HOUNDS OF HARLEM By George Nelson Preston

In 1958, aged twenty I lived among the best minds of the Beat Generation and the Tenth Street Galleries. I was majoring in fine arts and English literature at The City College of New York and living on the Lower East Side. In those days, poets and folksingers read their poetry or performed in Washington Square Park. But we played cat and mouse with the police because at that time such public gatherings were illegal. One Sunday, after being scattered by the police, Beat poet Ted Joans said, “We need a police-free zone.” I suggested my store-front loft at 48 East Third Street. We chalked a message on the sidewalks and spread by word of mouth.

POETRY: The Artist’s Studio 48 East 3rd St 7 PM

By 7 PM my loft was packed.