Crack Noir: boogie down inferno by michael a. gonzales

Introduction:
Anybody who lived through New York City's crack-era in the mid-1980s,
knows it was a bizarre time. Like living in some kind of alternative
universe where seemingly overnight friends, family and familiar
strangers were stricken by a plague.

In my Washington Heights neighborhood I remember some drug hawker standing
in front of the subway station on 145th and St. Nick trying to sell me
something called "crack" in 1985 and six months later my lower-middle
class neighborhood suddenly became a haven for spaced-out zombies,
random robberies, middle of the day shoot-outs, countless prostitutes
and other illicit activity.

Later, it would be revealed that the local police precinct, which would later be known in the press as, "the dirty 30," was taking bribes and wasn't really trying to protect
the law-abiding citizens in the first place. This disturbing short story "boogie down inferno" was inspired by my vivid memories of those wild years when uptown was a combination Sodom and Gomorrah meets the wild wild west.

While editing this piece, I listened to Tricky's disturbing Pre-Millennium Tension, whose, "hallucinatory soundscape, where the rhythms, samples, and guitars intertwine into a crawling procession of menacing sounds and disembodied lyrical threats," seemed to be the perfect soundtrack for a tale about my beloved metropolis during those very dark days.

For the rest of this story, go to:

http://blackadelicpop.blogspot.com/2010/05/boogie-down-inferno-fict...

Tags: A., City, Crack, Gonzales, Michael, New, Noir, York, boogie, down, More…inferno