Lower East Side


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by Samantha Devine



Game Players in the Park
photo by Samantha Devine



	Language barriers and various cultural oddities prevented many first generation immigrants from breaking through the ranks of employment beyond street peddler. The children of first-generation immigrants carry a dual burden, their hopes and dreams…and the unfulfilled aspirations of their parents. The timeless, poetic rags-to-riches ambition follows throughout generations. The drive to be the ultimate American, in terms of attitude and language is alive and well in the Samuel Ornitz autobiographical Haunch, Paunch and Jowl. The story follows the pattern of a traditional coming-of-age story but it serves as more of a historical reference because the backdrop of the Lower East Side competes as the main character.

Images of an era characterized by bustling streets with enthusiastic vendors and prospective buyers are etched in the minds of New Yorkers through the Lower East Side photographs that conjure up a time only seen in cinematic perspective. Although Chinatown and Little Italy have taken away some of the energy of the old Lower East Side, there remain few breaths of that turn-of-the-century vigor that inspired writers to share with the world this specific New York City tale. The men featured in this photograph were not bargaining for pickles or garments, but they seemed to me to express the original vitality and diversity of the Lower East Side. The men engaged in their game did not glance once at the shuttering camera three feet away. These men in the park,