The East Village and Alphabet City: Rebels, Rockers, Artists and the Heart of NYC’s Counterculture

Join me on an exciting adventure through Manhattan’s most rebellious neighborhoods- The East Village and Alphabet City! We’ll visit Astor Place and the Mosaic Trail- a guerrilla  art installation by local artist “Mosaic Man.” We’ll talk about the “bad old days” of the 1970’s and 1980’s when the murder rate was high, and Keith Haring and Basquiat, partied with Madonna at Club 57. We’ll see how Andy Warhol changed nightclubs forever, the magnificence that was Yiddish Broadway, and visit “Little Ukraine.” From there we move onto once gritty, but now fashionable Alphabet City, where the Tompkins Square Park riots raged, Drag performance blossomed, and every kind of counter culture phenomenon found a home! 

I’ve been a New Yorker for almost 30 years, and I’ll give you not just the important history, but the current culture as well. We’ll talk theater, restaurants and nightlife, art and architecure, as well as my own personal experiences with the area. I’ll give you tips on how to navigate the city more smoothly, and explain the mysterious ways of the New Yorker to you. And we’ll find time for some laughs along the way…I love NYC with all my heart, and I can’t wait to share my knowledge with you!