Vendors rent life-size crucifixes for Christians to drag along the Stations of the Via Dolorosa, the Path of Sorrows to Christ's Cavalry.
His characters mumble and bumble, querulous and whiny, but they are usually articulate philosophers of low-rent life.
Alexandre, a wealthy physician drawn to the romance of the low-rent life, leased a crumbling 12-room mansion, scheduled for demolition by the city, and turned it into an emergency studio and living space for artists.
"I believe student rents are the next big scandal, and young people in our universities desperately need a student living rent, because life is difficult enough for them already without the kind of extortionate charges many of them are being asked to pay".
"I dream a lot, to have something else, but it's very hard, because rent is life".
They eat free and pay no rent, their life's soundtrack "a song of New York City you can hear only once, and only as young lovers".
The National Housing Federation, which commissioned the forecasts and represents housing associations, warned that the widening gap in demand for and supply of housing meant "an entire generation will be locked out of home ownership and forced to rent for life".
Many were in dire financial straits at the time and were told that in return for selling their houses at knockdown prices they would enjoy a discounted rent for life as well as other potential benefits.
The law gave them the right to stay in their flats at a fixed rent for life if they wanted - and they had a habit of living an awfully long time.
The results vary from adorable to cringe-worthy, but the clip is worth it alone for that part in the beginning where Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp sing together ("Rent" for life).
