“It’s art leading real estate,” says [David] Pincus...who serves as the managing director of The Workshop Theater Company and who also runs Community Board 4’s Theater Task Force that covers Chelsea and Clinton. But if theaters can function as barometers of gentrification, they also can be the first to go...

But Pincus and many others believe that small, vibrant theaters are much more than real estate aides, and can contribute more than a revitalized block, providing New York City with jobs, taxes and tourists.