from Tompkins Square Park by Q. Sakamaki, published by powerHouse Books
Before there was an East Village and Alphabet City, Tompkins Square Park was a hotbed for both creativity and crime. Captured by an area resident, Q. Sakamaki, powerHouse’s latest book shares the grime and grittiness through black and white photography.
For many years Tompkins Square Park was a makeshift home for the homeless and a center for social unrest. In the summer of 1988, it erupted in violence when the New York City Police and hundreds of protesters clashed over ideological differences. Residents of the Lower East Side, historically home to diverse immigrant communities but facing gentrification, united to protest the 1 a.m. curfew the city was attempting to enforce on the park, in effect banishing the homeless and closing off many areas of the park that were once public. Over the humid night of August 6, protestors carrying signs that read, “Gentrification is Class War,” and chanting, “It’s our fucking park, you don’t live here!” clashed with police armed with riot gear. The violence lasted until the next morning.
As New York City’s Lower East Side faced drastic gentrification in the late 1980s and mid-1990s, photographer Q. Sakamaki was documenting the community’s resistance and literal struggle to exist. It is the subject of his latest book, Tompkins Square Park. Focusing on the eponymous park as a symbol and stronghold of the anti-gentrification movement, Sakamaki, an area resident, witnessed the neighborhood’s change from the beginning to the end. With striking black-and-white images, he captures the scene of one of the most political and avant-garde movements in New York.
Along with an essay by Bill Weinberg, Tompkins Square Park presents a glimpse of the park before 1991 when the estimated 300 homeless people living in Tompkins Square Park were gone and the park was forcefully closed for renovations. Twenty years after the August 6 police riot, the park now boasts one of the best dog runs in New York City.
Book Launch and 20th Anniversary Commemoration
August 6th, 2008 from 6:30-8:30PM
The powerHouse Arena
37 Main Street
Brooklyn
Visit PowerHouseBooks.com for more information.
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BLOWOUTS IN BABYLON
Through July 13th: The 4th Annual Afro-Punk Festival is bringing some of the most exciting young artists and bands from the US and abroad, presenting live music and films every night throughout the festival and hosting free skate clinics and demos from skate and BMX pros in the BAM parking lot. Visit AfroPunk.com for more information.
Sunday, July 13th: Bastille Day Skate Jam 2! noon-8pm on Smith Street & Dean in Brooklyn. Sponsored by Homage, BK.
Sunday, July 13th: No Ordinary Monkey, your favorite late night disco jamboree, is back this summer for their annual party in the park! Apparently the park has been redone and is ready for us to ruin the new grass. As always refreshments will be available and this year the food will be provided by Roberta’s pizza! Your regular NOM djs: Phil, Anton, Carlos. Grand Ferry Park Grand + East River, Williamsburg, BK. 2pm-9pm
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SAMPLE SALES IN BABYLON
Up to 80% off Samantha Pleet, Spring & Clifton, Vanessa Barrantes, Laura Dawson, Madison-Hardng, Honey In the Rough, ClaraBella, Sophomore, and Verte! Complimentary refreshments. Friday 3pm-8pm, Saturday 11am-8pm. 201 Mulberry Street btwn Spring & Broome.
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