Lower East Side: Culture, Real Estate, and Resistance in NYC

The shifting views of the Lower East Side from ghetto to desirable urban niche are tracked in this sweeping account by Christopher Mele. The rich history of the Lower East Side of Manhattan is explored, from the influx of poor immigrants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to the beatniks, hippies, and artists who populated it in the mid-century. The neighborhood, now known as the "East Village," has always been influenced by real estate developers and politicians.

Today, Broadway plays like Rent cater to a predominantly white and suburban audience, while MTV capitalizes on the neighborhood's newfound trendy appeal in film promotions. On the internet, cyber soap operas and travel-related web pages entice the middle class with a sanitized version of the neighborhood.

Mele delves into the political and cultural forces that have shaped this unique community. He discusses the late nineteenth-century notions of the Lower East Side as a place of entrenched poverty, ethnic diversity, political activism, and "low" culture that were met with revulsion and fear by the city's elite and middle classes. This ongoing struggle has impacted real estate practices and urban development policies, as the government and residents clash over affordable and decent housing.

"Selling the Lower East Side" also details the resistance tactics employed by community residents, as well as the efforts to perpetuate the image of the neighborhood as dangerous, romantic, and bohemian. This resistance aims to maintain the marginal identity of the East Village and resist attempts to portray it as "new and improved." Ironically, the neighborhood's grittiness has been appropriated by a cultural marketplace hungry for new trends.

Mele explores how developers and media executives have co-opted the neighborhood's characteristics, using the East Village as a "style provider" and capitalizing on its "difference." The book offers a visionary look at the transformation of neighborhoods through political and economic actions, and examines the consequences of a neighborhood being "consumed."

Readers can find a comprehensive website for "Selling the Lower East Side" at www.upress.umn.edu/sles.

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