It's been 26 years since the infamous Tompkins Square Park Riots, and today, it's happening again—only this time it will be staged for a low-budget film adaptation of the novel Ten Thousand Saints. If this isn't a fitting juxtaposition of current versus past New York, nothing is.
The following letter was sent by the filmmakers to residents in the area surrounding the park, assuring them that this is a pretend riot and a De Blasio's New York riot.
It's worth noting that the 1988 riots were in protest of the 1 a.m. curfew imposed by Community Board 3—ironic, since tonight's filming will go until 3 a.m. The protests—which left 44 people injured, including 13 cops—were the result of a long-simmering resentment over East Village gentrification. Haha! If they only knew.
