The Lower East Side History Project (LESHP) is a non-profit organization under the fiscal sponsorship of Bowery Arts and Science, 501(c)(3)

Who we are
LESHP programs are organized and operated by community historians, educators, artists, activists and preservationists dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the history, culture and community of the Lower East Side. Everyone involved with LESHP are native or veteran New Yorkers who are active community members who take great pride in their work and neighborhood.

Our mission
LESHP's mission is to document the Lower East Side's great history comprehensively and accurately and utilize this information to raise awareness of the Lower East Side's historic significance and influence in world history. The Project has been collecting important data since 2001, and countless students, journalists, preservationists, media outlets, educators and history junkies continue to utilize our information.

What we do
LESHP provides educational programming to K-12 and university level students, public walking tours, media consultation, research services, and special events, lectures and presentations.

How we are funded
LESHP is funded by public walking tours, generous donations, a membership program, and recently awarded a grant from the prestigious Citizen's Committee for New York.

Eric Ferrara is founder and executive director of Lower East Side History Project, as well as a published author, movie and TV consultant and fourth generation Lower East Sider who has made it his life mission to document his neighborhood's great history and share it with the world. More about Eric here.

Rob Hollander, Ph.D, a native East Side New Yorker, author, researcher and licensed tour guide, moved into Alphabet City in the 1970's, during its most desperate years of poverty, and has never left. A neighborhood preservationist and community activist, Hollander earns his living as an academic linguist and early music vocalist while contributing articles to various online media sources and published works on, among other subjects, tenement architecture and local history.

David Bellel is a native Lower East Sider who graduated from Stuyvesant HS and went on to earn a master's degree in education from Brooklyn College. David has been an educator, program developer and mentor in the New York City school system since 1968. In retirement, David continues to work with the Department of Education on several initiatives. Davids blog: Knickerbocker Village

Andrea Coyle, Director of Outreach and Membership for Lower East Side History Project, is a native New Yorker, a licensed NYC tour guide, a member of The Guides Association of NYC, and a graphic artist. She is a community activist and is passionate about preserving the fabric of NYC neighborhoods. Andrea was an early education preschool teacher, and she also volunteers for Big Apple Greeter. In addition, she was recently on the annual awards committee for The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, and is currently working with groups such as the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, and Save Coney Island.

Seth Franklin Abrams is a native New York City writer, producer, actor and founding curator for the Museum of the American Gangster, Seth is also the creator of Our Gotham, a film series that is set in the underworld of 1904 New York chronicling the exploits of the legendary Monk Eastman, Kid Twist and a host of other unforgettable characters. Franklin also produced Inside a Change, recipient of the 2009 Best Film Award at the 2009 HBO New York International Latino Film Festival. As an actor, Franklin has appeared in a host of films, video games and videos.

Anthony Donovan, award winning documentarian, author, BSN, medical manager serving NYC's sick for 35 years, is a fifth generation New Yorker living in the East Village for the past 20 years. His mother is of the notable McAllister tugboat family (incorporated in NYC 1868). Frequenting the Lower East Side for it's rich music scene since 1968, that same year he began his passion and journey into Interfaith events and services throughout NYC.

Thom Corn is a respected, veteran artist whose work has exhibited throughout New York City since 1981. With numerous credits to his name, Thom was an original organizing founder of Bullet Space, a pioneering artist collective/squat on the Lower East Side (1988-1991) and since 1998, has maintained an ongoing "environmental survival mechanism" entitled Uncle Thom's Cotton Patch. Besides his impressive success in arts, music, poetry and film, Thom is a veteran, licensed tour guide with an incredible wealth of knowledge and first-hand experience.

Cary Abrams is a native New Yorker who graduated from Stuyvesant HS, City College and NYU and has been involved in local politics and arts since the 1960s. He is a retired NYC public school history teacher who developed training materials for institutions like the Whitney Museum and has written and presented numerous papers on local history, including The New York School of Poets and their relation to the Beats, at the 1994 NYU Beat Conference.