Devil's Mile

"A fascinating cultural history of New York City's Bowery, from the author of The Flatiron. The Bowery was a synonym for despair throughout most of the 20th century. The very name evoked visuals of drunken bums passed out on the sidewalk; New Yorkers nicknamed it 'Satan's Highway,' 'The Mile of Hell,' and 'The Street of Forgotten Men.' For years the little businesses along the Bowery--stationers, dry goods sellers, jewelers, hatters--asked the city to change the street's name. To have a Bowery address, they claimed, was hurting them; people did not want to venture there. But when the New York real-estate frenzy exploded in the 1990s, developers discovered the Bowery. They rushed in and began tearing it down. Today, Whole Foods, hipster night spots, and expensive lofts have replaced the old flophouses and dive bars, and the bad, old Bowery no longer exists. In Devil's Mile, Alice Sparberg Alexiou explores the history and future of The Bowery back to its origins, when farmland covered the areas around the boulevard and the area around it was considered outside of town. She'll explore the years after the Civil War when the Bowery rivaled Fifth Avenue for best Manhattan addresses. And she'll tell this story as soon as she can, before all its old buildings, and the memories associated with them, disappear"