It also captures New York City just before the advent of hip hop, the devastating effects of the crack epidemic and before the proliferation of gang gun violence.

[1] The film also deals with many social issues affecting the area and its residents, such as poverty, teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse and illiteracy.

[3] He also consulted with community organizer Joan Butler and Bob Werner, leader of the NYPD's Youth Gang Task Force.

In a 2010 interview with The New York Times, Weis reflected upon seeing the streets of the South Bronx for the first time—with its burned-out buildings falling to rubble and stripped-down cars abandoned in the streets—and said that the scene looked to him like "postwar Dresden".

[3] In a 2010 interview with BlackBook magazine, Weis said that NBC was reluctant to air the film because of a recent legal case brought against ABC related to a movie made by their entertainment division of the news.

[3] It also captures New York City just prior to the explosion of hip hop, the crack epidemic and the proliferation of guns among street gangs.