but by HBO standards I think they sugarcoat things quite a bit. Street life is/was a LOT more violent than depicted on the show. I would have preferred a grittier version of the show, maybe something along the lines of Oz, or Deadwood.

 
I laughed about the condoms too, the only people that used condoms back then were guys who didn't want to knock up their girl friends.

 
I wasn't in NYC at the time, but I grew up in a similar environment. Hookers, pimps, johns and junkies were just part of the scenery growing up. I was a bit young in the early 70's, but I did see my first hooker as a customer in 1974