• Foley Square - The tour begins at the historic sites of The Five Points neighborhood and Mulberry Bend, once infamous slums in New York City’s past. The emphasis is on the “tenement,” the early housing designed for the working class, primarily immigrant poor, whose history originates near this location.
• Columbus Park - Jacob Riis and his influential work, How the Other Half Lives, vividly illustrate the former communities that once inhabited the area of today’s Columbus Park, situated between Chinatown and the Court District.
• Lower East Side - The tour’s core is along the streets of the Lower East Side, where tenement buildings flourished from the mid-19th to the early-20th centuries. Not all tenements were linked to slum communities, though living conditions could be challenging. Different tenement styles from various periods will be identified, showcasing the decades-long evolution of tenements in response to advancing laws.
• Manhattan Bridge - Enjoy a breathtaking view of the Municipal Building and the Woolworth Building East Broadway, one of Chinatown’s most lively street scenes with historic treasures hidden in plain sight.
• Museum at Eldridge Street - The Eldridge Street Synagogue, one of the city’s most stunning structures, initiates a discussion on the Jewish experience in the Lower East Side, who, like the vast immigrant waves before them, have their own unique narrative.
• Seward Park - Among the first parks in the neighborhood, it was so crowded on its opening day that it was standing room only. Here, a collection of photos from Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives brings history to life.
• Forward Building - A newspaper that served as a cornerstone for the Jewish community.
• Tenement Museum - The tour passes the back of the museum where tenement life is recreated. Outhouses and clotheslines help transport visitors back in time.
• Williamsburg Bridge - DeLancey Street was once the hub for clothing discount outlets.
• Allen Street - The Allen Street bathhouse operated from 1905 until 1975, along with about a dozen others in the area. This one lasted the longest and was later converted into a church.
• Hotel Indigo Lower East Side New York, an IHG Hotel - The tour concludes on the rooftop of Hotel Indigo. Here, a panoramic view of the different tenement types and a spectacular view of Midtown provide a perfect ending to the tour.

• Local guide
• Professional guide

• Gratuities

From the Five Points and Mulberry Bend, through the Italian and Jewish immigrant waves, and finally what is today’s Chinatown, this tour explores the development of a rustic landscape of lakes and farms into what became the mostly densely overcrowded neighborhood on earth barely 100 years ago. The incremental step-by-step process of putting the need for adequate housing over the drive for profit to house the immigrant poor, from disease-ridden cellar dwelling in tumble down shanties. to pre-, old- and new-law tenements, this tour uses pictures to show what is no longer there, and finds what continues to stand in the street walls today to tell the immensely rich, tragic and redemptive story of New York’s Lower East Side.

• wear comfortable walking shoes
• snacks and water are recommended to revitalize

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.