Last week, copies of newspaper front pages from two decades ago appeared pasted on lampposts around Tompkins Square Park, reminders of the park riots’ 20th anniversary. On Aug. 6-7, 1988, a crowd protesting a new park curfew were charged by police. Video recordings of the incident showed police beating innocent bystanders. Three years later after another riot, the park was closed for renovations and its band shell, a focal point for squatters and activists, was torn down. In today’s East Village, scenes of bottle-throwing anarchists clashing with baton-wielding police have been replaced by baby strollers.
Villager photo by Nick Brooks
