On This Day in History, April 9: He Introduced Avant-Garde to BAM
Harvey Lichtenstein was born in Brooklyn on April 9, 1929, the son of Samuel and Jennie Lichtenstein.
Samuel Lichtenstein, a factory worker, immigrated to the U.S. from Poland at the age of 17, and Jennie Lichtenstein arrived in New York from Russia as an infant. Lichtenstein grew up in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn and attended Brooklyn Technical High School, just a block from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).
Much music was heard in the Lichtenstein household. His father was an enthusiastic amateur violinist, and one of Harvey’s youthful heroes was the conductor Arturo Toscanini, then in charge of the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Harvey’s memories of Brooklyn in his youth include stickball (two sewers), the parachute jump at Coney Island, boat rides in Prospect Park, hitching rides on the back of trolley cars, and cheering on the ball players at Ebbets Field.