Your House Is Mine - Return of a Legend

Peter: 11th Sep 2007 - 19:16 GMT

heh. i was gonna explain that symbol, then i saw you did... nice find.
www.petermissing.com
neithermorenorless.blogspot.com/2007/03/peter-missing-in-nyc.html

CE: 11th Sep 2007 - 19:39 GMT

Thanks for this! I looked up the Tompkins Square Park Riots and it's very interesting. I didn't know about any of it.

jeeff: 11th Sep 2007 - 20:50 GMT

cool, this is the kind of inside info i only find on citynoise.

CartLegger: 11th Sep 2007 - 20:51 GMT

Great! I'll use this in my class this fall. Its a powerful symbol that my Bushwick students can relate to. History always appreciated.

colavitos ghost: 12th Sep 2007 - 14:03 GMT

PARTY'S OVER!

I LOVE MY SUV!!!!!!

little ukraine: 12th Sep 2007 - 14:47 GMT

glad to see so much love for Missing Foundation and the like. CartLegger, there is a pretty decent amount of information online. Try
http://www.hungryeyerecords.com/bands/missing_foundation/index_old.html
http://petemissing.de/
in addition to Peter's links above.
Also, the work of Clayton Patterson might be of interest:
http://gothamist.com/2005/08/26/clayton_patterson_captured_a_filmvideo_history_of_the_lower_east_side.php
Patterson actually shot video of the riot which was later used as evidence in the official investigation. Two Boots Pioneer Theater recently screened an hour of this video - it was awful, police chasing people down the street and beating them with clubs - such a turning point in the social history of NYC. One particular bit of dialog summed up the situation rather well:
Cop: "Get out of here!"
Citizen: "I'm standing on the sidewalk, this is public space!"
Cop: "Not tonight it's not."

additionally, I'd be glad to share some oral history straight from Pete himself (admittedly mostly biographical stuff), though I'm sure you could get it yourself if you're walking around Alphabet City at the right time and stop in the right bars.

jack: 12th Sep 2007 - 16:12 GMT

thanks little ukraine, would like to know your first name, but i informed my son who lives on the street where that drug bust took place. i'm generally down there every so often and last month went to dinner there and had a chance to stroll thompkins park and remembered the old day's in the 60's, the park has a dog runabout one for big and one for small dogs. i saw a young girl tanning herself in a skimpy suit and fellows lying on the grass around her and one guy sitting on a bench opposite her having self sex, couldn't help notice the papers going up and down, so its the same old park but different young people there and somewhat scaled upwards in professionalism so the sickies are kept to a minnimun, but there is action there all day long and into the night, many people, musicians, a young, working class, people with money, people wanting a better nyc hanging out at the bars along the streets, i kind of yearn for the day's when i frequented the establishments and lingered around the area, the east village, the intidy, unkept, slightly dirty bohemian lifestylers, and the gypsy girls that made life interesting but you had to hide you wallet and the fights. so now it's another generation, same streets, same buildings but different kids, and my son lives there, good grief, my son whom i held in my arms, who wouldn't be more than a foot away from me, lives there, thank you police department. thank you street crime units. it was hard in the 80's on the streets, a lot of crime, a lot of lost kids, and no one cared, just enjoy the moment, i would drive by the area at 4 am with friends every evening and we saw things that now i feel i should have done something about, and the most vulnerable were the girls, boozed out and in a daze, being violated at every corner, there are romantic memories, there are civil rights memories, there are freedom memories, there are singers romanticizing the area but the truth becomes heresay, confused, old dribble, in their songs the truth lies in the dead, the lost people of the east village, so do not be ready to condem, only appreciate the new.

CartLegger: 25th Sep 2007 - 20:02 GMT

Li'l U:

I'd love to get my hands on the tompkins square riot to my students. Any clue on how to get hold of it?

CartLegger: 25th Sep 2007 - 22:14 GMT

update: I found the man himself, and am working on a school visit...let ya know how it turns out.

little ukraine: 26th Sep 2007 - 04:11 GMT

CartLegger - do you mean you're in touch with Clayton Patterson or Peter Missing? either way, great, this sounds like it will be a great lesson plan!

little ukraine: 6th Feb 2008 - 20:50 GMT

CartLegger - now that the school year's pretty well in, wondering if you ever got a chance to work this into the curriculum! if so, how'd it go?

Margaret Jones Stites: 1st Mar 2008 - 19:45 GMT

Long way from cigarettes in suits of armor