Since 1979 Clayton Patterson has dedicated his life to documenting the final era of raw creativity and lawlessness in New York City's Lower East Side, a neighborhood famed for art, music and revolutionary minds.

Traversing the outside edge he's recorded a dark and colorful society, from drag, hardcore, heroin, homelessness, political chaos and ultimately gentrification. His odyssey from voyeur to provocateur reveals that it can take losing everything you love to find your own significance.

"Wonderful film, it goes beyond"
—Albert Maysles

"Makes you feel like you're in the glory days of yesteryear... A raucous good time."
—Chloë Sevigny

"The immense size of the audience attending was a sign of [the film's] certain success.
—Mayor Ed Koch