1975. Geraldo Rivera on his Good Night America program goes on the streets and on the block in Harlem, Manhattan U.S.A. Of NYC’s roughly 300 street gangs 36 find their homes in Harlem. Drugs, alcoholism, criminality, these issues haunt all parts of America but it is the poor, especially in the poorest areas, that feel their effects most acutely. As James Baldwin once said, “Walk down any street in Harlem and see what we, this nation, have become.”
Around this period of time occurred what is sometimes called ‘The Heroin Epidemic’.
In 2025, Harlem is a much safer place than it once was. The neighborhood as a whole suffers an average 80%+ higher crime rate than the rest of the country, about 40% higher than the rest of New York City.
Some of the original music in this historical segment has been replaced.