The scene that Christopher Mele depicts of the Lower East Side reminds me of a large public high school filled with hundreds of students trying to “find themselves”. High school, especially those early years, is a time when teenagers often feel stuck in that awkward transition phase, in essence what young adult years are about. During adolescence it is crucial to fit into a clique, much like the immigrants worked hard to find a community. Think of the classic cafeteria scene in so many coming-of-age movies. The camera will span from the jocks, to the cheerleaders, to the nerds, hipsters, misfits, Blacks, Asians, Whites, and everyone in between. Students work hard to fit in, so that “within such pandemonium” of high school stress and pressure, “a sense of order prevailed” (Mele 59). This rule applied to the Lower East Side where ” the ethnic and religious groups that coexisted on the Lower East Side maintained dense social networks that were located in distinct spaces…”(59). Just as the cheerleaders would spend time hanging out by the field, the Jewish immigrants could be found eating and shopping at their respective shops. Within those close parameters and cliques, students will develop personalities and traits much like immigrants who chose certain parts of their identity to shed, keep, change and acquire.
After those formative years the student should graduate and continue on to better things in life. New freshmen arrive each year and there is a constant rotation of students who go through this experience. Mele describes how the Lower East Side worked in a similar fashion. “Over six decades, a rapid and steady turnover of diverse social groups used and reused the harsh landscape” which provided them with the necessary environment to begin a new life, strengthen identities, and to slowly but surely settle in this large and daunting city. After they succeeded, most immigrants “graduated” and left that small community to further their career and better their quality of life.
I question the happiness of the immigrants while they were living in the Lower East Side. Journalists then and writers today write of an extremely difficult time for the immigrants with poor living conditions. While this is true, I still wonder how it affected the immigrants’ level of happiness. Studies show that happiness is only partially dependent on monetary acquisitions but largely dependent on purposeful careers, meaningful relationships, appreciation, gratitude and determination. Undoubtedly, immigrants were appreciative and driven, setting goals that they worked hard to achieve. Although there was a ghetto impression of the community, there were also those who believed “the alleged social disorganization and deprivation…was recast as a source of spontaneity, passion and creativity”(74). I believe that those years were meaningful and consequential in shaping an immigrants life in NYC. While I do think that they were happy with the opportunities and freedom that the Lower East Side afforded them, I wonder how much happier they were in hindsight. Many high school students are not happy while in high school but look back and say that they were the best years of his life. Though I cannot be sure, I would presume that many immigrants felt similarly about the Lower East Side.
