Preserving two monumental textile banks is key to East Kensington’s future, say a diverse group of neighborhood activists, including Karen Lewis, pictured here. Their appeal of a nonprofit’s plans to build affordable housing on the site reveals contrasting visions of the neighborhood’s potential, points out Christopher Mote in his comprehensive report

Bromley mill owner Jesse Munoz weighs the community’s reaction to his initial plans for the long empty building–a conversation that’s intensified since the loss of the adjacent Buck Hosiery mill. In this initial “Behind the Facade,” writer Nic Esposito finds Munoz at work inside the building. Illustrations by Ben Leech

Neighbors appeal Zoning Board of Adjustment ruling in bid to save the monumental banks at Front and Norris and keep the site commercial

Under the El in Kensington, the owners of the former Thomas Buck Hosiery, one of the last great mills, fail to protect their property–or pay their taxes

East York and Emerald, in Kensington, a neighborhood plagued by massive vacant lots–all former mills–and yet no public green space