The view from 204 Forsyth Street has gone from dilapidated to deluxe. Five stories above the bustling streets of the Lower East Side, the Rev. Jack Podsiadlo leaned over the rooftop cornice of this narrow, red-brick tenement and counted all the boutiques and nightspots that have moved in.

“It used to be you could see drug deals in the park and hookers with johns,” he said. “Now it’s high-rises, hotels and more construction cranes.”

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