Formerly known as “Forgotten Lower East Side,” this exciting and insightful walking tour 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
- Sites of freed slave districts
- The notorious Five Points, former Irish and African enclave
- Former Italian immigrant/tenement district
- 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 (Puerto Rican, Dominican, more)
- Tenement life
- Changes presently affecting the Lower East Side and New York City
- And much more!
Schedule:
Available as a private tour ($150 per group)
Meet Here:
Location: Foley Square (at the “Triumph of Human Spirit” fountain/sculpture)
Directions: J, Z to Chambers Street or 4, 5, 6 to Brooklyn Bridge
View Google map/get directions
Look for this fountain/sculpture in the park:
Book this tour:
You can book now and pay by Zelle, Venmo, or in cash on day of the tour.