Prior to the Punks, Years Before the Yuppies: East Village 1967

Next month, I am to cross the perilous Rubicon of my 51st year. I’m not especially enthused about that number, but what is to be done? Arriving, as I did, if my mother is to believed, at “cocktail hour” during the early evening of October 13, 1967, following a harrowing ride in a yellow cab across congested West 14th Street en route to St. Vincent’s Hospital, I was officially born in downtown Manhattan. My family did not live downtown, at the time, which might explain why that cab ride was so fraught, but they made it to St. Vincent’s all the same. My grandfather, a doctor, has practiced at St. Vincent’s, which might be why the decision was made to have me delivered there. Decades later, both of my own children were born at St. Vincent’s. Today, despite my multiple personal connections to the place, St. Vincent’s Hospital is sadly gone, razed to accommodate a new and prohibitively expensive cluster of condominiums. `Cos ya know … those are more important to a community than having a proper hospital in the vicinity. But, I digress…

In any case, in my regular perusals around the internet, I stumbled upon the clip below and let out an audible gasp or two. From the AP Archives, the video below captures scenes from the East Village – including footage of East 9th Street, First Avenue, Tompkins Square Park, St. Marks Place, The Dom and the Electric Circus, among other locales --- circa 1967. In fact, the story accompanying the footage was evidently posted on the very day of my birth. While these hirsute hippies right out of central casting were depicted strolling -– in some instances barefoot -– around the largely-still-recognizable East Village, I was busy preparing my early entry into the world about five avenues to the west.

Anyway, enjoy the trip back in time… and please note that while some footage repeats itself, it’s worth sticking around for the whole 8:26 of it.

Comments

[DrBOP]

Struck by a few things:
-the hair....length alone was enough to get you unwanted attention from construction workers and cops alike.
-no shoes....passing by a construction site, or entering a retail shop...."Hey lady....whaddyathink, 'dis is Venice Beach or somethin'....gedouttaheah....and GET A JOB!"
(also find it hilarious that she's LIMPING across the cross-walk in her final appearance in the vid = purrrrfect! :>)
-I think it was Van Ronk that called these kids "tunnel and bridge chumps"....to the older "more serious" folkies, and others, these folks were besmirching the Village codes on many levels.
-part of that thinking came from the way the younger crowd consumed drugs. The older crowd felt they were getting high for more lofty goals than the weekend warriors who were in it to just get "fucked-up".
-I miss cherry tops.....WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?
Great vid....thanks!

[URLBrenner]

Thanks for posting. I'm always on the lookout for stuff like this, and this clip you located is an AMAZING find. I've lived in the E. Village for 25 years. In fact I live right around the corner from where a lot of this was shot. What's really interesting about this footage is that locations of places like the Digger Free Store are still there, but with the facade the building has now you would never know it. I wish time machines existed because I would pay good money to go back to that period and have a chance to hang at the Electric Circus or the Fillmore East.

[greg]

Wonderful footage ! Thanks for sharing !
GA.