The history of Tompkins Square Park, a place of counter-culture, protest and pride in the heart of Manhattan's East Village.
This episode on the history of Tompkins Square Park ties right into an all-new two-part episode coming in September, the first part coming at you next week.
Tompkins Square Park is the heart and soul of the East Village. And it's also one of New York City's oldest parks! However this was not a park designed for the service of the upper classes in the mid-19th century. It provided open air and recreational space for the many hundreds of thousands of immigrants who moved into the Lower East Side, particularly Germans who filled the park with music, food and social gatherings.
But the park has also been a place for people to voice their descent. It's become a most rebellious place over the decades. This is a story of vice presidents and labor unions and drag queens and punks.
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This show was originally released in 2014.