How does the writer document hard times?

The writer documents hard times through the lives of multiple people working the gasoline lines and Brooklyn avenues fixing broken down cars. He organizes his article by station or storefront such as Hess, AutoZone and Mobil. With each of these places he introduces different characters that each have a different backstory and opinion of how times are hard. For some, working like this is part-time and for others it’s full-time. The writer even gets the perspective of the official employees of the franchises.
How and where does the writer bring money into his story?

Specific values are brought up when discussing how much these freelancers make in a day’s work. When prices are mentioned, they precede a quote. The writer doesn’t include information from the franchise about the financial hurt (or benefit) of these unemployed workers.
Do you think the lead is effective? If so, why?

The first graf is effective in that the writer withholds who “they” are and only describes their location and what they do. He describes their work as hustling. In this context, hustle has a negative tone, but as the article goes on and the characters are introduced, readers gain a new understanding. Some of these hustlers are truly struggling and need money for vital necessities. The next few paragraphs set up the location more specifically and uses narrative and dialogue to set the scene between a worker and a customer. The last paragraph before The Hess Station section plays as a nut graf. As the neighborhood gets poorer, the number of “self-styled entrepreneurs” increases. Finding legal work is difficult in these neighborhoods and the writer tells their stories.