The Lower Eastside of Manhattan has changed a lot since I was a kid. We used to visit the sidewalk vendors lining Orchard Street and Grand Street who were selling socks. These were nothing like the fancy socks I wear now. It was the 1970s and these were white, athletic-style, tube socks. You know the kind with three color stripes at the top. This open air market was an extension of the Jewish vendors who settled in this part of the city 100 years before. Now this area is part of the continually growing Chinatown.