80 Blocks From Tiffany's (1979)

This comment found on IMDB sums it up better than I ever could:

"An intimate look at life on the streets for young teens gang members. Black and Latino teenagers of the South Bronx struggle to make it on the streets. This is Pre Hip - Hop, Pre Rap, and before Break Dancing took over the youth culture of the Bronx. It is right before the advent of Graffiti writers/bombers and Break Dance Crews that took off and became the new black culture a few years later. The film takes place in the summer of 1979. Shockingly realistic interviews with gang members of the infamous Savage Nomads and the Savage Skulls. Amazingly this authentic documentary does not contain any of the normal pitfalls that befuddle today's more exploitive investigative reports on gangs of the " 60mins." type. Filmmaker Gary Weis of SNL and "Ruddles" fame manages to let the kids speak for themselves. Most of the footage are real interviews. A few scenes are reannactments of stories as told by some of the younger street kids. A rare glimpse into late 70's New York towards the end of the infamous South Bronx Gangs. Anyone who is a fan of "The Warriors" would appreciate this film. The documentary shows many sides of the mainly Puerto Rican / Lation community of the South Bronx including. reformed gang members, current gang members, the police, and the community leaders who try and reach out to them. A film like this is simply unable to be made today!"