L ee walked the sweltering streets of the Bowery. Raw garbage covered every available corner and spilled into and out of the alleyways. Sound, like the garbage, permeated the thick air, and the smell of rotting vegetables and dirt mixed with laughter from the street urchins and dogs barking filled his ears and eyes and nose as he tried in vain to justify his reasons for being here. He hadn’t given himself access to this part of the city until now, and he was amazed at the cacophony of voices raised in every language. The world had landed on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and he could feel his senses overload from the beauty of the experience and the pain of the poverty. The streets, hard-packed with dirt a few years ago, were now white cement stained a grayish brown from traffic and the outdoor life of the poor. The summer months were unbearable indoors, and as Lee saw it, the less fortunate could move their entire lives outside to the city streets and courtyards and be far mor