A Different Kind Of Lower East Side Tour

beware strong language. featured is 153 Stanton Street

Chinatown: A Walk Down Mott Street 2

Bridge and Tunnel Mott
from the bridge and tunnel club

Chinatown: A Walk Down Mott Street

nysonglines-mott
from nysonglines

Mott Street: Kid's History Tour

Madison Street Tour With Kid's History

Forgotten-NY's Division Street Tour

from one of my favorite sites
Division Forgotten

Division Street Walking Tour: An Archival Eye View

Division Street Walking Tour: A Kid's Eye View

Let's Take An Old-Fashioned Fourth And Sixth Ward Walk

Many of the images will be used in neighborhood walking tour scavenger hunts. The task would be to identify the close-up architectural element with the building address. Note: Some ward exceptions.
Lyrics: Irving Berlin
Version: Sinatra and Doris Day, 1949

Some couples go for a buggy ride when they start caring a lot
Others will bicycle side by side out to some romantic spot
But when you haven't a sou, there's only one thing to do....
Let's take an old fashioned walk, I'm just bursting with talk
What a tale could be told if we went for an old fashioned walk
Let's take a stroll through the park, down a lane where it's dark
And a heart that's controlled may relax on an old fashioned walk
I know for a couple who seem to be miles apart
There's nothing like walking and having a heart-to-heart
I know a girl who declined, couldn't make up her mind
She was wrapped up and sold, coming home from an old fashioned walk
I used to dream of a millionaire, handsome and rich from the States
Taking me out for a breath of air, saying, "The carriage awaits"
But since you haven't a sou and I have nothing to do....
Let's take an old fashioned walk, I'm just bursting with talk
What a tale could be told if we went for an old fashioned walk
Let's take a stroll through the park, down a lane where it's dark
And a heart that's controlled may relax on an old fashioned walk
I know for a couple who seem to be miles apart
There's nothing like walking and having a heart-to-heart
I know a girl who declined, couldn't make up her mind
She was wrapped up and sold, coming home from an old fashioned walk
Some couples go for a buggy ride when they start caring a lot
Others will bicycle side by side out to some romantic spot
But when you haven't a sou, there's only one thing to do....
Let's take an old fashioned walk, I'm just bursting with talk
What a tale could be told if we went for an old fashioned walk
Let's take a stroll through the park, down a lane where it's dark
And a heart that's controlled may relax on an old fashioned walk
I know for a couple who seem to be miles apart
There's nothing like walking and having a heart-to-heart
I know a girl who declined, couldn't make up her mind
She was wrapped up and sold, coming home from an old fashioned walk
I used to dream of a millionaire, handsome and rich from the States
Taking me out for a breath of air, saying, "The carriage awaits"
But since you haven't a sou and I have nothing to do....
Let's take an old fashioned walk, I'm just bursting with talk
What a tale could be told if we went for an old fashioned walk
Let's take a stroll through the park, down a lane where it's dark
And a heart that's controlled may relax on an old fashioned walk
I know for a couple who seem to be miles apart
There's nothing like walking and having a heart-to-heart
I know a girl who declined, couldn't make up her mind
She was wrapped up and sold, coming home from an old fashioned walk

Rivington Street

A 2004 view of mainly Rivington Street and surrounding area

Sixth Street, Between Avenues A And B

sixth-st-a-b
If you're really good you might spot some of these from the previous Godfather on 6th Street clip

Mostly Avenue C

A Date With Judy

I met Judy and recorded this back on September 22nd when I went on an African American history tour of Lower Manhattan
She was in the IGC class at PS 177 and then went on to JHS 65. She grew up in the Smith projects and was a choir member at Mariner's Temple. Also along on the tour was another lower east sider, from "uptown" around 6th Street named Cynthia. By coincidence, Cynthia lived in the same building as my cousins.In an email she wrote:

I totally forgot about Club Lunch and we used to shop in Honey's all the time. I still have furniture from there after a million years.

Recently while practicing my fourth ward walking tour with Marty he recalled Honey's and how he had once bought a green striped shirt there that became one of his favorites.

Lower East Side Remembered

From last night's celebration at the Angel Orensanz Center of the book launch of the second edition of Joyce Mendelsohn's, The Lower East Side Remembered and Revisited: A History and Guide to a Legendary New York Neighborhood (Updated and Revised). From the Columbia University Press

The Lower East Side has been home to some of the city's most iconic restaurants, shopping venues, and architecture. The neighborhood has also welcomed generations of immigrants, from newly arrived Italians and Jews to today's Latino and Asian newcomers. This history has become somewhat obscured, however, as the Lower East Side can appear more hip than historic, with wealth and gentrification changing the character of the neighborhood. 

Chronicling these developments, along with the hidden gems that still speak of a vibrant immigrant identity, Joyce Mendelsohn provides a complete guide to the Lower East Side of then and now. After an extensive history that stretches back to Manhattan's first settlers, Mendelsohn offers 5 self-guided walking tours, including a new passage through the Bowery, that take the reader to more than 150 sites and highlight the dynamics of a community of contrasts: aged tenements nestled among luxury apartment towers abut historic churches and synagogues. With updated and revised maps, historical data, and an entirely new community to explore, Mendelsohn writes a brand-new chapter in an old New York story.

Speakers viewed in slide show above:

Joel Kaplan, President, Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy; Al Orensanz director of the Angel Orensanz Foundation; Holy Kaye and members of the Golombek family receiving a plaque commemorating Gene Golombek; Laurie Tobias Cohen, Executive Director of the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy; and Joyce Mendelsohn

LES Historic Women: Movers & Shakers

As part of the Lower East Side BID Summer Sundays a free tour was given by the Lower East Side History Projecton Sunday, Sept 13, 2009. The theme was Historic Women: Movers & Shakers and it was lead by Andrea Coyle. In this sample version of the full tour the following famous women and institutions were noted: Lillian Wald and the Henry Street Settlement, Russ an Daughters (Niki Russ Federman is pictured), Sara Delano Roosevelt and the park named in her honor, Liz Christy and the Liz Christy Garden, Sally Amato of the Amato Opera Company and Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor

Rutgers Slip: Then And Now

I was down in this area in July with my neighbor, Stuyvesant HS alum, tech expert and beer connoisseur George Orio, giving him a mini LES tour. I took the opportunity to take some pictures to match them up with old ones I had of the same spots.

Touring The Fourth Ward

Read all about the tour on my daughter Zeva's blog Her friends actually thought I had this encounter with 99 year old Mildred Cohen planned in advance

below: our tour route along with numbered stops

Woodlawn Heights And Wave Hill

This is the first time this summer that me and that crazy kid from the 10th floor of the I building got to do our weekly summertime nyc neighborhood explorations. He's been very busy lately doing some plumbing work. The suggestion made was the Bronx's very Irish Woodlawn Heights. We didn't see that much there so we went on to Wave Hill where we spotted Drew Barrymore and Justin Long in a film shoot. The movie is called Going The Distance.
from forgotten-ny

There's a little corner of the Emerald Island in the far flung northern reaches of the Bronx, past the rolling hills of Woodlawn Cemetery, the duffers in Mosholu and Van Cortlandt Golf Courses and the roaring traffic of the Deegan. It's in the triangle known as Woodlawn Heights, just south of Yonkers.
Woodlawn Heights' main drag shares a name with a small town about 20 miles to the north. Katonah Avenue, and the town to the north, are named for an Indian word meaning "Great Mountain." The area figured heavily in the Revolution: in August 1778, 17 Mohican Indians led by Daniel Nimham, fighting on the side of the patriots, were massacred after their defeat by Colonel Simcoe and his Queens Rangers, fighting for the Crown; the Indians are commemorated in nearby Van Cortlandt Park.

LES: Oh Look At Me Now

Images from the weekend of March 15th. Vocals by Nancy Wilson and Lee Wiley
Nancy's version

I'm not the girl who cared about love
And I'm not the girl who cared about fortunes and such
I never cared much
Oh, look at me now!
I never knew the technique of kissing
I never knew the thrill I could get from your touch
I never knew much
Oh, look at me now!
I'm a new girl in a whirl, never knew love was like this
With a new heart, brand new start
Gonna be a Mrs. can't miss
So I am the girl who turned down a lover
I am the girl who laughed at those blue diamond rings
One of those things
Oh, look at me now!
I'm a new girl in a whirl, never knew love was like this
With a new heart, brand new start
Gonna be a Mrs. can't miss
So I am the girl who turned down a lover
I am the girl who laughed at those blue diamond rings
Oh, look at me now!
Look at me now!
Look at me now!

Lee Wiley's version, sung in L.A. Confidential. The original lyrics are by Yip Harburg, music by Harold Arlen

I’m not the girl who cared ’bout money
I’m not the girl who cared about fortunes and such
Never cared much
Oh, look at me now
I never knew rhinestones from rubies
I never knew a mink from a sable or seal
Phonies from real
Oh, look at me now
Got a new man, what a man
He’s no handsome Errol Flynn
I like his face, and his bank is Chase
Half a million dollars ain’t tin
Oh I’m the girl longed for a cottage
So I’m the girl who’s got an estate with a gate
I’m doing great
Oh, look at me now
He gives me checks, brand new checks
I’ve got more than I deserve
I sleep till two, then what do I do?
Pour the wine and serve the hors d’oeuvres
Oh I’m the gal who’s married to Wall Street
Yes I’m the gal who’s worth about five hundred G’s
At which don’t sneeze
Oh, look at me now
Oh, look at me now

Store Front:The Disappearing Face of New York

Last night I saw:

Photographers James and Karla Murray showing slides from their new book - Storefront: The Disappearing Face of New York - at the Tenement Museum on March 5 at 6:30 p.m. Niki Russ Federman, from Russ and Daughters (quite adorable) and Alice Goldberg, from Mendel Fabrics (quite Jappy) joined the authors for the panel discussion at the Tenement Museum.

The Murrays took these photos over a ten year period starting in the mid 1990's. About half of the stores they photographed are gone. I wonder how, historically, small store owners survived around Knickerbocker Village. There wasn't the competition from big box or department stores, but after reading archival news articles of shakedowns and threats it couldn't have been easy. One ex-KVer recalled about the Normandie Pharmacy

I remember the Normandie well. Sometimes in the early 70's someone set off a home-made bomb inside. It didn't do much damage, but it gave the owner a heart attack. Not too long later it was sold.

Back in the late 50's there was also a similar explosion at S. Scalogna and Sons.
about the book, from amazon

This is a visual tour so saturated with realism you can smell the knishes neatly displayed in the window of the Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, a visual tour comprised of hundreds of images of unique 19th and 20th century retail graphics and neon signs still in use and inspiring us to purchase to this very day. But for how long?
Are New York City s local merchants a dying breed or an enduring group of diehards hell bent on retaining the traditions of a glorious past? According to Jim and Karla Murray the influx of big box retailers and chain stores pose a serious threat to these humble institutions, and neighborhood modernization and the anonymity it brings are replacing the unique appearance and character of what were once incredibly colourful streets.
Store Front:The Disappearing Face of New York is a visual guide to New York City s timeworn storefronts, a collection of powerful images that capture the neighborhood spirit, familiarity, comfort and warmth that these shops once embodied. Almost all of these businesses are a reflection of New York s early immigrant population, a wild mix of Irish, Germans, Jews, Italians, Poles, Eastern Europeans and later Hispanics and Chinese.
The variety is immense from Manhattan s Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery and Katz s Delicatessen to the Jackson Heights Florist in Queens, Court Street Pastry in Brooklyn, D. D'Auria and Sons Pork Store in the Bronx and the De Luca General Store on Staten Island. And as the Murray s stunning, large format photographs make patently clear, the face of New York is etched in their facades.