NYC Walking Tour: Immigration and the Lower East Side (Virtual)

Between 1892 and 1924, 12 million people passed through Ellis Island; two-thirds of them went immediately to Manhattan's Lower East Side. This virtual tour explores historic patterns of immigration in the city, from the Germans and Irish in the mid-19th century through the waves of Eastern European and Jewish immigrants and the peak years of Ellis Island. 

Learn about the area’s architecture, culture, religion, food, and relationship with Manhattan's burgeoning Chinatown through a mix of contemporary and historic photographs depicting tenement life, street markets, sweatshops, labor rallies, and the great mix of people that jammed Manhattan's most crowded neighborhood.

Featured on the tour: Typical tenement housing * traditional Jewish food vendors (and their modern successors) * the Henry Street Settlement * the Jewish Daily Forward building * Seward Park and the Seward Park Library * storefront synagogues * the Eldridge Street synagogue * the Williamsburg Bridge * the Kletzker Brotherly Aid Association * the Bialystoker Synagogue * Kahila Kedosha Janina.

Registration is required (via ZOOM). Register online by clicking here.

This program is co-sponsored by Somers Library and Pelham Library.