East Village Underground: Two Centuries of Creativity and Rebellion Tour, Walking Tour

Join Marc Catapano and uncover the dynamic history of NYC's East Village and its famous underground movements. Explore its radical political past, its avant-garde art, and groundbreaking jazz, rock, and punk scenes. Visit iconic sites like CBGBs, St Mark’s Place, and Tompkins Square Park, and revel in the area's extraordinary cultural legacy.

Discover how German émigrés fleeing the 1848 revolutions sparked the US labor movement, thereby shaping the area’s identity as the epicenter of radical countercultural movements. Visit Tompkins Square Park, scene of the 1874 and 1987 riots and also home to the mystical Hare Krishna Tree. Stroll down St Mark's Place, where free jazz, acid rock, and punk reshaped music. Plus an investigation into the infamous 1967 “Groovy Murders."

Along the way, visit CBGBs, the Fillmore East, and the setting of RENT, and learn about luminaries like Allen Ginsberg, Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, and Charlie Parker.

Starting location: Ottendorfer Library, 135 Second Avenue