Presentation/book party for The Bowery A History of Grit, Graft and Grandeur
With speakers: Eric Ferrara, Rob Hollander & David Mulkins
Originally part of a Lenape trail running the entire length of Manhattan Island, the Bowery has become one of the most notorious thoroughfares in America. Developed in stages by the Dutch, British and then Americans, this stretch of street has continually risen from its own ashes, interminably experiencing periods of popularity, poverty and prosperity.
It has been celebrated as a haven of counterculture, entertainment and theater and denigrated as New York's "Skid Row." Home to bums, bohemians, criminals, artists, performers and the rich and poor alike, the Bowery has attracted the most diverse population of any place in all of New York City's history. Travel down the Bowery with New York City author and researcher Eric Ferrara as he explores its rich, fascinating and at times troubling past.
Eric Ferrara, author of the new book, The Bowery: A History of Grit, Graft and Grandeur, is the executive director of the Lower East Side History Project, an award-winning nonprofit research organization. He also founded the East Village Visitor Center and the Museum of the American Gangster. Ferrara is a popular public speaker, sits on a number of local boards and has consulted on numerous movie and television projects.
Rob Hollander is a long-time resident of Loisaida and a local community activist working on zoning, community and neighborhood preservation, anti-displacement and anti-gentrification. He holds a Ph.D. from the CUNY Graduate Center in linguistics, but focuses his public work on the Lower East Side and Chinatown, where he gives weekly historical tours on social and economic issues and the relationship between politics and architectural streetscape.
David Mulkins has taught history and cinema studies at the High School of Art and Design for 21 years and has MAs in cinema studies (NYU) and history (Hunter College). For over four years he did street theater performances, playing the part of George W. Bush. He is the co-founder and current chair of Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, a community organization dedicated to preserving the historic character and low-rise architecture of the Bowery, working for the creation of affordable housing, and seeking to protect existing small-scale businesses by fighting against the upzoning of the area.
Originally part of a Lenape trail running the entire length of Manhattan Island, the Bowery has become one of the most notorious thoroughfares in America. Developed in stages by the Dutch, British and then Americans, this stretch of street has continually risen from its own ashes, interminably experiencing periods of popularity, poverty and prosperity.
The Bowery: A History of