Tompkins Square Park Riot
USINFO | 2013-07-16 13:47

Tompkins Square Park Riot (1988)
Date August 6–7, 1988
Location New York City
40°43′43″N73°58′53″W
Characteristics Protest, Demonstrations
Parties to the civil conflict
  New York police
Arrests, etc
Deaths:
Injuries:
Arrests: 9
Deaths:
Injuries:

New York City

For the Tompkins Square Park Riot that took place in 1874, see Tompkins Square Riot (1874)

The Tompkins Square Park Riot occurred on August 6–August 7, 1988 in New York City's Tompkins Square Park. Groups of "drug pushers, homeless people and young people known as 'skinheads'" had largely taken over the East Village park, but the neighborhood was divided about what, if anything, should be done about it.[1] The local governing body, Manhattan Community Board 3, adopted a 1 a.m. curfew for the previously 24-hour park, in an attempt to bring it under control.[2] On July 31, a protest rally against the curfew saw several clashes between protesters and police.[3]

Another rally was held on August 6. The police "charged" a crowd of protesters, and a riot ensued. Bystanders, activists, police officers, neighborhood residents and journalists were caught up in the violence.[4] Despite a brief lull in the fighting, the mêlée continued until 6 a.m. the next day. Mayor Ed Koch temporarily rescinded the curfew. The neighborhood, previously divided over how to deal with the park, was unanimous in its condemnation of the heavy-handed actions of the police.

Over 100 complaints of police brutality were lodged following the riot. Much blame was laid on poor police handling, and the commander of the precinct in charge was deprived of office for a year. In an editorial entitled "Yes, a Police Riot", The New York Times commended CommissionerBenjamin Ward and the New York Police Department for their candor in a report that confirmed what ubiquitous media images made clear: the NYPD were responsible for inciting a riot.[5]

One of the concerns of the local community had been that the park was a gathering place for drunken rock fans and their boisterous street parties. On November 7, 2004, about 1,000 people gathered in Tompkins Square Park to attend a concert by the punk band Leftöver Crack. The concert has since become a yearly ritual to mark the 1988 riots.

Background
 

 

St. Brigid's Church on Avenue Boverlooks Tompkins Square Park and allowed protesters to organize there.

After the Tompkins Square Riot of 1874, the park held a symbolic place in the New York labor movement.[6] By the summer of 1988, the East Village — and Tompkins Square Park in particular — had become a gathering place and home for the wayward and contingents of the homeless and rowdy youth.

Neighborhood residents, voicing their preferences through at least four community organizations, had differing perspectives on the evolving nature of the park, and what actions should or should not be taken. The Avenue A Block Association (made up of local businesses) demanded a curfew. Other groups such as Friends of Tompkins Square Park and political organizers on the poorer east side of the park preferred that no curfew be imposed, and Manhattan Community Board 3 took the middle ground.[7]

On June 28, 1988 the Community Board 3 approved a report that included a recommendation for a 1 a.m. curfew. While there was some controversy about how well-informed the voting board members were, board manager Martha Danziger affirmed the validity of the decision. Park workers painted a warning on the ground days after the Association made its decision. On July 11 the police, under the direction of Captain Gerald McNamara of the 9th Precinct, confined homeless people to the park's southeast quadrant, and evicted all others. They closed the park down periodically over the next two weeks.[7]

Riot

First signs of trouble

Though the park was a de facto homeless shelter, some residents considered the police department's actions an attempt to take the park away from the public. Protests were organized and a rally called for July 31.[7] That night, police entered the park in response to alleged noise complaints, and by the end of the call several civilians and six officers were treated for injuries, and four men were arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and inciting to riot.[8] Sarah Lewison, an eyewitness, said the protest was over rumors of a midnight curfew at the park and another witness, John McDermott, said the police provoked the melee.[8] Angry organizers planned another rally for August 6.[7]

A rematch: August 6
 

 

Christodora House, for many the first sign of East Villagegentrification,[9] and scene of the riot

The police were there to meet the protesters. "It's time to bring a little law and order back to the park and restore it to the legitimate members of the community," said Captain McNamara. "We don't want to get into a situation where we under-police something like this and it turns into a fiasco."[7]

The city was on edge and in the midst of this, the park was turned into what Times reporter McFadden described as a bloody "war zone."[10] Around 11:30 p.m., 150 or 200 (police estimates were 700) protesters came through the St. Mark's Place entrance to the park, holding banners proclaiming Gentrification is Class War.[7]By the time dawn broke, 38 people, including reporters and police officers, suffered injuries. In total, nine people were arrested on riot, assault and other charges, and six complaints of police brutality were logged with the Civilian Complaint Review Board.[10]

Police actions
 

 

Allen Ginsbergwas an eyewitness to the riots


Although bottles reportedly flew, it was the police who charged the crowd.[7] Despite NYPD protestations that their actions were measured, "The police panicked and were beating up bystanders who had done nothing wrong and were just observing," said poet Allen Ginsberg, a local resident and witness.[7] Captain McNamara countered, "We did everything in our power not to provoke an incident. They didn't charge the crowd until the bricks and bottles started flying." New York Times photographer Angel Franco saw the police beat a couple who emerged from a grocery store; when he tried to take photographs, an officer clubbed him. A New York Daily News reporter, Natalie Byfield, was also clubbed on the head. Both were wearing press identity cards. Jeff Dean Kuipers, a reporter for Downtown Magazine, was clubbed after an officer told his African-American companion, Tisha Pryor, to "move along, you black nigger bitch."[7] Kuipers told Newsday "[The police] ran into the crowds with horses. I saw residents pulled off their stoops . . . They cracked my friend's head open. It didn't matter if you were a journalist or a resident or a storekeeper."[1]

Pryor is seen crying, with blood flowing down the back of her neck, in a videotape made by artist Clayton Patterson. Another video made by freelance cameraman Paul Garrinshows officers swinging clubs at him and slamming him against a wall. Photographer John McBride, taking still photos of the riot that were to be published in The Village Voice, was also struck by a policeman's nightclub in the same attack taped by Garrin.[11] Mr. Fish, a travel promoter out for an evening on the town, attempted to hail a taxi on Avenue A near Sixth Street when he was suddenly struck on the head. "I was just standing there watching," he said. "The next thing that I remember is seeing the stick, and then a young woman who was helping me." Patterson's videotape showed that no officers helped Fish until an ambulance arrived. A police helicopter hovered over the scene, contributing to a sense of chaos.[7]

During a lull in the riot, a young officer on Patterson's video appealed for understanding from the protesters. He tried to calmly tell them how unhappy the police were with the assignment and its aftermath. "We've got cops back there in ambulances who've been hit." But the lull ended. Thirty to seventy protesters re-entered the park. A witness said the mob rammed a police barricade through the glass door of the Christodora House, a high-rise luxury building on Avenue B. They overturned planters and tore a lamp out of the wall, threatened residents and staff with bodily harm, and screamed and chanted "Die Yuppie Scum". At 6 a.m., the last protesters dispersed, vowing to demonstrate again.[7]

When questioned about the brutality, Captain McNamara said, "It was a hot night. There was a lot of debris being thrown through the air. Obviously tempers flared. But all these allegations will be investigated."[7] Mayor Ed Koch was forced to temporarily revoke the curfew.[12]

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