ABOUT US:
The SHADOW, New York's only
underground newspaper, began publishing on the Lower East Side
of Manhattan in March of 1989, as a result of distorted
mainstream media coverage in the aftermath of the infamous
Police Riot in Tompkins Square Park from the evening of August 6
through the morning of August 7, 1988, during which hundreds of
"New York's Finest" descended on our neighborhood in furtherance
of enforcing a non-existent park curfew.
A week earlier, on the evening of July 31, cops had beaten
people in the park in order to remove them under the same
excuse. Over the course of the following week, cops built up
their forces inside and around the perimeter of the park,
including a command station inside, riot vehicles outside and
maneuvers on horseback, Like a scene from West Side Story, it
was clear to us that they were letting us know that they were
the bigger gang and were preparing for an old-fashioned New
York-style rumble that coming weekend. Not to be outdone by the
NYPD, our people were preparing for the upcoming rumble as well.
On the evening of August 6, hundreds of people demonstrated
against the non-existent curfew, as riot cops looked on. As we
marched in and around the park, bandanas to cover faces were
distributed as loud M80s exploded every few minutes. As soon as
marchers left the park, cops read the "Riot Act" over a speaker,
announcing that, as it was then 1:00am, their curfew was going
to be enforced. Realizing the tactical error of having left the
park, many demonstrators ran to jump over the park fence in
order to get back in the park. Riot cops jumped them. The riot
was on.
For the next five hours, riot cops charged at us in advancing
and receding waves as we outran them. Many people were clubbed
in the head by cops. Bottles were thrown their way. Several
bonfires were lit on the street. Mounted cops on horseback raced
up and down St. Marx Place, beating people as if playing polo
with their bodies. Riot cops with their badge numbers covered
chased and beat anyone in their sight. A videographer filming a
riot cop advance at Sixth Street and Avenue A filmed himself
getting beaten by two cops, Vecchi and Skryzpek. (They were
later found "not guilty" by a judge who nodded off during their
"trial.")
Those randomly attacked by riot cops included a yuppie on his
way out for the night, a waitress at the 7A café and her manager
who came to her defense, a bicycle rider who fell off his bike
when cops stuck a night stick in his spokes as he rode by - when
he hit the ground, they beat him with their clubs. Cops even
beat down an elderly homeless woman pushing her cart heading
into the park, where, under an understanding with the park
manager, homeless persons could sleep in the park overnight.
That night, scores of people were treated at nearby hospitals
for their injuries. Those who later sued the city received quick
$25,000 settlements.
Young man
beaten by riot cops on Avenue A [Photo by Clayton Patterson]
In one of the funnier moments of that night, at one point, riot
cops were lined up along Avenue A in formation. A police
helicopter that had been hovering over us all night with its
search light came too close to the lined-up cops, causing their
hats to go flying everywhere. Demonstrators and bystanders alike
laughed their heads off at them as they scurried to retrieve
them.
Yuri
Kapralov, author of Once There Was A Village, beaten by riot
cops
By 6:00am, riot cops withdrew from the standoff we maintained at
Avenue A and Sixth Street. To their way of thinking, they kept
the park closed all night, until their declared 6:00am
re-opening. To our way of thinking, we'd fought them all night
long and now we had gotten our park back. Almost immediately,
the call went out to attack the Christodora building, located at
Avenue B and Ninth Street. Built as a settlement house providing
housing and services for low-income residents and immigrants in
1928, by 1986, after many decades of neglect from abandonment,
as gentrification began taking hold on the Lower East Side, the
Christodora had been bought and sold about a dozen times by
flippers and real estate speculators, until one group converted the 13
story building into "luxury" condo apartments. As a result,
the Christodora House became a much-hated symbol of
gentrification in our neighborhood. When the Christodora lobby
was raided, the guard took off. A large
potted tree was removed and thrown into the street. Some yelled
"Save The Tree!" which was then re-planted in the park as a form
of poetic justice.
Christodora
House under siege after the riot
The Tompkins Square Park Riot brought neighbors together like
nothing else had before. Over the following weeks, with video
footage supplied by those who recorded the police violence,
mainstream news ran nightly reports about the riot. Confronted
by the violence and abuse by riot cops, then-mayor Ed Koch
declared that it looked like "A Police Riot."
