East Village Home example essay topic

The book, Once There Was a Village, written by Yuri Kapralov, is an autobiographical tale of his experiences living in the ethnically diverse East Village of New York City. The story takes place during the late 1960's and early 1970's and most of the events occur around Thompson Square Park -- the center of Alphabet City. Yuri Kapralov came to America after World War II, displaced from the Caucuses. He made the East Village home. In the book, he was adamant about what is the "East Village".

His description was west of Avenue A. He describes the ethnic composition as ever changing, but for the later part of the sixties, was mostly divided into Puerto Ricans, Russians, Polish, Blacks, and Bohemians; the bohemians were further divided into black-and-white couples, students, left-over beatniks and hippies. Kapralov describes how the area around Thompson Square Park and much of New York, during the late sixties and early seventies, became a dangerous place to call home. Crime was a daily occurrence brought on by the drug infestation and poverty typical of the location and era. People of the East Village were poor and disheartened by what they considered the New York Police Department's lack of protection. In the late 1960's, although the East Village was overrun with crime, police officers were rarely seen east of First Avenue. Letters were written to the mayor and to newspapers requesting patrol officers in the area.

The letters were either ignored or the authors were told the manpower was not available. Due to this situation, the Police become an object of hate. They never seemed to be there for protection against the ever recurrent muggings, robberies, and general violence against East Village citizens. The crime was so frequent that the residents began defending themselves with anything available and even resorted to buying illegal weapons.

Many residents were caught with these illegally purchased weapons and arrested, further straining relations with law enforcement The summer of 1966 saw the climax of the antagonistic relationship with law enforcement and residents. There were street riots on Avenues C and B. Cars were burned, stores were robbed and people were killed. That evening, the area turned into a War Zone during the evening east of Avenue B. The community had many different views of the events. The Russian immigrants, who were deemed by the writer to be 'more racist', saw the events as evident of the Black and Puerto Rican people acting 'out of control' and the neighborhood 'going to hell'. In contrast, many other ethic groups express desire to be out there taking a stand as well.

The Tactical Patrol Force, a portion of the police force, was called in to put an end to the violence and, in full riot gear, killed and arrested rioters. During one of the riots, several of the residents were held in a building basement. In this basement, Kapralov found a story written by an elderly immigrant, who had died a few months earlier. The immigrant tells a story of escaping from the Germans during World War II. The story was about a child, presumed the story's author, who was playing with friends in a field near his village. The child decided not to return to the village with his friends but, instead decided to climb a tree.

From this tree, he watched as his whole family, his friends and all the villagers were killed and the village was burned to the ground. The East Village apartments usually housed thirty to forty people. Often the residents would become close and celebrate birthdays, block parties or sit on the front stoop drinking and talking of times past. They would band together in times of turmoil, such as the riots and deaths. Kapralov was an artist. When he would have a show, the residents of his building would always attend and purchase his work.

They acted as a support network for many who had no support otherwise. Thompson Square Park was the place Kapralov took his child to play. He would play chess while she played. He considered himself to be quite skillful and talks of when drugs and drug dealers became a part of the park and chess game.

Anything done in the park could result in a life or death situation. He explained how heroin was a prominent drug during this period and how sad it had become to watch relatively good kids drown in the world of drugs and crime. One specific story involved a seventeen year old girl, who had moved to the East Village. They had become friends and lovers.

When he had not seen the girl for several weeks, he became worried. Prior to her disappearance, he had met a new man in the neighborhood -- A man he deemed very attractive; the type of guy who could convince a girl to do anything. This attractive man was also a dangerous drug dealer. Before the girl had gone missing, she was seen with this attractive drug dealer. Kapralov had many friends in the area and began asking around about the girl. All anyone knew was that the girl was last seen with the attractive dealer.

The dealer soon heard of Yuri's questioning and attempted to attack him. Yuri, being an East Village veteran, was armed and able to defeat him. Once Yuri had the upper hand, he threatened to kill the man if he did not find and return this girl. The girl was returned the next day. The drug dealer had sold her into the sex slave industry to cover drug debt.

She had spent the last two weeks being bound to a bed in Brooklyn and sold to anyone willing to pay. This was not an uncommon occurrence; many were aware that drug dealers and junkies would sell runaways to settle debts. After the girl recovered in the NYU psychiatric ward, she went back home to her Midwestern town but Kapralov believed that her eyes and spirit would be forever dimmed. Kapralov used alcohol and prescribed drugs and offers detailed dialogue and description of his therapy sessions with various psychiatrists and the drugs they prescribed. He had recurrent dreams or visions and battled with depression and alcoholism. He attempted suicide twice during the late sixties and early seventies and described how the residents of his building helped him.

Many of the residents also suffered from alcoholism and depression. During one session, he related an episode describing being beaten by Germans as a boy and how the experiences of his life had created his unstable mental state. In all, Kapralov paints a vivid picture of the people and the way of life for anyone living east of Avenue B, during a period of civil unrest and drug infestation. He described the circumstances that turned people into criminals: the poverty, drugs, and lack of respect for law enforcement. Kapralov felt police officers had not earned the respect of the East Villagers through lack of involvement. He described the tragedy of death brought about by drugs, alcohol and feelings of hopelessness.

He briefly touched on his own life tragedies of love, failed marriages and disappointment. The book provided real and simple descriptions of the experience of living among the immigrants and the impoverished during the period. His descriptions were vivid and enjoyable. The sessions with Kapralov's therapist, including visions, dreams and a lot of dialogue were a little distracting from the story and seemed unnecessary. In all, it was an interesting and informative read.