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Everything about The Lower East Side totally explained

The Lower East Side is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It has traditionally been an immigrant, working class neighborhood, but it has undergone gentrification in recent years and is increasingly populated by young professionals and students.

Boundaries

Current boundaries

While the exact western and southern boundaries of the neighborhood are open to debate, the Lower East Side today refers to the area of Manhattan south of East Houston Street and west of the East River.
   The Lower East side is bordered in the south and west by Chinatown (which extends north to roughly Grand Street), in the west by NoLIta and in the north by East Village.

Historical boundaries

Originally, "Lower East Side" referred to the area alongside the East River from about the Manhattan Bridge and Canal Street up to 14th Street, and roughly bounded on the west by Broadway. It included areas known today as East Village, Alphabet City, Chinatown, Bowery, Little Italy, and NoLIta.
   Although the term today refers to the area bounded to the north by East Houston Street, parts of East Village are still known as Loisaida, a Latino pronunciation of "Lower East Sider."
   This point of land on the East River was also called Crown Point under British rule. It was an important landmark for navigators for 300 years. On older maps and documents it's usually spelled 'Corlaers' Hook, but since the early 19th Century the spelling has been anglicized to Corlears. It was named after Jacobus van Corlaer, who settled there prior to 1640. In the 19th century, Corlaer's Hook was notorious for streetwalkers, who were called hookers. The original location of Corlaers Hook is now obscured by shoreline landfill. It was near the east end of the present pedestrian bridge over the FDR Drive near Cherry Street.

The Lower East Side as an immigrant neighborhood

One of the oldest neighborhoods of the city, the Lower East Side has long been known as a lower-class worker neighborhood and often as a poor and diverse part of New York. As well as Italians, Poles, Ukrainians, and other ethnic groups, it once had a sizeable German population and was known as Little Germany, Manhattan.
   The Lower East Side is perhaps best known as having once been a center of Jewish culture. In her 2000 book Lower East Side memories: A Jewish place in America, Hasia Diner explains that the Lower East Side is especially remembered as a place of Jewish beginnings in contemporary American Jewish culture. Vestiges of the area's Jewish heritage exist in shops on Hester Street and Essex Street and on Grand Street near Pike. There is still an Orthodox Jewish community with yeshiva day schools and a mikvah. A few Judaica shops can be found along Essex Street such as the Nat Weisberg and Sons (Hebrew religious articles) at number 45 (External Link) and a few Jewish scribes and variety stores. Some kosher delis and bakeries as well as a few "kosher style" delis, including the famous Katz's Deli, are located in the neighborhood. Downtown Second Avenue in the Lower East Side was the home to many Yiddish theatre productions during the early part of the 20th century, and Second Avenue came to be known as 'Yiddish Broadway', though most of the theaters are gone. More recently, it has been settled by immigrants, primarily from Latin America.
   In what is now the East Village, the earlier population of Poles and Ukrainians has been largely supplanted with newer immigrants, and the arrival of large numbers of Japanese people over the last fifteen years or so has led to the proliferation of Japanese restaurants and specialty food markets. There is also a notable population of Bangladeshis and other immigrants from Muslim countries, many of whom are congregants of the small Madina Masjid (Mosque), located on First Avenue and 11th Street.
   The neighborhood also presents many historic synagogues, such as the Bialystoker Synagogue (External Link) Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, the Eldridge Street Synagogue (External Link), Kehila Kedosha Janina (External Link) (the only Greek synagogue in the Western Hemisphere), and various smaller synagogues along East Broadway. In addition, there are a major Hare Krishna temple and Buddhist houses of worship.
   The Bowery remains the final location at 227-229 Bowery of the Christian Herald Association's noteworthy faith-based organization known as The Bowery Mission, historically serving the down-and-out since it was incorporated in New York State in April 20, 1895. An extant memorial tablet in the mission chapel is dedicated to the presbyterian minister and founder of the mission, Albert Gleason Ruliffson. This tablets records Nov. 1879 as the founding of "this mission". This designation, however, didn't apply to 227. At that time, the mission had been sited at 55- and still later 105-Bowery. The third Annual Report of The Bowery Mission written in 1883 by Ruliffson, states that on the night of November 6, 1880 the mission, then located at 36 Bowery, first opened its doors to the public. Ruliffson as first president of the mission retired due to a severe medical condition in 1895. A severe economic downturn during the 1890s strained the financial solvency of the mission. Rather than cease to function as a mission due to financial hardship, Dr. Louis Klopsch of Christian Herald Association was approached to save the mission. Klopsch agreed, assumed management as the second president and incorporated the mission under Christian Herald. The present building at 227 Bowery was dedicated in 1909. While 1879 is the year which appears on the website bowery.org, a review of period newspapers such as The New York Times and The New York Tribune suggest 1880 rather than 1879 as a possible founding year. Indeed, King's Handbook of New York, contemporaneous with Christian Herald management of the mission, gives 1880 as the year the mission was founded. Another notable landmark on the Bowery was CBGB, a nightclub that presented live music – including some of the most famous figures in rock 'n roll – from 1973 until it closed on October 15, 2006. A bit further north and east is McSorley's Old Ale House, a well known Irish bar that opened its doors in 1854.
   The part of the neighborhood south of Delancey Street and west of Allen Street has in large measure become part of Chinatown, and Grand Street is one of the major business and shopping streets of Chinatown. Also contained within the neighborhood are strips of lighting and restaurant supply shops on the Bowery.

East Village split and gentrification

East Village was once the Lower East Side's northwest corner alongside Greenwich Village. However, in the 1960s, the demographics of the area above Houston Street began to change, as hippies, musicians and artists moved in. Newcomers and real estate brokers popularized the East Village name, and the term was adopted by the popular media by the mid-60s. As East Village developed a culture separate from the rest of the Lower East Side, the two areas came to be seen as two separate neighborhoods rather than the former being part of the latter.
   In the early 2000s, the gentrification of the East Village spread to the Lower East Side, making it one of the trendiest neighborhoods in Manhattan. Orchard Street, despite its "Bargain District" moniker, is lined with upscale restaurants and boutiques. Similarly, Clinton Street, has long been a destination for trendy dining establishments (including Clinton Street Baking Company, WD-50, Cube 63, Falai, and the now-closed 71 Clinton Fresh Foods).
   In recent years, the gentrification that was previously confined to north of Delancey Street has continued south. Several restaurants, bars and galleries have opened below Delancey Street since 2005, especially around the intersection of Broome and Orchard Streets. This area is gradually becoming known as BelDel (Below Delancey), mainly by hipsters who feel that the LES has become too "Murray Hill" and want to differentiate themselves. The neighborhood's second boutique hotel, Blue Moon Hotel opened on Orchard Street just south of Delancey Street in early 2006. However, unlike The Hotel on Rivington, the Blue Moon used an existing tenement building and its exterior is almost identical to neighboring buildings.

Nightlife and live music

As the neighborhood gentrified and has become safer at night, it has become a popular late night destination. Clinton Street and Ludlow Street between Rivington Street and Stanton Street become especially packed at night, and the resulting noise is a cause of tension between bar owners and longtime residents.
   Also, the Lower East Side is home to many live music venues. Up and coming punk bands play at C-Squat. Up and coming alternative rock bands play at Bowery Ballroom on Delancey Street and Mercury Lounge on East Houston Street, while lesser known bands play at Tonic (closed 4/13/07) on Norfolk Street and Rothko (now closed) on Suffolk Street. There are also bars that offer performance space, such as Pianos and the Living Room on Ludlow Street and Arlene's Grocery On Stanton Street. Most of these hot spot venues require I.D. and you must be of at least 21 years of age to enter.

Noteworthy Lower East Siders

Jewish Lower East Side

  • Katz's Deli - 205 E. Houston Street
  • Guss' Pickles - 87 Orchard Street
  • Kossar's Bialys - 367 Grand Street
  • Gertle's Bake Shop - 53 Hester Street- Moved to Brooklyn, opened as a Catering business
  • Moishe's Kosher Bakery - 504 Grand Street
  • Knickerbocker Village - 10 Monroe Street
  • The Pickle Guys - 49 Essex Street
  • Streit Matzo Co. - 150 Rivington Street
  • Yonah Shimmel's Knish Bakery - 137 E. Houston Street
  • Russ & Daughters - 179 E. Houston Street
  • Bialystoker Synagogue - 7-11 Willet Street
  • Schapiro's Kosher Wine - Essex Street Market
  • Beth Hamedrash Hagadol - 60 Norfolk Street
  • Eldridge Street Synagogue - 12 Eldridge Street
  • Kehila Kedosha Janina - 280 Broome StreetFurther Information

    Get more info on 'Lower East Side'.


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