This is the story of a block in East Harlem. The block is a desperate place where crime, violence, poverty, mental illness, addiction, homelessness all exist. On full display are the myriad social problems and issues our society and societies the world over must confront.
I spent more than a year photographing and interviewing people on this block. Many of them actually live here 24 hours a day. They tell their stories, relate their dreams. You feel the heartache.
A year after I completed this work the block is a different place. A mobile command unit is parked here 24 hours a day. Businesses have closed. People have gone elsewhere to different blocks and street corners in this vast city. The block will experience the change that comes from redevelopment. Highrises will dwarf existing structures. Rents will rise. People will be displaced.
We may not walk in their shoes but we can gain a better understanding of the realities of their lives. It is, simply put, an American tragedy.