Virtual, Thursday,
September 14th, 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM

At the turn of the 20th century, the Lower East Side was the most densely populated area of New York City; some historians believe it was the most densely populated place on earth ever. Most new immigrants in the late 19th century were Jews who came from Eastern Europe and Russia. They mingled (and sometimes didn't mingle) with earlier German, Irish, Italian, and Central European, and Chinese immigrants who spread across the area from the former Five Points to what we now call the East Village.

This tour will look at the architectural, cultural, religious, and gastronomic cross-pollination that took place. 1901 was the year more stringent tenement house laws were passed, so we'll also look at how improving the lives of these New Yorkers perhaps also brought about the end of the neighborhood.

This virtual tour is led by James Nevius, author (with his wife Michelle) of Frommer's 24 Great Walks in New York, Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, and Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers.

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.

 This is a shared program between the Somers, Pelham and New Rochelle libraries.

Our programs are supported by the Friends of the Somers Library through our patrons' generous contributions.
The Somers Library ~ (914) 232-5717 ~ www.somerslibrary.org