All photos by Diego Lynch
New Yorkers gathered in Washington Square Park last night to mark the 17th Transgender Day of Remembrance and memorialize the 25 transgender people murdered in the U.S. so far this year. More violence has been reported against transgender people in 2017 than in any previous year.
Back-to-back demonstrations in support of Planned Parenthood brought thousands to the Village on Saturday, with some 200 Pro-Choice advocates squaring off against a scattering of abortion foes outside the Margaret Sanger Center on Bleecker Street, followed by a much larger rally in Washington Square Park.
This week, we present a series of longer pieces unraveling the histories of storied buildings.
(Photo: Bill Altham)
On the 16th of November in 1964, four women and four men appeared in their underwear at the Judson Memorial Church, happily cavorting with each other and rubbing their bodies with carefree smiles. They piled up together, humping and sensually touching each other in a mess of raw fish, chicken and sausages. It was an event devoid of modesty, an unapologetic, uncensored expression of sexuality.
In the past, the East Village holiday tradition known as Unsilent Night has proceeded undeterred against the red menace that is SantaCon (remember UnsilentaCon?), so it’s surprising that something would stop it in its tracks on its 25th anniversary. But this is a brave new world we live in, and the annual roving sound collage orchestrated by composer Phil Kline has announced that it has moved the date of this year’s stroll “due to a large political rally in Washington Square Park planned for the same evening.”
(Photo: Daniel Maurer)
Forget the modest muppet at the Bernie-themed art show coming to the Bowery this weekend, this muppet really took Manhattan. It remains to be seen whether Bernie Sanders will win the Democratic nomination, but this guy was definitely a winner at the underdog candidate’s Washington Square Park rally. As Muppet Bernie walked down Broadway after the event let out, he was stopped for selfies by dozens and dozens of the estimated 27,000-plus people who flooded the Village to hear from Vampire Weekend, Rosario Dawson, Tim Robbins, Spike Lee, and bird-whisperin’ Bern himself.
As a YUGE crowd gathered for a Bernie Sanders rally in Washington Square Park this afternoon, we asked his supporters (some of which had been there since 1:30 a.m.) what they’d ask Hillary Clinton at Thursday’s Brooklyn debate. Click through to read their responses.
A march for Sanders in January. (Photo: Konstantin Sergeyev)
While a pro-Hillary pantsuit competition brews in Bushwick, NYU is warning its students that “thousands of people” are expected to attend a Bernie Sanders rally in Washington Square park at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. A campus-wide email from the school’s Vice President for Health advises that some streets in Greenwich Village will be closed off and the area will be crowded, but if you’re an NYU student wondering whether this means you get to miss class (or your shift at Bedford + Bowery) — sorry, no.
Hundreds of people, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, poured into Washington Square Park this afternoon for a “New York is Paris” gathering intended to send “love and support to the people of France” following last night’s terror attacks. Watch our video to hear from the mayor and others who gathered around the arch, sometimes breaking into France’s national anthem. Tonight, the monument, modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, was lit in the colors of the French flag.
Coyote & Crow resting before a performance. (Photo Credit: Sam Gillette)
One of the few fun things to come out of the subway last winter was that viral video in which a little girl inspired a dance-off at the Bedford Avenue stop. On a recent afternoon in Washington Square Park, we followed the sounds of a sandpaper-meets-velvet voice and “old time rock ‘n soul” until we happened upon the band behind the video, Coyote & Crow.
“I’ma slice me some Jedi ass,” was the first of many threats I’d hear walking through Washington Square Park on Saturday night, as almost 2,000 people gathered to wave around glowing plastic tubes from China. In reality, there was very little in the way of actual slicing, but Lightsaber Battle NYC 2015 was not short on imaginative enthusiasm. Fandom and cosplay abounded as New Yorkers gathered in the name of the force and issued gems such as “Chew-bacca on this,” “Your force is weak, son,” and, the crowning of insulting incitations, “You suck Jar Jar Bink dick.”