Lower East Side: Staying Affordable Despite the Hype

By Melissa Dehncke-McGill While the real estate market in prime Manhattan neighborhoods softens, prices in the Lower East Side and the East Village have remained even lower. Despite the hype the neighborhood has received, flashy new condos are still few and far between, and it's still largely a neighborhood of rentals, even for new development. Zoning remains an obstacle to erecting new towers in the area, which the city is looking to change -- one of the reasons prices have remained fairly low.