History Main / TheBigRottenApple

->''Broken glass, everywhere!\\
People pissin' on the stairs, y'know they just don't care!\\
I can't take the smell, can't take the noise,\\
I got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice!\\
Rats in the front room, roaches in the back,\\
Junkie's in the alley with a baseball bat!\\
I tried to get away, but I couldn't get far,\\
'cause the man in the tow truck repossessed my car!''
-->-- '''Music/GrandmasterFlashAndTheFuriousFive''', "Music/TheMessage"

* "Shattered" by Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} (quoted at the top).

** The cover of the album of the same name depicts a vagrant sleeping on a bench, with skyscrapers morphing into fierce animal's heads above him.

* ''Film/FlodderInAmerika'' is set in New York City in the early 90s, before Rudy Guliani cleaned up a lot of the city. The streets are littered with gangbangers and homeless people. Sjakie gets his hand stuck in a stormdrain, but nobody lifts a finger to help him.

->''Broken glass, everywhere!''
->''People pissin' on the stairs, y'know they just don't care!''
->''I can't take the smell, can't take the noise,''
->''I got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice!''
->''Rats in the front room, roaches in the back,''
->''Junkie's in the alley with a baseball bat!''
->''I tried to get away, but I couldn't get far,''
->''cause the man in the tow truck repossessed my car!''

Basically, CityNoir + BigApplesauce = The Big Rotten Apple.

* The ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' episode "Courage in the Big Stinkin' City" has Courage, Muriel and Eustace travelling to New York City, where they stay in a filthy run-down apartment suite owned by Schwick, a [[ConMan shady criminal]] who's also a [[BigCreepyCrawlies 6-foot-tall anthropomorphic cockroach]]. Schwick forces Courage to deliver a package to another run-down apartment building filled with all kinds of horrors.

However, by the 1990s, cities in the United States (and European ones) had mostly recovered, with populations stabilizing or increasing again, crime and pollution plummeting, poverty falling, and blight mostly recovering. At the same time, many of the problems that cities had (poverty, crime, corruption, racial division) had slowly started to creep in the suburbs as well. Some cities obviously recovered more than others: [[UsefulNotes/StLouis many]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} smaller]] [[UsefulNotes/{{KansasCity}} cities]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Milwaukee}} in the]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}} Midwest]] only slightly recovered and are nowhere close to their peaks in the early and mid-20th century, while New York City has arguably [[GoneHorriblyRight recovered a bit too well]], such that many working-class people have left for cheaper places to live as gentrification drove land values (and with them rents and property taxes) ever higher. At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, it was the cities of the West Coast that got the reputation as dysfunctional: UsefulNotes/LosAngeles with gang violence and the Rodney King riots, UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco with its housing crisis,[[note]]Thanks to the tech industry boom, housing prices are so expensive that even if you're already rich, you'll find house-hunting to be almost impossible[[/note]] UsefulNotes/{{Portland}} and UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} with their [[BombThrowingAnarchists violent anarchist]] vs [[ANaziByAnyOtherName ultra-nationalist]] protests, and all of them with a homelessness crisis. Despite this, many people who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s still believe New York City is like this because of what [[RealityIsUnrealistic pop culture told them during their formative years]].

* Given the fact it's DarkerAndEdgier than the first film, ''Film/HomeAlone2'' features Kevin walking around at night in a [[WorldOfJerkass city full of jerkasses]], what, cause you know, is this. Bonus points for being a live-action film-sized variant of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode where Homer traveled to that city in the hopes of seeking his avariated car.

UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity is depicted as a [[DysfunctionJunction dysfunctional]], crime-plagued, [[SwarmOfRats vermin-infested]], smog-choked, [[PollutedWasteland polluted]], grimy, [[RedLightDistrict sleazy]], seedy, [[SleazyPolitician corrupt]], [[UrbanSegregation racially-divided]], [[PerpetualPoverty poverty-ridden]], [[ViceCity morally]]-and-[[RichesToRags financially]]-bankrupt WretchedHive filled with ApatheticCitizens, hostile [[{{Jerkass}} jerkasses]], [[AxCrazy violent psychotics]], [[PoliceBrutality violent psychotics with badges]], [[AddledAddict drug addicts]], [[TropesAboutPerverts deviants]], a crumbling infrastructure, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking not enough parking spots]].

[[folder:Film]]

* This trope is employed in ''Film/LastActionHero'' where, after two people are shot dead in the middle of a street in full view of numerous bystanders, one of the shooters shouts to the rooftops that he did it and wants to confess only to be met with [[ApatheticCitizens apathy by the crowd]] [[BystanderSyndrome and one person yelling at him to shut up]].

** ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'' mostly takes place in the historic Five Points slum, which is filthy, violent and crime-plagued, ruled over by rival gangs and a corrupt police force. And then the Civil War Draft Riots break out and the area gets destroyed by cannon fire (which really happened).

* ''WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat'', ''WesternAnimation/HeavyTraffic'' and WesternAnimation/TheLastDaysOfConeyIsland. Almost a Bakshi trademark.

* ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' takes place in then-present day NYC showing a city with a seedy underbelly full of stray cats and dogs (some of whom are quite vicious) and Fagin is shown scraping to get by, having to live on a dingy boat on the docks and being forced to work for an evil loan shark just to survive. The intro song "Once Upon a Time in New York City" even invokes this trope.

* [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Manehatten]], as seen in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Rarity Takes Manehatten", is glorious at first glance but is outright stated to have a cynical, corrupt side and that everypony is out for themselves. [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished This is quickly proven to be quite true]].

The Big Rotten Apple trope can come into play in any story set during the city's existence (you'll also sometimes see this trope in stories set in late 19th Century/Gilded Age New York, when high crime, overcrowding and income inequality led to similar stories and situations), but this has mostly become a DeadHorseTrope unless one is doing a period piece, as this was mostly TruthInTelevision from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s.

New York City (as well as many other cities throughout the United States and Europe) suffered major urban decay during that period. Crime was rising rapidly, racial antagonism was high, and various industries were starting their declines. In America, the completion of the Interstate Highway system and massive advancements in automobiles meant that commuting to the city while living elsewhere was easier than ever. This led to major "white flight" toward and massive growth of suburban areas, entrenching the suburbs' reputation of being safer, cleaner, and... well, more [[StepfordSuburbia homogeneous]] than the inner cities.

On the flip side, this massive and relatively sudden outflux of people led to a rapidly deteriorating tax base (New York was ''barely'' brought back from the brink of bankruptcy in 1975), which in turn caused government corruption, neglect, and lack of city maintenance. The 1970s and early '80s were without a doubt the nadir of this decay, which is why this trope peaked in that period. By the late 1980s and early '90s the cities had begun to slowly recover, with white flight having slowed and unemployment having fallen, but they were still scarred from the remaining problems, such as crime, so this trope was still decently prevalent, albeit not anywhere near as much as previously.

New York City (as well as many other cities throughout the United States and Europe) suffered major urban decay during that period. Crime was rising rapidly, racial antagonism was high, and various industries were starting their declines. In America, the completion of the Interstate Highway system and massive advancements in automobiles meant that commuting to the city while living elsewhere was easier than ever. This led to major "white flight" toward and massive growth of suburban areas, entrenching the suburbs' reputation of being safer, cleaner, and... well, more [[StepfordSuburbia homogeneous]] than the cities.

New York City (as well as many other cities throughout the United States and Europe) suffered major urban decay in the start of that period. Crime was rising rapidly, racial antagonism was high, and various industries were starting their declines. In America, the completion of the Interstate Highway system and massive advancements in automobiles meant that commuting to the city while living elsewhere was easier than ever. This led to major "white flight" to and massive growth of suburban areas, entrenching the suburbs' reputation of being safer, cleaner, and more... [[StepfordSuburbia homogeneous]] than larger cities.

The Big Rotten Apple trope can come into play in any story set during the city's existence (you'll also sometimes see this trope in stories set in late 19th Century/Gilded Age New York, when high crime, overcrowding and income inequality led to similar stories and situations), but this has mostly become a DeadHorseTrope unless one is doing a period piece, as this was mostly TruthInTelevision from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s.

On the flip side, this massive and relatively sudden outflux of people led to a rapidly deteriorating tax base (New York City was ''barely'' brought back from the brink of bankruptcy in 1975), causing government corruption, neglect, and lack of city maintenance. The 1970s and the early 1980s were without a doubt the peak of this decay, which is why this trope peaked in that period. By the late 1980s and early 1990s the cities had started to slowly recover, white flight slowed somewhat, and unemployment had fallen, but they were still scarred from the problems, such as crime, so this trope was still decently prevalent, but not anywhere near as much as previously.

->''Broken glass, everywhere!"''

->''"Go ahead, bite the Big Apple. Don't mind the maggots."''
-->-- '''Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}''', [[Music/SomeGirls "Shattered"]]

See also BrooklynRage, and the PlaceWorseThanDeath section for New York.

* ''VideoGame/TheGodfather: The Game'': You can't go far without running into [[TotallyNotACriminalFront a business controlled by]] TheMafia, {{Dirty Cop}}s are a dime a dozen, and even staying away from known Mafia fronts doesn't guarantee your safety from running gunfights in the streets.

* ''VideoGame/TheGodfather: The Game'': You can't go far without running into [[LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub a business controlled by]] TheMafia, {{Dirty Cop}}s are a dime a dozen, and even staying away from known Mafia fronts doesn't guarantee your safety from running gunfights in the streets.

* The fanfic series ''[[FanFic/UltimateSleepwalker Ultimate Sleepwalker: The New Dreams]]'' and ''[[FanFic/UltimateSpiderWoman Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With The Light]]'' are both set in the same alternate version of the MarvelUniverse. This universe's version of New York has both the highest number of supervillains per capita and the overall highest crime rate in the entire United States. It's specifically noted that Rudy Giuliani's law enforcement initiatives were a dismal failure, and the city remains as much of a crime-ridden hellhole as it's ever been.

* The New York of the Main/MarvelUniverse is an extremely dangerous place, plagued by everything from costumed supervillains to alien invasions to attacks by the odd EldritchAbomination. While the city's superheroes have managed to keep things from getting ''completely'' out of hand, {{Innocent Bystander}}s are all too frequently killed by these threats before the superheroes managed to stop them.

* ''WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat'', ''WesternAnimation/HeavyTraffic'' and WesternAnimation/TheLastDaysOfConeyIsland. Almost a Bakshi trademark.

* ''Film/TheProfessional'' is specifically set in the Mafia stronghold of New York's Little Italy where [[NaughtyNarcs a corrupt DEA agent]] can murder an entire family and an [[BadassAndChildDuo assassin and his young protege can carry out hits on unsuspecting victims]].

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}} The Familiar'', Jake wakes up in a dystopian, CrapsackWorld version of New York where all of humanity has been enslaved by the Yeerks and the only free people are an underground group of rebels.
* In ''Literature/BigTrouble'' by Creator/DaveBarry, there's a suitcase-sized nuclear bomb is on the loose that CIA agents explain [[HarsherInHindsight the True Believer intends to blow it up in the middle of Times Square]] (the book was written pre-September 11th), which prompts one character to remark it wouldn't be a big loss.

* Hubert Selby Jr.'s ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' portrays the titular borough in the late 1950s as a WretchedHive of prostitutes, drag queens and criminals. It was quite shocking when first published in the early 1960's.

* ''Literature/TheMidnightMeatTrain'': New York is a corrupt hellhole where the subway is stalked by a serial killer called The Butcher who kills people and feed their corpses to "The City Fathers", subhuman immortals who live beneath the city and serve an EldritchAbomination. Oh, and if you kill the Butcher in self-defence, you have to become the new Butcher yourself.

* ''Series/NightCourt'' [[PlayedforLaughs Played for Laughs]], as the courts have to deal with a non-stop parade of prostitutes, petty thieves, muggers and grifters to the point that criminal courts have to run around the clock just to keep up.

However, by the 1990s, cities in the United States (and European ones) had mostly recovered, with populations stabilizing or increasing again, crime and pollution plummeting, poverty falling, and blight mostly recovering. At the same time, many of the problems that cities had (poverty, crime, corruption, racial division) had slowly started to creep in the suburbs as well. Some cities obviously recovered more than others: [[UsefulNotes/StLouis many]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} smaller]] [[UsefulNotes/{{KansasCity}} cities]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Milwaukee}} in the]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}} Midwest]] only slightly recovered and are nowhere close to their peaks in the early and mid-20th century, while New York City has arguably [[GoneHorriblyRight recovered a bit too well]], such that many working-class people have left for cheaper places to live as gentrification drove land values (and with them rents and property taxes) ever higher. At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, it was the cities of the West Coast that got the reputation as dysfunctional: UsefulNotes/LosAngeles with gang violence and the Rodney King riots, UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco with its housing crisis,[[note]]Thanks to the tech industry boom, housing prices are so expensive that even if you're already rich, you'll find house-hunting to be almost impossible[[/note]] UsefulNotes/{{Portland}} and UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} with their [[BombThrowingAnarchists violent anarchist protests]], and all of them with a homelessness crisis. Despite this, many people who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s still believe New York City is like this because of what [[RealityIsUnrealistic pop culture told them during their formative years]].

* In ''Literature/{{Coda}}'', the dystopian city the book takes place in is a future New York.

* In a column he did in retaliation for a New York Times piece on Miami being a crime-ridden druglord paradise, Creator/DaveBarry tells of researchers from New York asking people why people didn't like New Yorkers and being told everyone was so rude. "[[IResembleThatRemark Then the researchers spat on them]]."

-->'''Homer:''' ... and that's when the [[Film/{{CHUD}} C.H.U.D.s]] came at me.\\