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Welcome to Canal Street -- the dirtiest, noisiest and most vibrant street in New York City. For over a century, it has been the first stop in America for countless immigrants. This colorful documentary, five years in the making, offers a rare glimpse into the life of Canal Street. Meet street vendors, fireworks hawkers, cops, homeless men, Vietnamese boat people, and sweat shop workers, all part of the Canal Street subculture. It's a tough place for newcomers, who must quickly learn the unwritten rules of the street. In an effort to crack down on the illegal trade in counterfeit goods and the sweat shops, the police stage regular raids, often sweeping up the legal vendors in the process. Chinese and Vietnamese gang violence is another problem. See where the sweat shop workers spend their days -- in cramped and dangerous quarters -- and their nights -- in basements and single-room apartments shared by 50 people and stuffed to capacity with triple-decker bunk-beds. As this profile shows, Canal Street is not a melting pot; it's a pressure cooker.
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