Lower East Side History Blog

9th Precinct police officers Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie On the night of January 27, 1972, rookie NYPD officers Rocco Laurie and Gregory Foster were ambushed while on patrol along Avenue B at East Eleventh Street. Only recently joining the police force after a stint as combat marines in Vietnam, Laurie and Foster were approached from behind by a group of individuals who opened fire on the unsuspecting pair. The...

Some of the most tangible and significant contributions that turn-of-the-century European immigrants provided the world were in the field of entertainment and the Lower East Side has spawned some of the most accomplished film producers, directors, actors and composers in the medium's century-long history. In fact without the influence of these early immigrants and their offspring, the motion picture industry as we know it would be very different today. Screen...

Click for larger map By the turn of the twentieth century, the abundance of houses of worship on the Lower East Side rivaled any district on the planet. The map above highlights the neighborhood's churches by 1877 (synagogues will be explored in a future post). Many more churches and chapels were erected in the following three decades as Catholic Italians, Orthodox Ukrainians and others began immigrating in large numbers. Old...

For well over a century, the Lower East Side's waterfront hosted Manhattan's primary industrial district. Among dozens of factories and horse stables was one of the largest concentrations of coal, lumber and iron yards in the city. This map illustrates some of the larger companies operating by 1891, in the 11th and 13th Wards of the Lower East Side. See "Alphabet City" in 1891: http://les360.org/2011/12/industrial-alphabet-city-1891/

Source: Directory of New York Charities, 1900 You are probably asking yourself, "What on earth is a 'perambulating fountain'?" Source: Directory of New York Charities, 1900 Well, if you lived on the Lower East Side at the turn of the century, you would probably be very familiar with its common term, "ice-water fountain." Before refrigerators, running taps in every apartment and public fountains -- let alone bottled water -- there...

In the decades following the Revolutionary War, opportunists from across the globe poured into New York City seeking fortune in the Capital of the newly formed United States of America. Anticipating a major growth in population, the modern day street grid was established in 1811, opening up two-thirds of previously uninhabitable Manhattan real estate. As industry boomed, the city (perhaps conveniently) opened its doors to laborers, Irish and German immigrants,...

Based on 1891 G. W. Bromley map For well over a century, the Lower East Side's waterfront hosted Manhattan's primary industrial district. Among dozens of factories and horse stables was one of the largest concentrations of coal, lumber and iron yards in the city. This map illustrates some of the larger companies operating by 1891, in the neighborhood referred to now by many as "Alphabet City." By WWII most of...

Outside 114 Bowery c. 1897 (left), scan of Brodie's 1896 liquor license (right)These are some rare images relating to Steve Brodie, a man whose claim to fame was just that, a claim, that in 1886 he jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge and survived.The following an excerpt from The Bowery: A History of Grit, Graft and Grandeur: Brodie, a native Lower East Sider, was an outgoing, blusterous youth who earned the...

Here is a crude map of bar locations in the LES "Jewish Quarter" in 1897. There was one bar for every 208 people living the the neighborhood.

Did you know that Lord & Taylor got its start on the LES? The flagship store was at 63 Catharine Street (pictured left), its next on the corner of Grand and Chrystie Streets (pictured, right).

Did you know that Brooks Brothers, America's oldest mens retail store, got its start on the Lower East Side? These images are from its original store on the corner of Catharine and Cherry Street -- which opened in 1818! It moved from this location to Broadway and Grand Street in the late 1850s.

Did you know that Steinway & Sons was once located on the Lower East Side?Though German immigrant Heinrich Steinway founded in the iconic company 1853 out of a small shop at 75 Varick Street, his sons opened an upscale showroom at 107-109 E. 14th Street in 1864.In 1866, they opened Steinway Hall in the rear of the showrooms, which quickly became the center of New York City's cultural elite. The...

Here is a map of major forts and artillery batteries in Lower Manhattan during the Revolutionary War.In the Summer of 1776, George Washington's 10,000-strong Continental Army fortified Manhattan Island, concentrating five Brigades below Houston Street.The only major road into the city at the time, the Bowery, was heavily barricaded and used to maneuver thousands and thousands of troops and supplies in and out of the largest Army encampment on Manhattan...

The Telegraph-Herald (Dubuque, Iowa), April 19, 1920 In the spring of 1920, thousands of families were ordered to vacate their homes during one of the worst housing crises in New York City history. The combination of a severe housing shortage and immense population boom at the end of WWI led to waves of mass evictions for much of the city's working-class and working-poor population. Motivated by a post-war interest in...

Rare image of the original Tombs Prison being dismantled to make way for a newer structure, c. 1898. Apparently nothing was spared. There was a push to rebuild the structure in Central Park for nostalgic purposes but the cost was too prohibitive. Here is a great article mentioning the preservation effort at the time: http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2011/07/lost-1838-egyptian-revival-tombs.html

August 31 marks the anniversary of the passing of pioneering social worker Helen Hall, who died of natural causes in 1982 at the tender age of 90 at her home on the Lower East Side.Known as a "second generation social reformer," Helen Hall (b. January 4, 1892) was the second director of the Henry Street Settlement between 1933 and 1967 -- succeeding Lillian Wald, who founded the esteemed settlement house...

The following scans were sent to us by Barry S. of Toronto, Canada. After reading an interview we did in the Toronto Star, Barry recalled the stories of the Bowery his parents would tell him as a child. They were performers and mingled with the likes of Sophie Tucker, Edward G. Robinson and Henny Youngman. These collectibles sat in a closet for decades until last week. Now they have a...

Each 4th of July in the 1910s, homegrown icon Dr. Henry Moskowitz led a movement to inspire a patriotic spirit in the Lower East Side immigrant population.Appointed by Mayor William Jay Wagner, Moskowitz's job was to "arouse" immigrants to "participate in the American Festival," according to a 1912 New Outlook magazine. The Mayor was concerned that "the immigrant often gets his first impression of this land of the free from...