From the 1980s to today: Daniel Root’s East Village in focus

Longtime East Village photographer Daniel Root has a new book out next month: "The East Village Then and Now: Capturing the Changing Streets" (Abbeville Press). 

The book pairs Root's photos of the Lower East Side and East Village from the early/mid-1980s with images of the same (or similar) locations today — a decades-spanning look at a neighborhood in constant motion. 

Backstory: In 1984, Root was commissioned to photograph "the changing East Village." The photos were taken, but the accompanying writing never materialized. The images were shelved as Root continued documenting the neighborhood over the years. 

A book project resurfaced in 2014 ... but didn't come together. 

Now, more than 40 years after those first shots, the project is finally in print. The book includes a foreword by Peter McGough and an essay by Beat historian and Allen Ginsberg archivist Bill Morgan. It also features a Tompkins Square Park cartoon from Stan Mack and a poem by Ginsberg. 

Root has several upcoming local events around the release:

• Sunday: Walk + talk at P&T Knitwear (1:30–3:30 p.m., ticketed) 

• May 3: Conversation with musician Eric Ambel at Book Club Bar (7–8 p.m., details) 

Publication date is May 12. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• After the last call: East Village photographer captures bars at dawn