Monday, August 9, 2021

At the Tompkins Square Park Riot Reunion shows

The concerts commemorating the 33rd anniversary of the Tompkins Square Police Riot of Aug. 6, 1988took place this past weekend.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared these photos over the course of the two days that featured more than a dozen bands and speakers (not to mention the heavy presence of the NYPD and Parks Enforcement Patrol) ...

6 comments:

John Penley said...

SJ kicks ass. Thanks for the fantastic pix. You made my day.

Chris Flash said...

GREAT COVERAGE, as always, Stacie!

As I said from the stage, "FREE SPEECH is not FREE" when you are forced to spend thousands of dollars on legal fees and court costs simply to restore previously-approved permits that were unjustly revoked simply because the mayor and parks commissioner, both of whom will be GONE in less than six months, were embarrassed by twitter posts from a sleazy politician who didn't like the amazing show we had in the park on April 24.

To add INSULT to injury, our permit revocations were followed by a "September 11 Memorial" smear campaign orchestrated by the mayor and parks dept and compounded by LIES spewed by the very same politician who started the whole mess.

Well, three months and thousands of dollars and three lost event dates later, we are BACK!

Politicians and bureaucrats will come and go, but we are here on the Lower East Side and in Tompkins Square Park FOR LIFE!!!!

Anonymous said...

Great hearing the bands this last weekend. Looking forward to more shows! Tired of hearing that one guy croon pop over his acoustic guitar.

Anonymous said...

As long as people clean up after themselves, all concerts/events/etc. should be welcome.

Eddie Mack said...

I Love the Fact that a pic of Scotty Skitzo & Myself made it into the Article.. Im So HAPPY We got Our Park Back !! Thanks to Flash and John Gabriele for getting the Bands together and of course Getting that Generator so WE can Have a Show !! WE Beat them at there own Game !! It was a Great Weekend and I'm Proud to Have Been Part of it !!!

the said...

Iconicide were born as a direct result of the Police Riots of '88, and though we were not included on these shows it was great grabbing the mic with seminal NYHC band Nihilistics. Kudos to all those involved in overturning a ban which amounted to selective enforcement, pure and simple. Real New Yorkers are survivors, and as the adage goes, The Truth Will Out."