BREEDING GROUND: Rats attracted to garbage-filled sidewalks keep exterminators busy.

Photo by Hijiri Inose.

WEARY STREETS: Vacant lots and mounds of garbage remain a familiar sight.

Photo by Tony Padovano.

IN EVERY SEASON: Cars and tires are dumped along the East River.

Photo by Drew Fellman.

ON THE WATERFRONT: Few parks but acres of gritty, fallow land.

Photo by Leila Gorchev.