Bounty hunters in this city play a sophisticated game of hide-and-seek to get their man -- impersonating Con Ed repairmen, tapping phone lines, and storming houses with handcuffs. Nabbing fugitives is tricky business, which is why they often come this close to breaking the law themselves.

Egged on by low crime rates and escalating property values, the city's new activists have declared war on high-rises, French restaurants, toy stores, and other social undesirables of the new millennium.