Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Lower East Side and East Village
The lower east side is alive
with memories, a neighborhood still
seeming to echo the calls of immigrants crowded into tenements, ped-
dlers hawking wares from pushcarts, and children playing in the
streets, the only open spaces to be found. Early churches became syn-
agogues for the Jews who came in record numbers between 1880
and 1920. Some remain, but in recent decades, Latinos and Chinese
have moved in, adding to the area's rich history. Meanwhile, Orchard
Street tempts with bargains, and a hip, young generation is rediscov-
ering the old neighborhood. Nearby, the East Village has its own lay-
ers of history, an early Dutch enclave that changed from German to
Jewish before becoming a 1960s haven for hippies and the place where
punk rock was born. A Ukrainian community has remained through
most of these changes, including recent gentrification.
