as a life long east side resident, based out of irvington, i am starting to see a disturbing trend in the perception of "my hood." too many times now i have heard negative comments about the east side, like: "it's the ghetto" or "you'd better be careful that is a rough area!" granted, it does have it's patches; but doesn't every side of town? i'm an avid runner and i feel safer running in irvington than i do most areas of town! perhaps it's the friendly community atmosphere we have there... it's just a nice area. the reality is, the east side, over the past few years, has made HUGE progress! with the addition of new places to eat, re-opening the irving theater as a music venue, countless community programs and events, and the new pensy trail proposal, i think my neck of the woods at least, is doing okay. even eastgate mall will be getting a facelift! and although washington square mall has lost several stores, several new good stores have been added. and the new movie theater always seems busy. i think the biggest problem with the east side is the negative stigma it has had forced upon it. the news doesn't help either. perhaps instead of people assuming it's scarey because it is outside of their own bubble (we all know what happens when we assume!), maybe they should come check it out. give us some more business so we can continue our growth!