The ''East Village Eye'' was a cultural magazine, published by editor-in-chief Leonard Abrams, in circulation from May 1979 until January 1987. Based in the East Village section of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the publication covered a range of locally focused topics, including art, politics and

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

."The East Village Eye: Where Art, Hip Hop, and Punk Collided"
by Tiernan Morgan at Hyperallergic November 12, 2014 The East Village Eye, colloquially referred to as ''The Eye'', covered topics such as the emergence of

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, and fashion as fringe pop culture, as well as the burgeoning art and nightlife scenes that highlighted NYC's East Village neighborhood during the 1980s.

History

Leonard Abrams started the ''East Village Eye'' after moving to the East Village in the mid-1970s. Its first office was at 167

Ludlow Street Ludlow Street runs between Houston and Division streets on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Vehicular traffic runs south on this one-way street. Name Ludlow Street was named after Lieutenant Augustus Ludlow, the nava ...

, moving repeatedly in and around this relatively inexpensive pocket of downtown

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. The magazine had a total of 72 issues. The ''Eye'' reached a peak circulation of 10,000 copies per month, available throughout New York City and outposts in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. The magazine became a marketplace for the local economy, with neighborhood businesses purchasing ad space. Writers included Carlo McCormick and later

Artnet Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City. It is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly-traded company based in Berlin that is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Ex ...

writer and artist Walter Robinson. The Eye claims to be the first publication to print and define the term "

" in an interview between writer/subculturalist Michael Holman and

Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is a retired American DJ, rapper, and record producer. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of ...

References

External links

East Village Eye archives

''East Village Eye'' records
Defunct magazines published in New York City Magazines established in 1979 Magazines disestablished in 1987 Defunct cultural magazines published in the United States {{local-mag-stub