Lower East Side

I like to divide my visits to New York by zones or neighborhoods. If not, it's a mess. I think it's a great way to structure the content of a few days in the Big Apple, without missing anything along the way. On my last trip I stayed in the Lower East Side, in Lower Manhattan, which is a fashionable area, on the streets bordering Lower Manhattan and the East Village. Its most interesting parts are Chinatown (what to say), Little Italy (viva la mafia), Columbus Park Park (where they meet the Chinese to play chess and enjoy their social life), synagogues (the Jewish past is very present today) and independent shops (candy paradise).