Having only recently seen the Big Apple for myself, I couldn't tell you why NY folk look fondly back at crack epidemics and financial crises. But this article in the New York Observer might explain the fascination with Old, Bad New York.
Also, I've found that many people (who haven't been there) still carry the outdated "dangerous" image of NY around in their heads, even though the city is nothing like that in 2007. I felt safer in Manhattan than I do in parts of Vancouver.
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