A History of New York City Protest | PDN Photo of the Day

Day of Outrage demonstration at the Jay Street-Borough Hall subway station following the Howard Beach verdict on December 21, 1987 in which three defendants were found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Michael Griffith who was beaten and chased by a white mob onto a highway where he was struck by a car. © Ricky Flores

Squatters attempt to defend their building by blocking the street with overturned cars and trash before an expected attack by the police on East 13th Street, 1995. © Andrew Lichtenstein

Picketing restaurant waiters and community members protest outside Jing Fong Restaurant whose management illegally took waiters’ tips to pay for social security. NY State Attorney General fined the largest restaurant in Chinatown $1.13 million in 1995. © Corky Lee

Mothers and relatives demonstrate against police brutality as they march down Broadway from Union Square. October, 1998. © Frank Fournier

Tompkins Square Park riot, New York City, 1988. © James Hamilton

NYC protesters take to the streets in response to the acquittal of the officers involved in the beating of Rodney King. Some Asian-owned groceries such as this one were vandalized. April 1992. © Linda Rosier

Pro-choice demonstrators in downtown Manhattan protest the July 3rd, 1989 Supreme Court Webster decision which limited Roe V Wade. This was a turning point in the pro-choice movement. 24 were arrested, including activist Mary Lou Greenberg, as they stormed the Brooklyn Bridge. © Nina Berman/NOOR

Bensonhurst residents hold up watermelons to mock African American protestors who took to the streets of the largely Italian neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn following the acquittal of Bensonhurst resident Keith Mondello in the shooting death of 16-year-old African American Yusef Hawkins on May 19, 1990. © Ricky Flores

A group called “Women in Mourning and Outrage” hold up photographs of Amadou Diallo during a rally in front of the United Nations. The rally was held after the acquittal of four New York City police officers involved in the shooting of Mr. Diallo, who was unarmed. February 27, 2000. © Ricky Flores

A man protests the death sentence handed down against Mumia Abu Jamal who was convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer. © Sylvia Plachy

New York has a long history of protest, both nonviolent and less so. “Whose Streets? Our Streets! New York City: 1980-2000,” a new exhibition at the Bronx Documentary Center, on view until March 5, collects images of New Yorkers as they march, riot and demonstrate. From chaotic confrontations such as the Tompkins Square Park Riot in 1988 to more organized protests and street theater, the show brings together images from 38 independent photojournalists who capture the anger and the glee on display: An East Village man presides over an overturned car like “Liberty On The Barricades.” Demonstrators line the subway tracks during the Day of Outrage, a demonstration against the 1987 Howard Beach manslaughter verdict in the death of Michael Griffith. Mothers hold signs and photos of their sons in a 1998 protest against police brutality.

While some reasons for dissent have shifted over the years, the show is a reminder that much has stayed the same. As the show’s press release states, “residents grappled with social issues including race relations, police brutality, housing and gentrification, AIDS and gay and lesbian rights, reproductive rights, U.S. foreign policy and military actions, art and the culture wars, environmental and animal rights issues, and education and labor relations.” In 17 years since the show leaves off, that list has only grown.