The Beat Generation Downtown

From the 40s to the 90s the Beat Generation was strongly associated with New York’s bohemian neighborhoods. From the very beginnings through notoriety and celebrity into maturity, they lived and worked, performed and celebrated, from west of Sheridan Square to the east of Tompkins Square. Join tour leader Ron Janoff, a coordinator of NYU’s 1993-94 Beat Generation conferences, in retracing their steps. Visit the locations of bars, coffeehouses, theaters, galleries, and apartments that were their haunts and homes during their intervals in New York. We will focus especially on the three most important figures — Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Burroughs — and on works conceived, written, or performed in specific locations in the Village. In addition we will note other key figures and events that formed the larger cultural context of the Beat Movement in its heyday.