Agnostic Front Mourn for the “Old New York” in New Video

The funny thing about New York City is that it’s always been changing; the whitewashing and gentrification of the past 20 years is the latest type of change, sure, but I’ve read articles written in the ’90s (the EIGHTEEN nineties) where authors wistfully mourned a sentiment to the effect of, “Man, this city’s going to shit. It ain’t what it used to be.”

While the constant evolution of this crazy place is inevitable — for better or worse (usually worse, it seems) — it’s still the greatest fucking city on the planet. And it’s totally OK to say “I miss the old New York” as long as we’re not getting too nostalgic… because we’re still fucking here, aren’t we? Agnostic Front seem to understand that, because they’re still here too after 35 fucking years of this shit. Yeah, all of us natives kinda miss the graffiti-covered trains and drug addict-riddled Lower East Side of yore… but we still love this city and embrace it for what it is and whatever it might become. No, it just don’t feel the same, but… it’s still pretty fucking fantastic.

Think on that as you watch AF’s new video for “Old New York,” filmed inside a shiny, brand new subway car and cut with archival footage of the city from the ’70s and ’80s… the perfect juxtaposition.