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In 1988, at the age of sixteen, I had a summer job at the Empire State Building updating the database for a retail-space real estate broker, which is where I read about the Tompkins Square riots in the paper. I wasn't a big village-goer at the time (I lived way uptown and rarely lurked down in the village as a teenager). I do remember that it was the first time I ever became aware of what has come to be known as 'viral video' on television. In this instance it was the image of a cop desperately trying to club the camera out of a videographer on an Avenue B fire escape after they had managed to capture enough evidence to prove excessive force.