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 or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

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

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

."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, hip hop 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 naval of ...

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

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. 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 (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

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

Carlo McCormick Carlo McCormick is an American culture critic and curator living in New York City. He is the author of numerous books, monographs and catalogues on contemporary art and artists. Pedagogic and art writing activities McCormick was Senior Edito ...

and later Artnet writer and artist Walter Robinson. The Eye claims to be the first publication to print and define the term " hip hop" in an interview between writer/subculturalist Michael Holman and Afrika Bambaataa.

References

External links

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