The “1,000 years of Lower East Side History” walking tour, offered exclusively for Lower East Side History Month, goes off the beaten path, exploring districts and aspects of our neighborhood most excursions overlook. Sure, we’ll discuss the tenements and immigrant experience, but we’ll go beyond the familiar narrative and cover a thousand years of important history; from Native Americans to modern-day gentrification.
Utilizing generations of insight, rare maps, photos, documents, articles and oral histories not found elsewhere, LESHP digs deep into the neighborhood’s forgotten history.
VISITED ON TOUR:
Sites of Native American villages and trails
The notorious Five Points, former Irish and African enclave
Former Italian and Jewish immigrant/tenement districts
Chinatown
Historic churches, theaters, restaurants, shops
Popular landmarks and sites of interest
DISCUSSED ON TOUR:
European colonization
British occupation and the Revolutionary War
Evolution of NYC from farmland to center of international trade & commerce
Truth about the movie, “Gangs of New York”
How the Lower East Side evolved into a renown tenement district
Various ethnic populations and influences
Tenement life
Changes presently affecting the Lower East Side and New York City
And much more!
Meet at Foley Square. See website for specific location and to RSVP.