This work investigates the socio-economic and cultural transformation of the SoHo neighborhood in New York City from a neglected industrial district into a global hub for the avant-garde art scene and its subsequent gentrification. Richard Kostelanetz, a prolific cultural critic and chronicler of the downtown New York scene, utilizes a combination of historical documentation, personal observation, and interviews to map the shift in the area's identity. He argues that the influx of artists into abandoned manufacturing lofts created a unique cultural ecosystem that eventually attracted commercial interests, leading to the displacement of the very community that defined the neighborhood's character.

Experts recognize this text as a significant primary account of the mid-20th-century New York art scene and the mechanics of urban gentrification. Readers frequently note the author's direct, journalistic prose style which provides an unfiltered look at the intersection of creative communities and real estate development.