
Text and Photographs by Eleanor Foa Dienstag
New York is a street-photographer’s paradise. Nowhere is the contrast between old and new more evident than in the Lower East Side. Once teeming with poor immigrants crammed into decaying tenements, it’s now a mix of classic and cutting-edge architecture, long-established vs hip shops, restaurants, bars and residents. Some bemoan the neighborhood’s gentrification; some welcome its renaissance. I love strolling its streets and recording its only-in-New-York contradictions.