Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Videos: The 1990s East Village Art Punk Scene
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 28, 2015
Modified Jan 28, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 28, 2015
Modified Jan 28, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Recently Ethan Minsker—who, among other things, was a founding member of the Antagonist Movement—shared his videos with us. Minsker says he moved to the East Village when it was still mostly called Alphabet City, in 1990—but he doesn't necessarily miss the old days:
"On my first night I looked out the window and saw a gang of kids walking down the street beat the crap out of some old guys just walking. They called it Wilding back then. I lived above an illegal gambling joint where I once saw a guy stumble out after getting stabbed. If you walked down that street today you would find the illegal gambling was replaced by a fancy restaurant and families pushing baby strollers. But I am not one of those who wishes for the Old New York. I am happy to push a stroller and not worry about getting stabbed."
Filming mostly the art and rock scene, the first video up from Minsker is a little of both. This features the late Arturo Vega, the artist behind the Ramones.
As Legs McNeil pointed out in Please Kill Me, "Arturo Vega, the guy who owned the Ramones' loft, was [also] a painter who made Day-Glo swastikas." Here's his art show in the East Village showing those:
And finally, Minsker sends along Anything Boys Can Do..., his 71-minute doc shot in the area in 1996. The subjects are all women who were performing in the area at the time, and Minsker says you'll see everywhere from Brownies (now Hi-Fi) on Avenue A to some old warehouses in DUMBO. This one is NSFW:
Check out the Lower East Side in 1995 right here—in just twenty years there's been a lifetime of change.
Tagged
1990s
east village
ethan minsker
flashback
original
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
What do you see when you record the whole of the boroughs?
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 5, 2026
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
It's a busy month at the branches.
By
Alec Hamilton
Arts & Entertainment
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
It's a busy month at the branches.
By
Alec Hamilton
NYC music in October: The Strokes, a Blink-182 cover band, and Polish experimentalism
By
Hank Shteamer
Are you a New Yorker? The Department of New Yorker Verification will now decide.
By
Hannah Frishberg
In the mood for a pastoral autumn experience? Try Queens.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .