More than four decades after its closing, a commemorative plaque was unveiled last night at the site of the Fillmore East, the legendary East Village…
‘It Was a Joint’: Jazz Musicians Remember Slugs’ in the Far East
Slugs’ Saloon opened its doors in 1964, a neighborhood bar owned by Robert Schoenholt, who died in 2012, and Jerry Schultz. By early 1965, many…
‘Tommy Was the Ramones’: Friends and Colleagues Remember Tommy Ramone
Despite their impact, the Ramones struggled for commercial success. Their debut album, Ramones, has been called the most influential punk record, but it was only…
Remembering Café Le Metro: ‘We Were the Resistance to John Q Average American’
In 1963 Newsday reported on artists who had abandoned Greenwich Village for the Lower East Side, “New York’s newest bargain-basement bohemia”: “Poets aren’t lacking on…
‘We’d Found This Cave Out of Time’: A Look Back at Glam Rock’s Club 82
When Judy Garland, Kirk Douglas, Liz Taylor and the glitterati of the ‘50s wanted to walk on the wild side, they headed to the East…
The East Village Jazz Scene Remembers Amiri Baraka
In the 1950s, before LeRoi Jones would change his name to Amiri Baraka, the poet soaked up the sounds of jazz in bars throughout the…
‘Definitely a New York Hang’: Jazz Musicians Remember the Five Spot Café
Until we return to our usual schedule Jan. 3, enjoy this daily series of longer pieces in which we unravel the mysteries and the histories…
Was Banksy Inspired By This East Village Nudist Who Ran For President?
Louis Abolafia’s campaign poster featured the East Villager almost completely nude, asking, “What have I got to hide?” Abolafia died 18 years ago today. But in…
‘He Treads Kind of Softly’: Two Musicians Remember Working With Lou Reed
The leather jacket and moody persona were only a part of the puzzle that was Lou Reed. Musicians like Steve Katz of Blood Sweat &…
A Look Back at the Electric Circus, the Greatest Show on St. Marks Place
Few nightclubs exemplified the excesses of the drug-fueled ‘60s like the Electric Circus. Trapeze artists, mimes and jugglers illuminated by pulsating strobe and black lights…