That's what Richard Price calls Manhattan's Lower East Side in the most recent issue of Newsweek. As the best-ever TV show, The Wire, prepares for its finale tomorrow night, I also found this observation from Price (who's written for the series) worth noting:

"You walk through a neighborhood, it's like looking at the ocean from above the water line. And then you go with cops, it's like putting on a snorkel mask and dipping your head underwater and you go, 'Whoa! I didn't know that was here'."

And I laughed when Price, who wanted to be a writer but got an undergraduate degree in labor relations, said, "the point of college is to get a job, and to say you want to be a writer is a little like mocking your parents."

For more of Price's sharp take on things, read the whole Newsweek article and -- if you haven't already for some reason -- watch the first episode of Titlepage.