In its day (1832-1935), the Lower East Side (LES) was the largest Jewish community in North America. The Lower East Side is defined as from the East River to South Street Seaport, from Broadway to Lafayette to 14th Street. This was in an era where there was no Tribeca, no SOHO. The LES has always been an immigrant neighborhood, and is also associated with the Irish, Chinese, Poles, Ukrainians, and many others.
The Tenement Museum is a unique place where you’ll learn about the lives of actual families who lived (and sometimes worked) here. I’ve been to the Tenement Museum twice, once with and once without my kids, who are 8 and 10. I’ll share a lot of information here, and give you the thumbs up or down for the kids at the end. And if you disagree with any of the history I mentioned, feel free to leave a comment. The information came from my tour guide.
TENEMENT MUSEUM HISTORY
In 1988, Ruth Abram and Anita Jacobsen wanted to create a testament to immigration. They couldn’t find a worthwhile place, while looking for something that had deteriorated naturally and hadn’t turned into a crack house. The finally found this, where they also found 9,000 artifacts from some of the 7,000 people (from 20 countries) who lived here over 100 years. They later bought the buildings next to the museum and are converting those now as well. Read more about this history here. This is the first tenement to be individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
There’s something sexy about descending 50 feet to Manhattan bedrock to see the largest stash of foreign gold in the world. The reality, however is slightly underwhelming.