I’m a native New Yorker, still enjoy visiting.
The Big Town is not particularly dirty, anyone who would “never guess” that NYC wasn’t in the top ten a) has never been there, and b) has no idea what they are talking about.
Except for some of those train station bathrooms. Stunk like a sewer the last time I was in one about ten years ago. There was no safe place to step. The floor was wet with urine and overflowing toilets. Never again.
My wife and I watched the French Connection shortly after Gene Hackman died. One of the comments my wife made was “look at all the garbage”.
I have not been to the city since prior to Covid. I thought in general mid town Manhattan was pretty clean for a huge city.
It was a lot worse in the 1970s-80s. Prior to Rudy.
I recall walking down the street in the middle of the day in Manhattan around 1977 and a large Black woman axed me IF I wanted a date. I replied no thank you.