Peter Bennett’s East Village: Then and Now

Photographer Peter Bennett grew up in Greenwich Village and lived in the East Village from 1979 through 1988. Working as a bartender at night, during the day he photographed the rapidly changing neighborhood around him. He documented the East Village during the 1980s, and critical time when it became a center for artists, musicians, and writers, as well as drifters, punks, urban homesteaders, and homeless street. Longtime residents including the Polish, Ukrainian, and Puerto Rican communities and holdover hippies remained and or a part of a neighborhood and intense and dynamic flux. Photographs by Peter Bennett of this unique time and place are now featured our Peter Bennett: Early 1980s East Village Collection of our historic image archive.

A considerable amount has changed in the nearly half century since these photos were taken. Bennett captured the neighborhood following the city’s fiscal crisis of the 1970s, when many buildings were abandoned and lots laid empty. In the decades since the empty lots have been redeveloped, and the once-abandoned buildings rehabilitated, giving the neighborhood a much different look. We will take “then and now” look at some of these locations to see the difference. 

Painted storefronts along west side of Avenue C between East 6th and 7th Streets

When this photo was taken by Bennett in 1984, these three buildings, numbered 89-97, 99 and 105 Avenue C were abandoned. Their storefronts were empty and painted to give the appearance of a lively ground floor streetscape. The buildings have since been rehabilitated and now feature apartments and storefronts. Two of them, no. 89-97 and 99, were fixed up by New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), as part of their Lower East Side rehab program.

West side of Avenue C between East 6th and East 7th Streets, 2026.

“Dead End Street:” women sitting in front of abandoned building on south side of East 5th Street between Avenues C & B

When taken in 1984, the dead end East 5th Street between Avenues B and C was practically empty. Empty lots surrounded the few abandoned buildings that remained, such as the one shown in this photo, 610-612 East 5th Street. The street was once lined with similar tenement houses, dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many were demolished to construct P.S. 64 at 600 East 6th Street, built in 1954. Two city blocks were combined during construction, resulting in a dead end on East 5th Street.

Much has changed since Bennett’s early 1980s photo of the block. The building included in the photo is no longer abandoned, and the empty lots are now occupied by three story NYCHA Developments completed in 1988. 

Food line at the Sixth Street Community Center, 638 East 6th Street between Avenues B & C

The Sixth Street community center remains at 638 East 6th Street. Although there was no line for food on a recent visit, they still run a food distribution program for those in need throughout the Lower East Side. The adjacent lot, 640-642 East 6th Street, is now a parking lot used by NYCHA. A one-story structure has been built on the site for this purpose and can be seen in the modern image below. 

To see more, explore Peter Bennett: Early 1980’s East Village historic image archive collection. Also check out our entire historic image archive here.