Week 2: Cities: Would Travis Bickle Be Homicidal In Present Day New York City?

The movie Taxi Driver is about how a young Vietnam veteran (Robert De Niro) becomes a taxi driver and goes on a homicidal rage. The cause of this rage? His own insomnia and New York City. Yes that's right New York City! While driving around the five boroughs, he meets some of the worst people in the city and becomes disgusted with the people he meets and constantly talks about "cleaning the city up." What follows is a homicidal rampage. But would that happen in present day New York City?
1970's New York City was a cesspool of crime. The gangs had taken over, the subway was unreliable and covered in graffiti, and the sleazy politicians didn't help. But now New York City is much cleaner, the subways are better and the gang problem is slowly disappearing. The porn theaters that Bickle frequented no longer exist and the prostitutes that littered the streets are now hiding in the alleys.

http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/hookers-hypodermics-new-york-in-the-70s/
Also this link compares images from the movie to present day images of New York City. http://www.scoutingny.com/?p=1092