THE RADICAL APPLE

Place your mouse over an icon to learn a little about the radical history of New York City [comments - suggestions]

Emma Goldman: Emma Goldman - 208 East 13th Street - This was Emma Goldman's residence from 1903-1913. There is a plaque outside commemorating the time she spent there.
Blackout Books: Blackout Bookstore and Infoshop - 50 Avenue B - This was the site of Blackout Bookstore and Infoshop from October 1994 until August 2000.
Bluestockings: Bluestockings - 172 Allen Street - Progressive bookstore with an anti-authoritarian bent.
Mayday Books and Infoshop: Mayday Books and Infoshop - 155 1st Avenue - (in the Theater for a New City). New York's only anarchist bookstore (presently at risk of eviction).
Charas: Charas - 605 East 9th Street - In what was once an abandoned public school, Charas operated as a radical community center for two decades until it was seized by the city and sold to a developer. Police evicted Charas from the building on December 27, 2001.
The Stonewall Inn: The Stonewall Inn - 53 Christopher Street - Site of the Stonewall Inn, where the Stonewall rebellion and the gay liberation movement began. The spark was a raid by authorities on June 27, 1969.
Leon Trotsky: Trotsky- 77 St. Marks Place – Soon to become one of the most important figures of the Russian revolution, Trotsky worked on the bottom floor of this building for a Russian language dissident newspaper named Novy Mir (The New World). He left after the revolution broke out in 1917.
Modern School: Ferrer Modern School - 104 East 12th Street - Inspired by the martyred Spanish anarchist Francisco Ferrer, Modern School's opened throughout New York and elsewhere. This photo was taken in 1912. Will Durant, the famed historian and one-time Modern School teacher, is standing.
Tompkins Square Park: Tompkins Square Park This park was a site of popular demonstrations from the late nineteenth century to the 1990s. The photo was taken during a riot in 1988.
Squats: Squats - 539, 541, and 545 East 13th Street - Site of a twelve hour battle when police evicted squatters on May 29, 1995.
Squats: Squat! - 537-539 East Fifth Street – Squatted building evicted on February 10. 1997. A video of the eviction is available here. Toward the end, you can see Brad Will, who was later killed in Oaxaca, Mexico.
The Muste Building: The Muste Building - 339 Lafayette Street - Purchased in 1978, the Muste building provides low-cost office space to movement groups. Tenants include the Libertarian Book Club, Paper Tiger TV, the War Resisters League, among others.
The Tamiment Library: The Tamiment Library - 70 Washington Square South - Though part of the NYU behemoth, the Tamiment Library is a local gem. Located on the tenth floor of the truly hideous Bobst Library building, it holds more than 50,000 books documenting the history of radical politics: socialism, communism, anarchism, utopian experiments, the cultural left, the New Left, and the struggle for civil rights and civil liberties. You don’t need an NYU ID to enter and staff members are typically helpful and informative.
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire - 23 Washington Place - The Asch building, site of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire on March 25, 1911 in which 146 garment workers died.
Time's Up: Time's Up - 49 E Houston Street- office of Time's Up, a New York-based direct-action environmental group that fights for a more sustainable, less toxic city.
Garden of Eden: Garden of Eden - Eldridge Street - Site of Adam Purple’s majestic Garden of Eden. Purple began constructing the garden on rubble filled lots in 1973. The city bulldozed it on January 8, 1986. (photo by Harvey Wang).
Garden of Eden: Weatherman Bomb Explosion - 18 West 11th Street - Three Weatherman died on March 6, 1970 when they accidentally blew up the townhouse at this address while manufacturing a bomb to be used at the Fort Dix army base. The organization went underground shortly thereafter.
Sabotage: Sabotage Books - 96 St. Marks Place - Site of an anarchist bookstore opened in the fall of 1989. In addition to playing an important role in the resurgence of anarchism in the city, it was also an anchor of the local squatters' movement and for resistance to the gentrification of Tompkins Square Park.
CBGBs: CBGBs - 315 Bowery – Arguably the home of American punk, CBGBs was a landmark for radical culture in New York during its more than two decades of existence. It opened in 1973 and closed on October 15, 2006.
Oscar Wilde Bookshop: Oscar Wilde Bookshop - 15 Christopher Street – Founded in 1967, this is the world’s oldest gay and lesbian bookstore.
The Living Theatre: The Living Theatre - 21 Clinton Street – Now celebrating sixty years of anarchist and experimental theater under the tutelage of Julian Beck, Judith Malina, and others.
Mabel Dodge's home: Mabel Dodge's home - 23 5th Avenue - The site of Mabel Dodge's apartment and salon, which was a center of New York bohemian culture in the second decade of the twentieth century. Individuals such as Emma Goldman, "Big Bill" Haywood, John Reed, and many others made an appearance.
Yippie Museum: Yippie Museum and Cafe - 9 Bleecker Street - Site of the Yippie Museum and the Yippie Museum Cafe, dedicated to celebrating and carrying on the legacy of the Youth International Party, New York's famed anarcho-pranksters. Old radical posters are on exhibit inside and the cafe boosts an extensive menu.
Saint Joseph's House: Saint Joseph's House - 36 East 1st Street - Saint Joseph's House, one of the Catholic Worker Movement's "Houses of Hospitality," which offers various services to the needy, and also the headquarters of the Catholic Worker newspaper. Founded in 1933, the Catholic Worker Movement has a long history of advocating against war and for social justice.