Lower East Side

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, NYC
Community Page The Lower East Side is perhaps best known as having once been a center of Jewish culture.

One of the oldest neighborhoods of the city, the Lower East Side has long been a lower-class worker neighborhood and often a poor and ethnically diverse section of New York. As well as Irish, Italians, Poles, Ukrainians, and other ethnic groups, it once had a sizeable German population and was known as Little Germany (Kleindeutschland). Today it is a predominantly Puerto Rican and Dominican commun

ity, and in the process of gentrification (as documented by the portraits of its residents in the Clinton+Rivington chapter of The Corners Project.) In her 2000 book Lower East Side memories: A Jewish place in America, Hasia Diner explains that the Lower East Side is especially remembered as a place of Jewish beginnings in contemporary, impoverished Ashkenazi American Jewish culture. Vestiges of the area's Jewish heritage exist in shops on Hester Street and Essex Street, and on Grand Street near Allen. There is still an Orthodox Jewish community with yeshiva day schools and a mikvah. A few Judaica shops can be found along Essex Street and a few Jewish scribes and variety stores. Some kosher delis and bakeries as well as a few "kosher style" delis, including the famous Katz's Deli, are located in the neighborhood. Downtown Second Avenue on the Lower East Side was the home to many Yiddish theatre productions in the Yiddish Theater District during the early part of the 20th century, and Second Avenue came to be known as 'Yiddish Broadway', though most of the theaters are gone. Songwriter Irving Berlin, actor John Garfield, and singer Eddie Cantor grew up here. More recently, it has been settled by immigrants, primarily from Latin America. In what is now the East Village, the earlier population of Poles and Ukrainians has been largely supplanted with newer immigrants, and the arrival of large numbers of Japanese people over the last fifteen years or so has led to the proliferation of Japanese restaurants and specialty food markets. There is also a notable population of Bangladeshis and other immigrants from Muslim countries, many of whom are congregants of the small Madina Masjid (Mosque), located on First Avenue and 11th Street. The neighborhood also presents many historic synagogues, such as the Bialystoker Synagogue, Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, the Eldridge Street Synagogue, Kehila Kedosha Janina (the only Greek synagogue in the Western Hemisphere), the Angel Orensanz Center (the fourth oldest synagogue building in the United States), and various smaller synagogues along East Broadway. Another landmark, the First Roumanian-American congregation (the Rivington Street synagogue) partially collapsed in 2006, and was subsequently demolished. In addition, there is a major Hare Krishna temple and several Buddhist houses of worship. Incoming Chinese people have also made their mark on the Lower East Side in recent decades. The part of the neighborhood south of Delancey Street and west of Allen Street has in large measure become part of Chinatown, and Grand Street is one of the major business and shopping streets of Chinatown. Also contained within the neighborhood are strips of lighting and restaurant supply shops on the Bowery. As a Jewish neighborhood

While the Lower East Side has seen a series of immigrant communities pass through, American Jews relate to the neighborhood in a particularly strong manner, much as Chinatown in San Francisco holds a special place in the imagination of Chinese Americans, and Astoria in the hearts of Greek Americans. In the late twentieth century, the strong pull of the Lower East Side on the imagination of American Jews led to the preservation of a number of buildings associated with the Jewish immigrant community.

01/03/2016

In the old days of the Lower East Side, there were pushcarts, bootleggers, hot corn and knife sharpeners. 95-year-old Julius Shapiro and his sisters Peshie and Esther remember it all in a lively and hilarious conversation.

via: The Lo-Down NY Essential LES: Here Are the Local Spots We Would Hate to Live Without
01/03/2016

via: The Lo-Down NY

Essential LES: Here Are the Local Spots We Would Hate to Live Without

via Made in the Lower East Side: We’re excited to be partnering with Be Social Change once again to celebrate the start...
06/03/2015

via Made in the Lower East Side: We’re excited to be partnering with Be Social Change once again to celebrate the start of summer and all the amazing people and organizations in NY's social innovation scene. Join us TOMORROW at 6:30 PM at Wix Lounge for the New York Social Good Summer Bash!

Kickstart the second half of 2014 by connecting with the people and organizations driving social innovation and creating change in NYC!

01/26/2015

Due to the impending storm, all after-school programs are cancelled today, January 26, 2015.

Lunch will be served at the Good Companions Senior Center, but dinner will not. Seniors will be given a take-home dinner during lunch service.

Meals on Wheels recipients will receive three home-delivered meals today.

Stay tuned for more updates here or on Twitter () or our website (http://www.henrystreet.org).

01/26/2015

It's truly unfortunate when you discover that a particular architectural treasure is not officially landmarked and is then demolished for luxury living. This trend is endemic of the Lower East Side lately, its very character endangered. And we're probably losing another. The latest victim of the ons…

01/26/2015

Not even a month into 2015, and already the high-profile Lower East Side closures are stacking up. The greats are fading. Streit’s Matzo obviously comes to mind, with fifth-generation ownership moving production to its New Jersey facility after 90 years of operations on Rivington Street. That teary…

Get ready folks! This one is going to be a big one! Make sure to check on your elderly neighbors and stay safe out there...
01/26/2015

Get ready folks! This one is going to be a big one! Make sure to check on your elderly neighbors and stay safe out there!

Monday: Gearing up for the storm, up to two feet of snow predicted, and Sheldon Silver steps aside.

01/26/2015

File photo. There are reports tonight that Sheldon Silver is stepping down, at least temporarily. The Assembly Speaker and Lower East Side representative was

01/26/2015

Sheldon Silver is surrounded by elected officials and local activists at a recent event in Chinatown. In the past two days, we've been talking with a lot of

01/19/2015

» HENRY STREET, Lower East Side » Forgotten New YorkForgotten New York |

01/19/2015

REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR SPRING ADULT + YOUTH CLASSES AT ABRONS ARTS CENTER! Abrons Arts Center’s engagement programming offers innovative,

01/19/2015

EV Grieve is an East Village blog where you'll find local news on the real estate, restaurants and residents of the East Village NYC.

Address

New York, NY
10002

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Lower East Side posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category