Cops press release. This was published for the first time in 1981. The above photo shows a boy crying and a woman speaking to one officer. A man is held by the two officers
Her work combined activism with quietly bearing witness.
“I spent a lot time trying to make myself invisible,” she said once. ‘When I was little, I dreamed of having one those rings or cloaks which made me invisible. Years later I discovered that I was invisible behind a camera. It is a camera.
Freedman began her second book and then focused her efforts on the firefighters of Harlem. Howard Cosell, an allegedly famous sportscaster once stated that “The Bronx was burning” while reporting on the 1977 World Series between New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. The South Bronx Yankee Stadium was hosting game two. The Yankees won the series.
According to the New York Post Cosell didn’t make that famous statement. The expression was used nonetheless to highlight the problems the city faced during that decade. Another well-known expression of that era is Ford to City, which was headlined in 1975 by the New York Daily News. Although President Gerald Ford did not say those words exactly, he refused federal assistance to the city during its fiscal crisis.
New York City’s fiscal woes began in the 1960s. However, they reached their peak in the 1970s due to shrinking federal funds and ballooning debt. People fled the city in droves for safer places. Some landlords decided to abandon buildings and pay high property taxes. It led to the Downtown art scene, which saw people living in squats or renting cheaply.
According to the Post, the cuts were made to the FDNY, the Fire Department of City of New York. They began in 1971.
Freedman, who spent more than two years documenting firefighters, often slept at station stations or in Chief’s car according to Times Obituary. These photographs were published in Firehouse, her 1977 book.
‘She had really macho guys like cops and firemen letting down a facade,’ said Cheryl Dunn,a filmmaker and photographer. Freedman was among the street photographers featured in Dunn’s 2013 documentary Everybody Street.
Freedman spent many years in the NYPD after her stint with firefighters. Her time spent mostly with police officers in Midtown South or the Ninth Precinct was her most memorable. Midtown South includes Times Square. It was once a hub for sex workers in 1970s. “The Ninth”The area includes East Houston Street, East 14 Street (Broadway), and the East River in Manhattan. It is the home of East Village and Tompkins Square Park. According to its website. In 1988, protestors clashed with police in what would became known as the Tompkins Square Park riot.
Freedman spent “entire days walking the streets” and “entire nights drinking with NYPD officers.” He was able to see the compassion and heroism of good cops. These were the cops that no one talked about. They went to their community and saw the good in everyone. According to the press release, these were “the ones that people loved and respect,”
Street Cops was first published by her. “They see everything; I saw it all.”
The New Yorker reported that Jill Freedman’s photos of New York’s street cops are haunted by the spirit of Weegee. They worked in black and white, which was inky but not too fanciful. Both of them wanted to be there at the scene, even though the blood was still tainting. Both of them were determined, hardworking, and tenacious. They looked straight at us, they didn’t blink and we won’t forget what they saw. New York is rawest and most vile (the precinct walls look as bad as the tenement hallways). Above: A cop points at a man, while another observes.
Arthur Fellig (1899-1868), also known as Weegee was born in Ukraine. He came with his family to America. Self-taught, he began his career as a freelance photographer. But, in the 1930s, he was allowed to transport a police radio with him. He is known for his crime scene photography. Freedman photographed police officers when they were arresting people and also captured them helping the community. Below, an officer talks with a woman as New Yorkers gather around to watch.
Due to the tightening resources and staff of the sanitation department, trash was frequently left out on the streets during the financial crisis in the 1970s. Below, a plainclothes officer subdues an unruly man who was walking down a trash-laden street.
Two phrases continue to illustrate the financial dire straits that New York City was in during the 1970s: ‘The Bronx is burning’ and the 1975 New York Daily News headline – Ford to City: Drop Dead. Although President Gerald Ford did not say those words exactly, he was unwilling to provide any federal assistance during the fiscal crisis. Above is a man in distress, with New Yorkers and an EMT.
New York City’s financial problems began in 1960s. They reached a peak in 1970s when federal funds dried up, ballooned debt, and residents fled to the suburbs. Some landlords decided to abandon buildings in the city, rather than paying property taxes. It led to the Downtown art scene, which saw people living in squats or renting cheaply. Sometimes, the owners also burnt their properties for insurance. Two cops are seen above arresting a man
Above: A police officer takes a break with fellow officers during a shift
The book’s press release states that Freedman’s “images are raw, direct and unafraid of showing the horror,” according to Freedman. “But, she captured the humor as well as tenderness in a situation. This is the vulnerability. Freedman approached photography without judgment and with an anthropological curiosity. Her goal was to capture the story she heard and saw. Street Cops is an assortment of stories about the city and people who live there. Above is a conversation between a police officer and a child at an event.
“Sometimes, you question yourself. Is there something that makes you look for the truth? Street Cops was written by Freedman. “What’s the point of riding in Harlem or South Bronx during the day?” Above: Two police officers scale a wall