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Vibrant photos give a rare look into the Lower East Side's thriving immigrant communities in the 1980s

Isaiah ReynoldsApr 21, 2023, 23:51 IST

Fire Escape Viewing on Stanton Street, 1990Tria Giovan

The Lower East Side has always been a hub for immigrant and working class families.
In the 1980s, many media depictions presented the neighborhood as crime-riddled and dangerous.

One of the few guarantees in New York City is change, and Manhattan's Lower East Side is no exception.

"This city is this kind of living, breathing organism in a way, and it's always evolving," said Tria Giovan, photographer and author of "Loisaida: New York Street Work 1984-1990," a revived collection of photographs printed 40 years after they were originally captured. Her intuitive archival process is an ode to the once stigmatized pocket of lower Manhattan.

The Lower East Side was known as a morphing community of people often at the margins of New York City.

El Castillo de Jagua on Rivington Street, 1985Tria Giovan

Although inextricably linked to the influx of Puerto Rican populations that lovingly called the area "Loisaida," the southeast corner of Manhattan Island was a hotbed for new communities.

Tria Giovan

Although inextricably linked to the influx of Puerto Rican populations that lovingly called the area "Loisaida," the southeast corner of Manhattan Island was a hotbed for new communities.

Due to exaggerated media depictions, many outsiders were fixated on crime and danger in the neighborhood.

Tria Giovan

Growing up in St. Thomas, Giovan attributes much of the vibrancy and visual noise in her photographs to the tropical palette she grew up around.

Tria Giovan

Giovan's archives evoke the subtleties of a Sunday afternoon walk around the neighborhood.

Tria Giovan

Despite its history as a home to working-class immigrant families, inevitable demographic shifts have arrived yet again since the turn of the century in favor of working professionals.

Tria Giovan

Despite its history as a home to working-class immigrant families, inevitable demographic shifts have arrived yet again since the turn of the century in favor of working professionals.

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