New York City's crime rates are the lowest since the 1960s, but Sharon Zukin thinks the city is worse off than ever.

The culprit? The media outlets for the creative class, scouring the five boroughs in search of the next It Spot, and only leaving when the chain stores—often late to the gentrification dance—move in to pay the suddenly sky-high rents.

This critique (and many harsher others) course through the Brooklyn College sociology professor's new book, Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places. But she's grumpy because she cares—and even shares her own NYC hotspots with us.

New York City has never been safer for residents or tourists. Surely, there's an upside to having a designer coffee shop on every corner.

New Yorkers, like everyone else, want to live in safe neighbourhoods, but you can have low crime rates without Starbucks.

Which area is the poster child of rampant gentrification in the city?

Every neighbourhood, from lower Manhattan to north Brooklyn, has already slid past the tipping point of gentrification. Good restaurants, quirky boutiques and an amazingly large population of recent college grads hoping for a media career have made many formerly rundown and low-key areas into shopping arcades for creative consumers.
 
What is the next place at risk of losing its authenticity by encroaching development?

It's dangerous to point out the "next" hot neighbourhood, because this ruins the vibe and raises the rent. It happened in the East Village in the 1980s and Williamsburg in the 1990s, thanks to New York magazine and the New York Times.

You use the word "authenticity" a lot. What is the most authentic neighbourhood in the city right now, and why?

An authentic neighbourhood is Sunset Park in Brooklyn, home to New York's third Chinatown on Eighth Avenue, a bustling community of Latino stores on Fifth Avenue, and an ethnically mixed group of homeowners and renters between them. I've heard a lot of worries recently, though, about whether Sunset Park can keep its authenticity as an ordinary neighbourhood instead of turning into a "destination."

So is the city a "mall" for good?

The only hope is to allow New Yorkers to put down roots in the neighbourhoods where they live and work. This means keeping a lid on housing prices, encouraging more mom-and-pop shops and giving communities a voice in planning their future. Less spectacle, more soul.

Sharon Zukin's Authentic New York Neighbourhood

Walk down Sullivan Street from Washington Square Park, now undergoing renovation, to Broome Street. You might see Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue magazine (and the widely believed focus of The Devil Wears Prada novel), who lives in a charming row of houses just past Bleecker Street.

On the next block among old tenement houses, you'll find Joe's Dairy (156 Sullivan St.; 212-677-8780), one of the best (and last) Italian dairies in Manhattan, where they still make the mozzarella by hand.

Besides a great little sandwich-and-pastry shop called Once Upon a Tart (135 Sullivan St.; 212-387-8869), an expensive Italian leather goods store, Il Bisonte (120 Sullivan St.; 212-966-8773), and a wicked sushi joint, Blue Ribbon Sushi (119 Sullivan St.; 212-343-0404), these short blocks still house the traditional shoe repair shop, dry cleaner, butcher and baker that cater to neighbourhood residents.

Although the tenements are old, only Joe's has been there since Madonna performed at CBGB & OMFUG (315 Bowery; 212-842-2166).