Walking around the Lower East Side is like stepping into a time machine. Certain buildings look just as they did in the late 18 and early 1900s. Yet at the same time, the Lower East Side is now considered the “trendy” neighborhood in Manhattan, where all of the exclusive nightlife is, the unique restaurants, and the pricey boutiques. The Lower East Side, or the LES, as my generation calls it, seems to be a living, breathing, walking paradox.
The Lower East Side was known as the immigrant neighborhood of America. Today, little has changed from that definition. For years it was mainly the Jews who inhabited the streets, specifically the Russian and Eastern European Jews. Before that it was the Irish (i.e. The Gangs of New York). After that it was the Italian, then the Spanish, and today, it is the Chinese. The culture within the Lower East Side spawns from each of these heritages. You can walk down Orchard street and find the best Kosher Deli in New York alongside the best Chinese food in New York. Little Italy and China Town are both in the LES.
My parents decided to check out the Tenement Museum at 91 Orchard Street this weekend. They dragged me along. A tenement, if you didn’t know is a run-down and often overcrowded apartment house, especially in a poor section of a large city. In the Lower East Side, in the late 1800s, early 1900s, my Great Grandmother grew up in a Tenement house, amongst other Jewish and Italian immigrant families. Despite the close proximity of the multitude of different cultures, the families still maintained their unique traditions and religion.
View Inside the Tenement Museum
The tenement museum was interesting to see. It was rather depressing. The immigrants lived in an extremely dirty and unkempt environment. They had their bathrooms in the hallways, and they spent most of their days working in sweatshops. In these families, usually both the men and women had to work to make ends meet. The women would generally spend long hours working in a factory or a sweatshop, while the men would attempt owning a store, or being a tailor, or owning a pushcart. My Mother told me that her Great Grandmother worked as a seamstress in a sweatshop, while her Great Grandfather owned a pushcart. At the time, it was very difficult to make money. They struggled to raise their four children on their wages.
Life was hard in the LES in the early 1900s, but today, despite its large immigrant community, the ambiance has definitely changed. My parents and I walked around the LES for a few hours. Next to the uber-chic The Eldridge nightclub, was The Eldridge Street Synagogue. We had a lot of fun tasting the pickles from the barrels from Gus’s Pickes (I bought an entire carton of sour pickles, they are amazing).
The Eldridge Synagogue
We ended off the day in none other than Katz’s Deli. If you are a New Yorker, this place needs no explanation. If you aren’t, Katz’s deli is probably the most famous deli in New York. It’s the best. I got some corned beef, my Dad ordered tongue (like, actual cow’s tongue, it’s disgusting), and my Mom got salami and eggs (the Jewish version of eggs and bacon). Her’s was absolutely delicious. My corned beef didn’t even need mustard!
The Lower East Side is such a mixture of cultures that the streets practically bleed history and diversity. Walking down the street, you can never feel like a minority or the majority. You are just someone from another country, who has dreamed of living in the United States, and probably works in the garment industry, only so their children can one day get the education that you never had, and can make alife for themselves here in America.
Check out the Tenement Museum’s Blog here!
