Selling the Lower East Side : Culture, Real Estate, and Resistance in New York City

The Lower East Side of Manhattan is rich in stories -- of poor immigrants who flocked there in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; of beatniks, hippies, and artists who peopled it midcentury; and of the real estate developers and politicians who have always shaped what is now called the "East Village." Today, the real estate industry exploits images of trendy squalor presented on Broadway, in films, and in other media to lure members of the middle class to enjoy a commodified, sanitized version of the neighborhood.