On the humid night of August 6th, 1988, long-simmering resentments over East Village gentrification boiled over into the now-infamous Tompkins Square Park riot. Hundreds of people had gathered at the park to protest the imposition of a 1 a.m. curfew. At some point, the protest turned violent; bottles were thrown at the police, who retaliated with beatings and arrests throughout the night. According to the Times, forty-four people were injured, including 13 cops. more ›

More details have emerged on yesterday's arrest of Clark Rockefeller, whose wife divorced him after learning that his claimed membership in the Rockefeller dynasty was totally bogus. Rockefeller allegedly abducted his daughter last Sunday from a street in Boston; yesterday afternoon the FBI arrested him and took the daughter (pictured) into custody unharmed. more ›

The film Captured documents the documentarian Clayton Patterson (watch the trailer after the jump), and will screen in New York on the 20th anniversary of the Tompkins Square Park police riots, which Patterson famously filmed ("little brother is watching big brother," he's noted in the past). Recently, the artist, writer, community activist, and photographer who for the past 25 years has documented the Lower East Side...from drag queens to heroin addicts to rabbis...was arrested for taking photos. In an email, he stated:

"On Ludlow – between Stanton and Rivington – was arrested for taking photographs. The problem has more to do with police procedure on the street. On this day the street was not a frozen zone. People were allowed to walk through. Kids were hanging out. There was not a police-line. There was not even a fire, just a little smoke."