14th Street, east to west

I can't quite call it river to river, because a big Con Ed plant blocks access to the East River, so we'll say that our walk starts at Avenue C. "Losaida" on the street sign is a phonetic spelling of the Hispanic pronunciation of "Lower East Side." Avenue C and 14th Street is one of the boundaries of the storied location.

On the uptown side of the street, from here to First Avenue, we'll be walking past Stuyvesant Town a massive housing project that replaced a area of gas storage tanks and tenements.

The bulky towers
have played an interesting role in the social and cultural history of New York. They were built as a public-private partnership between the city and MetLife, immediately after World War II (although planning had begun earlier) and at first housed mostly veterans and their families. It goes without saying that Robert Moses had his hand in the effort. Stuyvesant Town was and is reviled and loved in equal measure.

A population of melanistic squirrels inhabits Stuy Town's grounds.

The view opens up at First Avenue.