Who Will Be the Village Voice of the 21st Century?
The Village Voice was the “loud, open mouth” of New York. Could its equivalent exist today?
Journalist, author, and LGBTQ rights activist Arthur Bell posing outside the offices of the Village Voice, on May 1978 in New York. (Jack Mitchell / Getty Images)
When Village Voice columnist Arthur Bell got home late one evening in August 1972, he had an answering machine message from a friend. Two gay men were robbing a bank in Brooklyn and had taken several people hostage. As one the few out gay journalists in New York, the situation was indeed of interest to Bell, so he called the bank’s phone number.
“Hello, this is Arthur Bell from the Village Voice. Can you tell me what’s happening?”
“Arthur, am I glad it’s you,” said the voice on the other end of the line. “This is Littlejohn.”
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