For years, the Lower Eastside neighborhood (a.k.a. “The Pit) has been lawless. An excessive number of warring gangs, violent and militant neo-anarchist cells and criminal syndicates operate in and have essentially overrun this part of Manhattan. The black market is thriving here. The Mafia families of New York, the Triads, the Yakuza and the Seoulpa Rings all have territory and interests in this part of Manhattan. As such, all this rampant criminal activity present in the Pit made NYPD, Inc. do a cost-benefit analysis on the merits of moving in and reclaiming the neighborhood. And they found such a move would prove too costly to be feasible. So, NYPD, Inc. settled for a plan of containment. Since the early 2050s, they have taken a number of measures to make sure those inside the Pit cannot interact with the rich and elite in the rest of Manhattan. For the most part, their plan of containment has proven successful. However, in 2074, NYPD, Inc. let this part of their security contract to expire, allowing Winter Systems to inherit the problems associated with containing this neighborhood. That may have been a smart move. MDC is rumored to be impatient with the lack of process NYPD, Inc. was making in retaking Lower Eastside from the gangs, the SINless, and the other “undesirables,” and so this could have been NYPD Inc.’s way of passing the buck. Since obtaining the contract for the Pit, Winter Systems has done almost nothing different from NYPD in the way of containment. Almost. One change is that Winter Systems has chosen to use much more lethal force against those who would try leave the Pit for the more upscale parts of Manhattan. Winter Systems has demonstrated a lower tolerance for repeat offenders coming from the Pit than even NYPD, Inc. had. So far, the more extreme measures Winter Systems have taken seem to be popular with the elite crowd, who generally assume the rabble of the pit would be better off dead anyway.
If MDC wants to retake and revitalize the Pit, they will likely need a megacorporation like Ares and Knight Errant that can bring extensive resources to bear on this problem. This could very well be the contract that Knight Errant would need to make a good impression with the MDC, improve their relations with the other corporations on the board, and make inroads to securing the full contract for the sprawl. So far, Ares has not made a play for this contract, and it’s likely it doesn’t want to upset NYPD, Inc., and possibly cause its vote to switch against it for when the MDC votes on which corporations retain their seats. But it is always a possibility in the future when MDC politics are more favorable to Ares.
Inside the Pit, there have been local groups working to clean up their section of the Rotten Apple without MDC assistance. Groups like Urban Heritage and Lower East Heritage have been working to clean up their streets, along with their neighborhood’s reputation. Up to last year, they appeared to be finding some success, both through direct action and shadow activity. And up to this point, the MDC has been happy to allow them to take care of the problems within the Pit. Recently, though, crime rates have grown. Members of both groups have been found dead inside the Pit, and it would seem the gangs that inhabit this part of Manhattan are fighting back, retaliating against those who would take away their turf. There are other issues that may require MDC intervention as well, including a reported dramatic increase in the population of ghouls and vampires. The population of dangerous paranormal critters is also up in this neighborhood (including devil rats, demon rats, Gabriel hounds, and gargoyles), and these are seeping into the other, higher-class neighborhoods and are causing a commotion. It may not be much longer before the MDC decides that it can no longer ignore the problems of the Pit. Should that ever come to be, it is expected that there will be bloodshed against whoever enters the Pit to try to clean it up. Making things more complicated, Matrix coverage is pretty spotty in the Pit, so anyone who goes in can’t count on using it as a tool against the natives.
