On the eve of the Russian Revolution in February 1917, one would expect Leon Trotsky, the soon-to-be commander of the Red Army, to be embroiled in the Petrograd demonstrations that overthrew Tsar Nicholas II, or to at least be orchestrating the events from nearby. But Trotsky was in exile, far from the borders of the Russian Empire.

It was his second exile, begun in 1907 when he escaped a court sentence for his involvement in the 1905 revolution. Trotsky first traded Siberia for London, then moved to Vienna. Upon the start of World War I, he and his family fled Austria for Switzerland, then moved to France, from which they were deported to Spain due to Trotsky’s antiwar agitation. With another deportation looming, the family moved yet again, this time to the place where news of the Russian Revolution would reach them: New York City.

All in all, Trotsky spent three brief but world-changing months in New York. From January to March in 1917, he and his family lived the Bronx, where his children attended public school. Though Trotsky spoke little English, he instantly became involved in the American socialist movement, which included a significant number of Russian emigres.