We are two tenant associations who joined together to defend ourselves against a corporate real estate investment hydra that seeks to expel us from our homes in order to maximize their profits.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Neighborhood

2nd Avenue and East 4th Street

1 comment:

  1. You're looking at a small slice of East Village History.... Joe Masseria, the head of NYC's mafia lived in building 82, before Lucky Luciano did him in and the "five families were born", and next to that was the infamous Segal's Cafe... for the past 52 years now a evangelical hispanic church that's been turning the energy around, for the better...and a living remnant of the thriving hispanic hood this once was too. You see Nomad's one of our more beautiful restaurants, offering delicious North African fare, and wonderful middle eastern music on Thursday and Friday nights... the owner who's been in the hood for two decades is the perfect example of a person of community and the best of keeping with flavor of the EV being a place celebrating all cultures. Down the Street you see Middle Collegiate Church which houses the NY Liberty Bell which rang downtown for George Washington's inauguration here, and it's a direct descendant of the first church erected on this island by the Dutch.... inside it has some of the first, if not the first, back lite tiffany windows...but most importantly they do tremendous interfaith work, are very progessive in human movements, and happen to have one of the best Gospel choirs in the city (Harlem included). Up the street one block was where the first school for women physicians opened in the 1860s. Across the street out of view, was Ratners, a 24 hour dairy that served the Marx Brothers and thousands of the Vaudeville players who served the famous theaters on this avenue, as well as Ginsberg and the beat generation.... and for us of the 60's in the Village next to it remains the facade of the great Filmore East, where, almost without exception, all our musicians played, repeatedly... it was a center of the heart in NYC for the 60's... the music and all around the music pulled the races together, pushed the concept of universal community, and caring for one another... And there is much more... several vital buildings in the Ukranian and Polish historical communities remain, not to mention many of the buildings originally built by the great German community of Kliener Duetschland.. So, one little shot, with rain, brings up a fair amt of memories and time travel...

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