Viva Loisaida, 1978

Produced by "Gruppe Dokumentation" & "Tylis" and filmed in Loisada, by Marlis Momber, this 10 min. commercial gives a brief preview before gentrification occurred in Lower East Side in the Fall of October, 1978 with Chino Garcia & Bimbo Rivas.
For full viewing of "Viva Loisaida, 1978", here is its website on KZbin:
• "VIVA LOISADA" 1978

[@matrags]

The dirt, The sleaze, The beauty.

[@thatssomething1]

when people actually looked at each other and engaged in impromptu interactions and not glued to their tiny little smart screens, ya dig?

[@davechristian7543]

Once the 2000's rolled around the world went to the shit house i no that much, bring back the 90's anyday or even the 80's or 70's.

[@earthandwind820]

@@davechristian7543well, a lot of people still do this in some parts of the world or in certain communities here in the states. But overall, I get his point! I. e when I go visit my father in Puerto Rico, people will randomly start talking to you at the supermarket or bus stop like they’ve known you their whole lives…especially the older ones, which fits in a tad with his point, but it’s not completely obsolete. It is annoying to be a millennial or be with Gen Z & they’re staring at their phones more than they’re talking to each other, even if they’re with people that are family/ they know.. I try to not look at my phone when with family, friends, people who are different and I want to learn more about… but sometimes the people are staring more at their phones/devices than talking to one another or they’re talking to each other, but still staring at their phones… can be a bit aggravating. You want to tell them…BE IN THE PRESENT. When I’m alone… I am too much on my phone though… but I can at least say that’s not so when in company

[@sway_9803]

​@@davechristian7543 Yes let's bring back the eras that were the most violent, dangerous, and drug filled. Shut yo stupid boomer ass up

[@neilghosh3821]

Your comment is 11 years ago and nothing has changed. In fact everything has become much worse.

[@thatssomething1]

@neilghosh3821 ha yup and now I have a smartphone too 🤣

[@rightweaponry908]

This is what makes it hard to leave, we literally rebuilt this neighborhood only to have it be sold to people who would never lift a finger to give anything back. I remember the garden that used to be on 8th between B and C, my mom was in there digging refrigerators out of the earth where peoples homes were burnt to the ground. The community worked hard to turn rubble into gardens and feed the neighborhood and have safe places for children to play and learn about nature. All that work and community, gone, and for what? Drunk shrieking yuppies who take everything and then leave.

[@MondoBeno]

We have a community garden on the upper west side. I've worked there for almost 20 years. In the last 10 years, all of the older members have moved away or died, and the new members barely lift a finger.

[@RobertaFierro-mc1ub]

@@rightweaponry908 the gardens were the best part of the blocks..I almost forgot!! That's right!!

[@charlottecharlie-w4o]

I am so sorry. Your family sounds amazing.

[@robertafierro5592]

9:34..at the very end, you see 6th and Ave B. I lived up there on the 2nd floor with my boyfriend, Dominick Nugent. 1978. What a year that was!

[@kurtralske4026]

I moved to Avenue B and 2nd St. in 1981. Amazing place, beautiful and terrifying. It was pretty much all over by 1996 or so.

[@jayonez137]

I lived on 6th street Between first and Avenue A in the 80’s. Was a great place to grow up. Now it’s filled with watered down gentrified hipsters. The culture is gone! Yes it was a dangerous place but that’s what made it what it was. I moved out in mid 90’s. I haven’t been back to visit since 2005. That place is dead to me now

[@thecapricorn11]

yup

[@robertadinolfi4217]

What ever happened to Amy Morrison, Donald Ozard and his brother?

[@matthewjdouglas6471]

​@@jayonez137what was Rivington 👍

[@hatednyc]

@@matthewjdouglas6471Rivington Street.

[@ianmangham4570]

Christmas time in the 70s were the best ever

[@errolthomas9426]

RIP Lower East Side

[@barbaragottlock230]

The cultural, artistic, diverse vibe is sadly gone. Check out "Manhattan's East Village-Three Decades of Madness" to relive the 60s-80s.

[@IVANB612]

Ms. Yung: Thank you for posting the documentary! I am a modern reflection, projection, of that generation...those that suffered "the slings and arrows" of Loisaida for a better future. I am here because of them! --Ivan Diaz, PhD

[@thekuntykrafter8171]

I grew up 6th Street (60-70s)Btwn Ave D/C, then Baruch Houses as a teenager until 1991. The LES was the best, for as gritty and ominous it may have been, it was our neighborhood and our neighborhood was family! Wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, kids these days just don’t know 😊

[@vaughnvance]

Very valuable footage of the neighborhood.

[@thomasbinninger1355]

I live at 210 Thompson st.i remember these days.i learned alot.

[@ThePigeonStoop]

Thanks for showing me what my old neighborhood used to look like.

[@bebop54]

brings back many memories .... thanks for the excellant footage

[@cjbotts]

Man what a place this must have been to live. I go up there now from Philly and am unimpressed with the whole city, compared to the stuff my family tells me they used to get into living up in NYC back in the day

[@googo151]

I remember it well. I use to hang there on ave D, at my cousin Tommy's apt, smoking weed for days. Not a great thing of course to do for me these days, but those were different times and they were great. I had a blast! But I've grown up since. Thanks for the memories!

[@newzcutter]

Tommy morales?

[@jayonez137]

Thank you for posting this. I used to live on 6th between First Ave and Avenue A in the 80s. It was a great place to live. It was dangerous but that’s what made it what it was. Gentrification destroyed the culture on the LES. Giuliani is to blame for that. Now it’s filled with watered down hipsters and zero culture. It was different times then. I will never forget old New York. I moved out of that neighborhood in 1997-98. I have not been back to visit since 2005 That place is dead to me now

[@mahirrahman7]

It was dangerous but that's what made it what it was? That was the main problem of the ethnic ghettoes at that time and still remains an issue as you can easily divide communities just by that talking point or lack of consciousness I should say. People want to better their own communities and do it in a coalition way of uniting all communities against displacement and demanding a better alternative

[@inupiaq9563]

I guess Giuliani making the city safer was a bad thing……

[@jayonez137]

@@inupiaq9563 It’s not that he did a bad thing obviously intentions were good but the city as I know it changed. Disney took over 42nd St., The Soulless hipsters like YOURSELF Took over the lower East side And drove prices through the roof where people who were born and raise there couldn’t afford to stay. Again! I’m just saying there is zero culture and zero grit these days. Maybe you should man up instead of being scared of your shadow. And stop trying to dissect my words. Take it for what it is

[@inupiaq9563]

@@jayonez137 I’m not hipster at all. I’m not even a liberal or even live in NYC. I was in the military and served my country proudly for almost seven years. I ended up getting medically retired. You don’t even know me and you’re saying I’m a soulless hipster.

[@ianmangham4570]

Cool 😎 🤟🤠

[@J.DeLaPoer]

Ah yes, the 70s and 80s when it seemed like half the city was a burned-out war zone. _Still_ a better era than today in many ways however.

[@GeeEm1313]

Exactly. The city was alive. It wasn't a whitewashed, suburbanized mess of glass and concrete condos.

[@AnthonyD-yy2in]

I used to live in Loisaida but not for long, what good times i had there will always remain with me. At that time i was hanging with Wayne from Brooklyn.

[@landron64]

Home... My father moved Us Out 1978-79... Not far Lol... Across the River, to Jersey City... Soo many memories...

[@ianmangham4570]

When we use to say YA DIG ,you gotta miss the days man

[@4everyoungsusie]

It was great back in the 60's & 70's even though these building which they called slums were all ready falling apart with no help from the landlords, there was a togetherness amongst our peers I didn't even know what it was to be prejudice.

[@SusanLYung]

Thanks

[@eventhejunglewantedhimdead480]

@4everyoungsusie Apparently you learned.

[@4everyoungsusie]

Yes I have & it’s the reason inspite of living there a long time ago I had the greatest childhood ever which now lives in my memories.

[@eventhejunglewantedhimdead480]

@@4everyoungsusie The only people who grew up in a way where they "didn't even know what it was to be prejudice" are people who grew up in very sheltered, homogenous countries or neighborhoods where everyone looked, spoke and thought the same.

[@4everyoungsusie]

@@eventhejunglewantedhimdead480 you’re 💯 wrong about that. Those years the neighborhood were mixed with all kinds of people & kids would play together & have a great times & the streets were lively.

[@idolforever100]

awesome

[@princegroove]

Whenever I see footage from big cities during that era, I’m so thankful that I grew up in the suburbs.

[@GeeEm1313]

What a boring life you have led.

[@hornet6969]

Then came the Steamroller : Gentrification

[@eventhejunglewantedhimdead480]

If you hadn't moved out maybe the gentrification and hipsters wouldn't have moved in.

[@AFaceintheCrowd01]

@@eventhejunglewantedhimdead480The rents went so high people had to move.

[@eventhejunglewantedhimdead480]

@@AFaceintheCrowd01 I see. So, the gentrification wasn't the reason the rents went so high.

[@davidratcliffe60]

Pull out a camera and film in public nowadays, and people will threaten you,and call the police. In the 70's we loved it when someone would film us.

[@benefitsconsultingservices8718]

This is where I was born and raised ! Right here in this time period. Born in the 50s child of the 60s and became a man in the early 70s practiced playing Tenor sax in the Amp in Tompkins Square park. Christadora house was Panther headquarters in 1970. The Young Lords were on 8 th street. I lived in Jacob Riis houses during this time. As rough as it was . Many of these people I knew personally. Wouldn’t trade it in for anything! This was my life.

[@4everyoungsusie]

@@benefitsconsultingservices8718 I lived right across the streets of the Jacob Ris & they had an amphitheater that had people singing & dancing plus in the summer it become a large pool sprinkler also I remember the igloos. Plus everyday we played every game & sports with the kids

[@benefitsconsultingservices8718]

@@4everyoungsusie I was there for that too! I was in the Amphitheater the night Joe Battan sang Sad Girl! The shows were always great! I’m a bona fide Lower East Side kid!! I just went to the reunion in East river park. It was beautiful!! Good times for sure!!

[@anrod185]

i remember looking at that huge painting growing up on the les i think it was on p.s.97 wall

[@SusanLYung]

thanks alot ... it really means alot for a lost culture for the people/masses.

[@slh2346]

i passed this to friends i know who liked bimbo. i only met him once, nice man.

[@sheac7037]

looking forward to the full film post!

[@SusanLYung]

Here's the longer version of Marlis Momber's "Viva Loisada" kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXmmfYSwfa1mapY

[@RICHIECOQUI]

it say it's private no access

[@SusanLYung]

Try this version with jazz musicians, Larry Roland and James Brandon Lewis overlapping Marlis' "Viva Losada" as soundtrack ... it has a contemporary feel since jazz also was developed via Don Cherry, Lee Morgan and others ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGe7oaevfL6Xmsk

[@SusanLYung]

OK, I put it back on public for you to review within this week ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXmmfYSwfa1mapY

[@misterkefir]

beautiful..

[@YentaLaureate]

How does one buy a DVD. This is great footage of community gardens, people and Loisaida itself!

[@ianmangham4570]

Maybe look on ebay !

[@ianmangham4570]

@@jeianalottie Hell no ❤🤣

[@ianmangham4570]

@@jeianalottie You thinking they are on back order sweetness?

[@earthandwind820]

It is! Makes me think of how many people had little recorders and took footage of weddings, birthdays, so forth with this background not realizing how invaluable it is. Well, the footage of places and things will probably become something to see in the future… especially COVID times

[@SusanLYung]

No, I had to move during Hurricane Sandy and things are still packed in boxes. The film had been shown in LES last month at a Squat converted into the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MORUS), MORUSNYC.org. Even the filmmaker, Marlis Momber was in attendance. Unfortunately, I was not informed and did not go.

[@ianmangham4570]

Its very cool 😎 👌

[@GeeEm1313]

While it probably wasn't fun to live in, 1970s-1990s NYC was a thing of grimy beauty.

[@88mikerican]

I am Good Friends with Bimbo's son and have visited loisaida many times. A very interesting place indead.. Old New York and the Decay can not be seen only in my mind of creativity..

[@ianmangham4570]

Cool 😎

[@neilmoran9988]

Go there now. It is very different. A classic case of gentrification.

[@SusanLYung]

I know, there is a lack of adventuresome and further east towards Ave D, maybe. It is so gentrified that People of Color look out of place with alcoholic NYU students & parents just dining at overpriced food venues & bars as well as shop in boutiques or at Whole Foods, Marshalls, & Target.

[@mnhyti]

looks a bit like the old north inner city slums in Dublin in the 1970s great footage.

[@mnhyti]

@@AsiaMinor12 Dublin had Victorian slums .. it was known for having the poorest slums in Europe going back a couple of hundred years. That's why they started demolishing them in the 70's /80's

[@Schlipperschlopper]

Looked amazing!

[@laurengin4581]

early to mid- '90s les right before it tipped into full speed gentrication was a real special time and place

[@SusanLYung]

Lisa, glad you like ... yes there is a longer version with further insights of Nuyorican Poets Cave's early beginnings &other info ... later after moving due to eviction (never ending story a cultural artist), l will put complete DVD on KZbin.

[@humblebragger500]

That was pedro??

[@SusanLYung]

@@humblebragger500 No it was Bimba Rivas who precluded Pedro Pietri & one of founders of Nuyorican Poets Cafe. see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimbo_Rivas

[@yoursubconscious]

3:19 - nothing has changed since 1978. You expect the world to get better... you are a better person than I am.

[@FCm-tq2ho]

Decades ago I used to hang out with friends and we traveled from Brooklyn to LES to play handball at the second avenue courts. From there we would go to delancey St at the Apollo Carridad and grab some food. We had a good time. As usual with many areas in New York City, it has been taken over by real estate developers and eventually yuppies...

[@13hellis13]

@susanyung is the whole movie available on KZbin? I looked for it but didn't see it. i live in nyc and i believe it's being shown this weekend in the EV but I will be out of town. any way to get it online? love this so much. thanks for sharing.

[@wingchundragon]

Lower east side looks more like Europe now.

[@SusanLYung]

Chinatown will look like that soon ... plans of gentrification is occurring there now. You should watch my "Democracies in Chinatown: 1974-1994" which also depicts similar "ethnic" struggles.

[@eventhejunglewantedhimdead480]

If you hadn't moved out maybe the gentrification and hipsters wouldn't have moved in. If it was a great culture in your time, it wouldn't have died?

[@davechristian7543]

Love the old apartment buildings.. such an exiting time to live where things were real n nothing like now were everything's plastic fantastic n fake as f sadly.

[@TomGargiuloArtandFilm-fu2hv]

I moved to the EV / LES in 1972 and re-visiting this footage is shocking for me! However, this short clip is a timeless reminder and social portrait of the disintegration and rebuilding of New York though the hopes and dreams of the dispossessed that claimed the city and made it their's. The EV's 37 parks were all from land claimed from abandoned buildings and bulldozed lots that made the EV habitable and gave the residents pride.

[@chazza116]

Great documentary! Is the first voice over (explaining the name Loisaida) by Bimbo Rivas?

[@SusanLYung]

No, I believe it is Marlis' ex-husband at the time.

[@lc2pimentel]

is there a full version of this doc.???

[@robertafierro5592]

Alot of great, great people came out of that era.

[@glennjones6574]

Now there's nothing in NY but the shiny and new

[@patrickrainey305]

Please don’t ever delete it

[@j-a-k9585]

They all take there time listieng to each other and talking to each other not like today we all stare at our phone makes me sad, the footage is unbelievable Thank You, I worked for 5 years 2013 to 2018 on Ave A and 1st, I remember smoking outside my job and I talked with everyone next store at the methadone clinic really nice people tryimg to get there lives together, so one day this very well dressed women and her kid a yuppy a hipster a wannabe a NYU monster ha etc ha the woman said excuse me do you live around here "yes i said , whats up?" Im renting an apt around the block for my daughter is it safe around here? I replied Ohh Hell No there gonna cut her up chew her up beat her up and then mommy send her back to you all Fu-- up, and smoked my cigarette laughing. it was the least i could do for the community that was dead and gone Amen to them.

[@darrellpasion8925]

I can't believe this 45 years ago looks much older considering the quality of the film. Idk I was 5 in ' 78 so I feel old Af now. Lol.

[@mistofoles]

"My name is Tyrone. I'd like you to walk these mean streets with me." Sure, Tyrone, let's go !

[@failyourwaytothetop]

If somehow the crime could have been contained it would have been an ideal time to come up. Crime ruined everything.

[@johnnyirish6414]

When New York was New York

[@TBone2000Man]

please show the old avenue d from back in the day?

[@사분치에서태어난]

В те годы люди были добрее.

[@jesussoriano7652]

Does day's were crazy but it was the way of life ..

[@ObtuseGoose2]

looks like the warriors was historically accurate 😂😂😂

[@tiger1044]

🙄

[@thomastournavitis]

Miguel Pinero? is the man at the end of the video...

[@mariekatherine5238]

Alphabet City! I can smell those buildings, charred wood, dry rot, mold, and whiff of sewer.

[@SusanLYung]

You got that right! Now it is filled with restaurants & bars with loud chatters from new comers (once called yuppies) and out-of-towners

[@timfahey7127]

Is the narrator Tyrone still with us?

[@SusanLYung]

No, he was the filmmaker's husband who OD.

[@hatednyc]

I love ppl now who’ve moved recently into the neighborhood get the name Loisaida completely wrong. 3:42 oh man, I haven’t seen that mural in so long.

[@SusanLYung]

Those murals were for social change during the 70s and all are obliterated by gentrifiers. Luckily the filmmaker is an activist to make this historic video to retell the Loisada's early days of squattering and its empty lots becoming thriving gardens.

[@dawudyelton2177]

wow 8;11 have the reverend pedro from, the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe(puerto rican obituary-one of his poems)

[@PeteHob]

In 1978 the lower east side was cool alright, IF you lived there. Was driving ( impaired) through alphabet city for some long forgotten reason and side swiped a parked car. Was never so happy to see NYPD show up so quickly because the natives were tearing the convertible roof open and seconds away from dragging my buddy and myself out. God only knows what the outcome would have been if we weren’t arrested. lol. Stay well all. Cheers

[@joeadams-iv9yb]

Well someone had some great painting skills.Is this where the jeffersons lived until they moved up to the deluxe apartment in the sky?

[@SpaneenOomlong]

Most definitely a fertile and lively environment, but not too many people enjoyed stepping over the junkies in the hallways or doorways in the 70's and 80's.

[@trailblazer1047]

Was a good year up there,loved it,70's to the 90's but sadly not anymore because of the weak Polititions and D.A.,its now ruined even 26 stores are being chased out by Criminals.I hung out West side,lower east and evry where else the Village.I hope it can rebound,had friends in the Bronx,had a lot of fun.A cousin owned a Bar,Waterfall Tavern

[@ianmangham4570]

Did ya see me waving 👋

[@JohnS-il1dr]

Reminds me of Dirty Harry for some reason

[@hereisayana8207]

To see more of 70s/80s NY, go to Facebook and look for the page: The Real NY 70's/80's

[@LukeO870]

Jim Richardson and Myself Installed the Windmill Without Safety Equipment. No Fear...Just Purpose.

[@SusanLYung]

Your windmill predated the turbines used for electrical power in various places around the globe.

[@ghostdog1454]

I remember the smell of old urban decay a cold crumbling stench. Lucky to have survived.

[@MrJuanhgonzalez]

9:28 Is that Luis Guzman? Much younger and thinner, as we all were. LOL

[@mr.blister4856]

sure does look like him. My dad used to live in the same area/neighborhood as Guzman, I'd have to ask him where they were.

[@SunFromBrooklyn73]

I thought the same thing, lol! Well, he is from L.E.S and reps it to the fullest.

[@rightweaponry908]

That's def him

[@symontemplar1418]

I was wondering if it was Luis Guzman too. That man is one hell of an actor!!!!

[@emendoz1]

I first saw this back in 1980 or earlier and thought I was in some middle eastern country after a bombing.

[@christophercote1482]

how tf were that many buildings abandoned down there. that’s insane. that neighborhood sure had changed lol

[@SusanLYung]

Ever heard of gentrifiers, politicians, urban renewal, Reaganomics, developers, Yuppies, flip floppin' politics, & more?

[@mahirrahman7]

@@SusanLYung Don't forget the role of neoliberals too

[@SusanLYung]

@@mahirrahman7 Everything is upside down. I'm in the Gowanus Superfund neighborhood & expectation that by 2035 this quiet family nabe will have 3,500 more gentrifiers moving into luxury 20 storied buildings that CM Brad Lander has rezoned in 2021. The one-storied warehouses are disappearing.

[@dominicanvic9]

3:32 OLS?

[@jimmyrodasmolestina979]

I lived in the Smith housing projects

[@boogiechillen123]

An Oldsmobile for $100 lol. I wonder what neighborhood he borrowed it from.

[@elchango6183]

the dude looked like the guy from carlitos way!

[@John-eg3gy]

Nickel & Dime hood

[@energyasylum997]

@8:26 ……”I need a YOBB!”

[@randywatts6969]

Spanish Haarlem

[@HiYou-tb3os]

Meanwhile so cal taken by rich drunk military

[@Chris_34]

Where all the fat people at? Everyone looks normal sized🧐

[@John--John]

Don't think this is at all funny..

[@klaasj7808]

ive lived there