Fall 2008 - American television network ABC debuts their version of a British television show, "Life on Mars". Starring Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli, Jason O'Mara and Gretchen Mol as NYPD detectives working the mean streets in 1973. The American production company has adapted the BBC version to showcase 1973 New York City as its home base. To transform modern-day New York into the rough-and-tumble city of 1973, the "Mars" production crew has pulled out all the stops, dressing entire city blocks - and scores of extras - to authentically resemble the era. Shooting sites have included the Lower East Side and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Filed under: Life on Mars Lower East Side

October 2008 - The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has supplied $5 million in funding for renovations to the Allen Street mall, according to the city’s Parks Department. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is a municipal partnership group created after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center to help redevelop the city south of Houston Street. This past spring, the city finished the renovation of a one-block stretch of the mall between Delancey and Broome Streets as a demonstration of what could and might be done in the future with the Allen and Pike Street Malls. The refurbished block now has a brick path lined with benches, shrubs and sculptures.