Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tunity to interact with a guide, don't forget to check out the one-of-a-kind visitor center
unveiled at the end of 2011. The expansion has allowed for the addition of gallery space,
an enlarged museum shop, a screening room that plays an original film and plenty of
seminar space.
Museum at Eldridge Street Synagogue
MUSEUM
( 212-219-0302;
www.eldridgestreet.org
;
12 Eldridge St btwn Canal & Division Sts; adult/child
$10/6; 10am-5pm Sun-Thu, to 3pm Fri; F to East Broadway)
Built in 1887 with Moorish
and Romanesque ornamental work, this synagogue attracted as many as 1000 worship-
pers on the High Holidays at the turn of the 20th century. But membership dwindled in
the 1920s with restricted immigration laws, and by the 1950s the temple closed altogeth-
er. A 20-year restoration project was completed in 2007 and now the synagogue holds
Friday-evening and Saturday-morning worship services, hosts weddings and offers
tours
(on the half-hour) of the building. Check out the massive circular
stained-glass window
above the ark (space where torahs are kept).
New Museum of Contemporary Art
MUSEUM
( 212-219-1222;
www.newmuseum.org
;
235 Bowery btwn Stanton & Rivington Sts; adult/child
$14/free, 7-9pm Thu free; 11am-6pm Wed & Fri-Sun, to 9pm Thu; N/R to Prince St, F to 2nd
Ave, J/Z to Bowery, 6 to Spring St)
Housed in an architecturally ambitious building on a
formerly gritty Bowery strip, this is the city's sole museum dedicated to contemporary
art. There's the added treat of a city viewing platform, which provides a unique perspect-
ive on the constantly changing neighborhood landscape.
East Village
If you've been dreaming of those quintessential New York City moments - graffiti on
crimson brick, punks and grannies walking side by side, and cute cafes with rickety
tables spilling out onto the sidewalks - then the East Village is your Holy Grail. Stick to
the area around Tompkins Square Park, and the lettered avenues (known as Alphabet
City) to its east, for interesting little nooks in which to imbibe and ingest - as well as a
collection of great little community gardens that provide leafy respites and sometimes
even live performances.
