by Jim Dwyer: Stacked on the chipped tile floor of the vestibule at 85 Bowery were 59 boxes, each addressed to John Doe or Jane Doe.

Modern moneyed New York had arrived at a rickety remnant of the 19th-century city via express mail. Inside boxes were lawsuites filed by a developer who wants the tenants out of 85 Bowery and the building next door, 83 Bowery.