By Seth Tobocman – The Shadow

On August 6,1988, the worst riot in 20-years erupted outside New York City’s Tompkins Square Park on the Lower East Side. On that night, nearly 500 police stormed into this popular neighborhood, assaulting hundreds, while trying to squelch the protest against a midnight park curfew. The obscure law allowing the closing of the park hadn’t been enforced by the city in decades.

Tompkins Square Park, considered by many as the heartbeat of the Lower East Side, is surrounded by a neighborhood populated by Latinos, punk rockers, artists, eastern European immigrants and a recent influx of wealthy professionals.[Read More]