The NYPL's archive of the legendary East Village Eye now available to the public

Images from the NYPL

The New York Public Library's extensive archive of the East Village Eye is now processed and available to researchers. 

In February 2023, the NYPL acquired the East Village Eye archive from founder and editor Leonard Abrams. The collection consists of documents, manuscripts, artworks, videos, ephemera, and a complete run of the original printed publication (72 issues in total), which was published from 1979 to 1987 and covered the neighborhood's arts, politics, and social currents during a transformative decade. 

The collection also documents the daily workings of a small publication – advertising, correspondence, datebooks, financial records, and more. Contributors included resident advice columnist Cookie Mueller, Richard Hell, and David Wojnarowicz, and the newspaper featured images from dozens of acclaimed photographers early in their careers.

"The Library's acquisition of the East Village Eye archive is the perfect outcome of our years-long search for the best home for these materials," Abrams said upon the purchase last year. 

"We are looking forward to seeing the creative ways that the collection will be used by scholars, students, educators, artists, activists, and anyone passionate about the history and culture of downtown New York City,"  said Julie Golia, associate director, manuscripts, archives, and rare books and Charles J. Liebman curator of manuscripts, in a statement.

Highlights of the collection include: 

• A full print run of all 72 issues of the East Village Eye in pristine condition (no other public institution possesses a complete print run of the periodical)
• Extensive administrative records and founding business documents for the magazine, including correspondence with staff, contributors, advertisers, and readers throughout the Eye's eight-year run
• Abrams' handwritten pocket planners showing his relationship with artists, musicians, businesses, and writers across the neighborhood and beyond
• Promotional materials created by the Eye, including maps and guides of the East Village and invitations and flyers for Eye-affiliated parties, openings, and events
• A collection of photography of the downtown scene by a roster of acclaimed photographers employed or engaged by the Eye, including Marcia Resnick, Eric Kroll, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, and others
• Candid and behind-the-scenes snapshots of Abrams and the Eye staff and contributors at work and as participants in the neighborhood's vibrant nightlife

Per the NYPL: "The records of the Eye will be essential to researchers studying the evolution of the punk movement, the growth of hip-hop, the rise of HIV/AIDS, and the early careers of artists like Basquiat, Mapplethorpe and Fab Five Freddy."

Researchers can access the East Village Eye records in the Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room for Rare Books and Manuscripts at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, 476 Fifth Ave. at 42nd St. (Find more info here.)

You can learn more about the East Village Eye records from the collection guide and this blog post by the NYPL's Golia.

Sadly, Abrams (above left with Fab Five Freddy) died suddenly last April, only a few months after the collection came to the NYPL. He was 68. 

The NYPL "is proud to provide access to the archive that represents Abrams' important cultural and journalistic legacy."

Previously on EVG:

• Q-and-A with Leonard Abrams, publisher of the East Village Eye