DIY on the Lower East Side: Books, Buildings, and Art after the 1975 Fiscal Crisis

Engaging look at Lower East Side writers and artists in the wake of the 1975 New York fiscal crisis.

The severe financial austerity imposed on New York City during the 1975 fiscal crisis resulted in a city falling apart. Broken windows, crumbling walls, and piles of bricks were everywhere. While, for many, this physical decay was a sign that the postwar welfare state had failed, for others, it represented a site of risky opportunity that could stimulate novel forms of creativity and communit...