In the seventies and eighties, the streets smelled of nothing but urine.  Everything, everywhere had hobo pee on it.

Also the city was letting everyone store their trash on the street.  Every store and restaurant had a little mini dumpster out in front.  You could not get away from the smell of garbage.

Giuliani stopped all that.  He passed a law that mandated that garbage had to be kept indoors in an air conditioned space until pick up.  Every restaurant in the city now air conditions its garbage.

The urine smell only went away after the cops evicted the homeless guys from everywhere.  I felt bad about that, but things couldn't go on the way they were.  Sure the smell was a problem, but it was more that things had just gotten too dangerous.