Jane Jacobs said that left to its own devices, the Lower East Side would “unslum” in the same way her own West Village did. But “urban renewal” ripped the heart out of the old East Side. Today, however, the area is experiencing rapid gentrification. How would Jacobs have explained this? And what urban virtues does the neighborhood retain that have led to its new popularity? These questions, and a more general history of the Lower East Side, will be the subject of this tour. Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian.