I recently moved into New York City from upstate New York. I lived in Harriman, NY for my whole life. Only one hour from New York City, but it might as well have been worlds apart. It wasn’t until I received this assignment that I realized I barely knew a single thing about the different neighborhoods in the city. My father who spent a good amount of time in his life living in manhattan suggested Alphabet City to me. Not only is it close to my new apartment, but has some pretty interesting factors that make it very “New York” while also distinguishing it from other neighborhoods.

This village used to be home to starving artists as can be seen of the beautiful murals surrounding the neighborhood. It is rooted by generations of families that have owned restaurants and businesses there their whole lives. I think this would be interesting to find a family that has lived their forever and first hand experienced the major changes that the neighborhood has undergone.

Another part of this neighborhood which holds a lot of history is Tompkins square park, also known for the Tompkins square park riots. There has been a huge growth in the homeless epidemic here. Some families completely avoid the beautiful park all together because it has become somewhat of a campground for them. Restaurant owners have been coming together to form organizations to feed them. I think interviewing the homeless, the cops in the area and a few business owners can lead to me to a very unique angle and uncover something interesting and unspoken about this neighborhood. I will try understand why there is an epidemic, who is helping it, who is making it worse and any other interesting facts I can uncover when I am there in the streets.