“The developers circle like vultures, hungry to turn this untamed block into another sanitized American mall. But for now, it remains an oasis, a place that still hums with the unruly soul of the city.” Jeremiah Moss

Welcome to the Diamond District. These pictures are a meditation on the thrum of another urban neighborhood on the edge of disappearing.

One would think it’d be easy to photograph here. This is the alluring part - a public street open to all.Humans and their inventory spill out in front of your eyes. Trays in these shops groan with jewels. Some akin to Legos hit with a Bedazzler. It is a hard scrabble street with a lot of stories. And above the street, workshops bend geology to their will. Think Harry Potter but hood.

47 is a both a parallel universe and an open book. On this street, there exists a poetry in the working-class nature of luxury. Guided by my heart as a street photographer, I peruse sidewalks hungry for pictures. Sometimes I’m graciously invited in. Others, I am punitive superegos chide me; a mountain of a man once visibly threatened me for photographing on the sidewalk in front of his store.

As I continue this work, I absorb the stories of the street’s hidden heart. Legacy businesses mean everything to the weft and weave of a culture. But these moms-and-pops are on the verge of vanishing. A big box store has just broken ground; the battle has begun.