This remarkable collection of contemporary photographs, shot by photographers whose artistic roots in the East Village, shows unique and beautiful portraits of a now familiar neighborhood. This collection reminds people of our neighborhood’s beauty, wonder, and individuality and calls out for the preservation of its invaluable, irreplaceable legacy, for our own and future generations.
Ray’s Candy Store is a New York City deli that has existed in the Lower East Side since 1974. It serves an eclectic mix of foods, including egg creams, sot serve ice cream, Belgian fries, and Obama coffee. I walk past this place almost everyday and there is something about it that draws you in. It’s an East Village icon that I would hate to see go.
Tompkins Square Park has long been a sanctum for me. Its part of my everyday and it’s a place to escape and feel a tiny bit of nature within this metropolis we live in. My camera always comes along with me and these photographs are moments captured while documenting my daily rituals.
Living on Avenue B is never a dull moment. You can always find something going on and on this hot summer night, I found myself in the middle of a small parade of people taking over the streets. I walked with them, making photos, for a few blocks and then moved on to another attraction on Avenue B.
Tompkins Square Park has long been a sanctum for me. Its part of my everyday and it’s a place to escape and feel a tiny bit of nature within this metropolis we live in. My camera always comes along with me and these photographs are moments captured while documenting my daily rituals.
This coffee shop is on East 9th Street and First Avenue. It is a striking example of young entrepreneurs coming into the neighborhood, standing out, and then fitting right in.
This was photographed in Tompkins Square Park with 10th Street in the background, February 2004. When I saw the van, I was filled with joy. I immediately ran home to get my camera, feeling extremely nervous that it would be gone by the time I got back. It wasn’t.
A red pickup truck in front of the Polish butcher shop on Second Avenue. The guy who owns it wanted to drive up country with his girlfriend to cut down a Christmas tree to decorate their apartment for the holidays. I got the picture just before they left. Sweet!
The Drugs & Cosmetics neon sign is just beautiful.
The guy under the umbrella was selling snow cones for a buck. He became very agitated when I continued to shoot; he believed I was an undercover cop doing surveillance. He should not have been so paranoid; everyone has a camera these days.
There was a ground fog in the Park on Christmas Eve 2008, and it looked like the park was floating in space. It gives one that same feeling when it snows for the first time and the only way to make sense of it with a camera was to shoot out of focus.
This guy woke me at 3am one night in 2007. The volume on the TV was up full on some game show he was watching. There was no way of getting back to sleep so I took my camera and photographed him. Hilarious! You know this is the East Village.
It used to be on East 1st Street and Second Avenue, but alas, it was demolished. The locals have many fond memories of this hip dive bar. 2014.
I love “La Plaza Cultural” Park on Ave C and East 9th Street mostly for these marvelous “Winter Flowers,” a permanent installation by artist Rolando Politi that line the fence. Even under three feet of water and several other nightmarish storms they remain, a joyous celebration of life, twirling away.
Looking west from Ave B and 11th street, the “Jesus Saves” neon sign of the Father’s Heart Ministry Center is one of my favorite spots in the East Village. Even though the sign is not always working it remains a beacon for goodwill in the neighborhood.
Cherry Blossoms in Tompkins Square Park frame the magnificent Victorian Gothic, Queen-Anne style building that in 1886 was the Lodging House for Boys. I remember it as a location in the film “In America” (2002) before it was “cleaned up”.
All that remains of Yaffa Cafe today (“the East Village Oasis”) is a sign painted on a wall on St. Mark’s Place. I spent many hours there writing, laughing, meeting up with friends, and enjoying the delicious food. In 1988, many sought refuge there from the Tompkins Square Park Riot. It will remain close to my heart (and stomach), deeply missed.
This is a quintessential East Village Community Garden. I remember when it was a derelict empty lot and I am always amazed at how lush it has become. The garden has many events that extend late into the night and I have spent many happy hours there. This image is from my ongoing series, Magic Gardens: Nighttime Photographs of the East Village and Lower East Side Community Gardens. 2012
The East Village is full of life and all sorts of interesting and unique characters, which is one of the best things about it! Avenue A at St. Marks Place. 2008
Block Drugs at Second Avenue and East 6th Street first opened its doors in 1885. It is now a gem in the midst of all the chain drug stores. I have always loved their bright red neon sign, which seemed to turn the snow into large mounds of red sherbet. 2012
I am always attracted to the different colors that I see through my camera lens at night. Community Gardens are an essential part of life on the Lower East Side. This image is from my ongoing series, Magic Gardens: Nighttime Photographs of the East Village and Lower East Side Community Gardens. The garden is at 11th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. 2012
Located right across from Tompkins Square Park at 9th street. This stretch of Avenue A has somehow retained some of the vibe of the old East Village. A great area to just hang out and photograph life as it goes by. 2008
The Lakeside Lounge at Avenue B at 10th Street was an unpretentious East Village Rock and Roll dive bar where I saw many local bands. Situated right next door to Life Cafe, he light above the entrance of the Lounge bathed everything around it in a surreal red glow. 2008
Laura fought the law for almost two decades. She could be found at East
4th Street and Avenue C, or further down the block selling delicious home cooking as part of the local economy. She was greatly missed when she finally retired, and when she passed soon after, she was mourned by us all. The original mural, Afro Latin Mural, was on the wall of the supermarket. The dancer was painted as a backdrop for a popular film. 1980
An improvised jam session on a raised platform in the empty lot of El Jardin del Paraiso. These sessions would bring out the talent that lived in the hood and drowned out the blaring car stereos and ice cream jingles. Young and old would come out to dance and sing along with the traditional songs. 1986
View of homesteads on East 4th Street. This rubble thrown lot is now a community park with one of the first gardens: El Jardin de Picolo Paraiso. The homesteads at 310 East 4th Street was
the first building to house it’s “Sweat Equity” members after two years of gutting and rehabbing the 16 apartments, in December1980. I still live there. The homesteads at 309 East 4th Street, a victim of the city bureaucracy; took close to eight years to gut and rehab.. 1976
Looking West on 6th Street and Avenue B, a corner that is now a community garden. Arson for profit was big business in Loisaida; the fires were then rekindled by kids. 1978
City Arts Workshop created murals all over the Lower East Side. It was my search for these murals that first led me to Loisaida, where I found so many. The stories for the murals were suggested to the artist by the community, and then executed by school kids working all summer on scaffolds, supervised by the artist. 1976
A man showing off his trained fighter on East 4th Street and Avenue C. The street elements of the Puerto Rican culture are by now almost all wiped out, declared illegal, like the keeping of flocks of chickens and even piglets. 1984
A Bomba Y Plena Performance, performed at the East River Amphitheater Sponsored by Charas/El Bohio. 1984
A lively spot on Loisaida Avenue at East 6th Street and Avenue C that was replaced by a Dominican Bakery run by ‘locals’ that was everyone’s favorite bakery. Ask around! It vanished practically over night.
This mural, created by John Pitman Weber, is still up next to the supermarket on Avenue C between 7th and 8th Street. During Its inauguration, Jorge Brandon, El Coco Que Habla, revered by many Puerto Rican poets and writers, recites his poetry. 1989
Showing off our banner to ward off gentrification. Looking from East 6th Street to East 5th Street and Avenue C. Adopt a Building, a grass roots organization, had its headquarters across the street from this “ready to rally and get arrested” crowd. The young rally participant in the foreground is my son Curtis. 1986
An anti-police rally on East 4th Street between First and Second Avenues, one block south of the 9th Precinct located on East 5th Street. Back then the police would arrest homeless people before arresting drug dealers. The first row of protesters is from my household except for Anthony Pagan, under the balloons, the City Council Member for our district. 1988
Anti-drug and pro-housing rally on 3rd Street crossing Avenue B location of the last commercial bank (which folded after many robberies) until the Lower East Side Credit Union was established in it’s place to serve the people of our community. This photo as well as others I have taken illustrates its history. 1980
East Village from my staircase window.
Family on East 2nd Street and First Avenue. The East Village has been a great place to raise a child. Pioneers like Marlis Momber helped pave the way.
Skateboarders in Tompkins Square Park.
Snow on what were two majestic elms. The bent elm was deemed structurally unsound by the city. Instead of trimming the tree, the city cut it down. I miss it every time I walk past.
Another legend bites the dust.