I saw it first on late night TV in the early 80s, and I've loved it ever since.
I was born in '79 but saw it a couple of years ago for the first time and loved it. I even liked the beat'em up game based on the movie.
I saw it in the theater in 1979. I was drawn to it because I was intrigued by the concept. It was one of the first films to not portray gangs as a "social problem." I was living in New York at the time so the setting had special relevance to me.
I went to see it with our fellow forum member Shelly Mars. The ending scenes were filmed in Coney Island not too far from where she lives. We were able to walk around the location on our way home from the theater. In fact the theater we saw the movie in can be glimpsed briefly in one shot.
I haven't seen The Warriors since that day but I still remember parts of it vividly. That really says something, because I tend to forget my impressions of most movies pretty quickly.
I've watched it and own it on DVD. Good movie. Need to break the disc out and watch it again some day.