Save the Lower East Side:
A National Treasure Under Siege

There’s nothing ordinary about the Lower East Side.

The LES has long been a cauldron of cultures, people, and ideas, and once the densest place on earth—more densely populated than what was then Calcutta. From the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, as we document here, the LES was simultaneously a confounding challenge of immense poverty and human need and a hotbed of social ferment and vaulting idealism.

That unprecedented tumult re-defined the meaning of “American” and gave birth to pioneering initiatives that shaped the city and the nation, substantially rewriting the social contract between government and the governed. Without the LES, our contemporary world would be far different. Preservationists must spotlight and preserve the built environment that speaks to this history.

The LES may not be known for mansions and grand homes, but the fact that it was built for the people and not the rich only adds to its singularity. The neighborhoods, streetscapes and buildings tell great stories—stories of mass immigration and urban development, stories of game-changing civic and government innovation.

The buildings themselves have their own distinction, evoking the people who built New York City and the modern United States—and offering up a veritable cornucopia of architectural detail.

As we enter the first months of a new mayoral administration, we want to communicate to the Landmarks Preservation Commission in the strongest possible terms why it is urgent to landmark the LES, before real estate developers bulldoze what remains.

For years now, we have submitted landmarking proposals to the LPC, only to be rebuffed. Our applications have merit, we are told, but further study will be undertaken only within the Commission’s priorities within the five boroughs.

Much of Manhattan may be rich in landmarks and historic districts compared to the outer boroughs—and we welcome new attention beyond Manhattan. But we are sounding the alarm. There is in fact a glaring lack of historic district designations in the Lower East Side.

We declare to you, our supporters, and also to the LPC:

The Lower East Side is not your ordinary Manhattan. It is a world-renowned, historic neighborhood in danger of disappearing. Neglect LES landmarking, and what will be lost is irreplaceable.

This special section of LESPI’s Newsletter—conceived and written by Board Members Deborah Wye and Phyllis Eckhaus—defends and supports LESPI’s preservation mission. Several short pieces link to longer, illustrated blog posts, with more to follow in the months to come.

The Lower East Side is much more than just another neighborhood—it has an emotional resonance for the generations who trace their family roots back to this unique place, and also for the country as a whole. It has helped to shape America’s identity. And much of it is still defined by wonderful streetscapes filled with beautifully ornate historic architecture, which is very much under threat of demolition and redevelopment. We hope you read, enjoy, ponder our blog posts—and are moved to join us in mobilizing to support the urgent cause of LES preservation.

Immigration and Transformation

The Lower East Side’s iconic status as an immigrant neighborhood derives from the mid-19^th to early 20^th century when massive waves of Europeans arrived here. This was a pivotal moment, as industrialization continued to develop and urbanization intensified. Certainly, well before that, the area had a rich and complex history extending back to the indigenous Lenape, the Dutch and British colonies, and the early Republic. But the population changes during this classic period of mass immigration were on such a scale that it became a singular historic juncture.

A look back at the struggles and triumphs of the early immigrant period can offer a new understanding of the present. That era tells a quintessential American story of cultural reckoning that still resonates today. The extraordinary influx of new arrivals, particularly to this neighborhood, began what would be a fundamental shift in our sense of national identity, as America’s Anglo-Saxon roots receded in dominance. The Lower East Side was the epicenter of this transformation and a place of ethnic pride within a common citizenry.

Some blocks of the Lower East Side became the most densely populated places on earth. And while many different national groups arrived at that time, it was the Irish, Germans, Italians and Eastern European Jews who represented the greatest numbers, by far. Over the years, the neighborhood would continue to evolve, most particularly with contributions of the growing Chinese, Hispanic and African American communities.  Indeed, much has now changed in terms of ethnic make-up and density, but the streetscapes of the neighborhood still recall their vivid, historic past.

Read more HERE.

Lower East Side: Progressive Pioneer

Paris had its Belle Epoque.  Harlem had its Renaissance. At the turn of the 20^th century, the Lower East Side helped birth a paradigm shift of equal moment—the progressive reworking of the social contract.

Today we take government and civic services almost for granted, but 19^th century America was a place where individuals and families were typically expected to fend for themselves.  Ralph Waldo Emerson, famed advocate of “Self-Reliance,” commented after one of the nation’s numerous currency crises that “the land stinks of suicide.”  American individualism blamed the poor for their poverty.  Missionary organizations typically offered salvation for souls but no material support.

But on the Lower East Side poverty and squalor catalyzed social change, thanks to the singularity of New York City.  Indeed, the LES repeatedly jump-started extraordinary reforms and movements encompassing housing regulation; workers’ rights; settlement houses; safely sterilized milk; public parks, playgrounds, and libraries; adult education; public health nursing—and more.

Read more HERE.

Tenements: Save, Don’t Scorn

Jacob Riis—author of How the Other Half Lives, the powerful 1890 anti-tenement tract—was such an effective propagandist that even today his work obscures the vitality, significance, and beauty of many historic Lower East Side streetscapes and buildings.

Look up “tenement”—which we define here as a multi-family dwelling built for working-class families—and one of the synonyms you will encounter is “slum.” No wonder preserving tenements is such an uphill battle!

Yet this longstanding contempt for tenements is, in general, misguided since it dates to a different time, when these buildings were little regulated, and those few regulations were ineffectual. That contempt can also be malevolent, with roots in anti-immigrant sentiment and class antagonism.

A clear-eyed look at many LES tenements that remain today—those built during a time of housing reform and great competition for tenants—reveals an important and positive story: immigrants transcended the efforts to contain and control them, and transformed a neighborhood to reflect their own culture and upward mobility.

Such tenements have been wrongly condemned, literally and figuratively. As Zachary J. Violette documents in The Decorated Tenement, his ground-breaking study of the ornamented late 19th and early 20th century dwellings on the Lower East Side (his book also examines Boston), these tenements remain special and wonderful, signifiers of immigrant progress and pride. 

Read more HERE.

Yet Another Upzoning?

A Conversation with Michael Henry Adams

Join Our Webinar: "The East Village's Christodora Settlement House: Community, Relationships, and Social Change" on Thursday March 24

Recently rediscovered letters shed light on the overlooked story of a transformative social settlement house founded by two extraordinary young women in 1897. The Christodora House at 143 Avenue B, dedicated in 1928, has long been a contradiction: a symbol of both enduring hope and social turmoil, of both urban decay and gentrification. The landmark now stands as witness in the 21st century to ongoing social change and new forms of community building in the East Village. Christodora as an organization still lives on in a location uptown with a repurposed educational mission.  

Joyce Milambiling is our guest lecturer. She is a writer and researcher who lived in New York City for over a decade and now resides in Iowa. Recently she has been drawn into the story of Christodora House, first by reading a series of letters by an immigrant woman to her English teacher at Christodora, and then by examining the settlement house movement and the place of Christodora House in the complex histories of New York City and the Lower East Side. 

Thursday March 24 at 6:30PM via Zoom. Register for this free event HERE. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

LESPI’s Event “Behind the Curtain, A History of 19th Century Theaters in the Lower East Side” on YouTube

LESPI’s Zoom webinar event, “Behind the Curtain, A History of 19th Century Theaters in the Lower East Side,” held last November in honor of the recent reopening of NYC Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, provided a unique look at New York City’s earliest theaters.

Downtown theater-maker Ralph Lewis’s beautifully illustrated talk discussed where these theaters were built, what they looked like, why they succeeded (or not), and what became of them - the down-n-dirty story of how the Great White Way was born. The event, tailor-made for lovers of American theater and its incredible NYC history, can be seen on LESPI's YouTube channel.

Yu and Me Books Opens in Historic Chinatown

A wonderful bookstore - Yu and Me Books - recently opened on Mulberry Street, in the historic core of Chinatown. According to the proprietor, Lucy Yu, the store has “a lot of focus on immigrant stories, a lot of focus on people that may have feel othered and may have not always felt like they belonged.” She hopes that “having that representation and seeing a lot of titles with stories like that on the wall will make anyone feel welcome when they come in.”

We recommend you stop by the store, browse, and pick up a copy of LESPI’s “Chinatown: Lens on the Lower East Side.” LESPI’s book is also available at Museum of Chinese in America on Centre Street, Pearl River Mart at Chelsea Market, McNally Jackson on Prince Street, Printed Matter/St Marks on St. Marks Place, and  Village Works on East 3rd Street, though we recommend contacting them before going to make sure the book is in stock. 

LESPI’s New Donation Platform

For those of you who generously donate to LESPI (a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization), please note that we’ve moved our primary donation platform from PayPal to Salsa, our mass email provider. This will allow us to much better coordinate donations with mail and email outreach. For those of you who would prefer to donate on PayPal, you can still do so at our PayPal site, which will remain open for the foreseeable future. Thank you!