Everybody ought to have a lower East Side in their life.

I grew up in the Lower East Side, an Italian American - more Sicilian, actually.

I'm a black lady from the Lower East Side of New York. Not a lot intimidates me.

That's what's interesting about the Lower East Side: It's New York, but it's also edgy. It's not as stuffy as Tribeca or Soho.

I choose to be American, I choose to live in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, I choose to have Puerto Rican/Jewish neighbors, and I choose to maintain my Chinese identity.

My background did not start with the East Side; it started with Greenwich Village, which is West Side.