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The
East Village: A Short History
(an excerpt from the back of the
East Village Map)
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". . . It was in the 1940s that
the northern half of the Lower East Side (now the East Village)
began its rise as a bohemian quarter. By the 1950s, East Tenth Street
was a full-fledged artists' neighborhood, complete with art galleries,
a popular coffee house, and a growing community of writers and artists.
The 1960s would see the area's center shift from East Tenth Street
to St. Mark's Place. The neighborhood was now the haunt of disaffected
youth, first known as beatniks, and later as hippies. It was the
decade of head shops, Happenings, pop art, anti-war demonstrations,
underground films, sexual liberation, alternative newspapers and
rock and roll. The name "East Village" created by real
estate brokers at this time, then adopted by the area's bohemians,
remains current today. . ."
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Some Sites On The Walking
Tour
(an excerpt from the back of the
East Village Map)
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9. Pyramid
Cocktail Lounge - 101 Avenue A.
The frolics of Club 57 lived on in this bar and performance
space. In 1985, Pyramid regulars Lady Bunny, Ethel Eichelberger,
and John Sex helped create Wigstock, a once-a-year drag festival
first held in Tompkins Square Park and now going strong in the West
Village.
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10. Offices
of the "East Village Other" -
147 Avenue A.
Published from 1965 to 1973, the Other reached a circulation
of 65,000. A frequent visitor: Tom Forcade, director of the Underground
Press Syndicate and later founder of the magazine High Times
(1974).
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11. Tompkins
Square Park
This old city square (built in 1834) has been the site of labor
demonstrations, anti-war protests, marijuana smoke-ins, and gentrification
battles between police and street people. A band shell built in
the 1960s hosted free concerts by Jimi Hendrix, Santana, and the
Fugs. Heated protests ignited when the band shell was demolished
in 1991.
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12. Apartment
of Charlie Parker - 151 Avenue B.
From 1950 to 1954 this was the home of the bop saxophonist
Parker, his friend Chan, and their two sons. Parker is honored with
a building plaque. He is also remembered with the Charlie Parker
Jazz Festival held every summer in Tompkins Square Park.
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13.
Iggy Pop at Christodora House - 145 Avenue B.
Built in the 1920s as a settlement house to help the poor, the
conversion of the Christodora into upscale condominiums in 1986 sparked
anti-gentrification demonstrations. One celebrity resident: punk music
pioneer James Osterberg (a.k.a. Iggy Pop). |
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Walking tour map
(mouse over for detail)
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The East Village
A map and walking tour
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