Lower East Side
Neighborhood Intelligence

The Lower East Side has been a first stop for generations of immigrants, first Irish and German, then Eastern European Jewish, Italian, Chinese, and Puerto Rican and other Latino residents. It is remembered for its crowded tenement blocks and its street life along Orchard, Delancey, and Essex Streets. Today it combines that history with galleries, music venues, restaurants, and public housing complexes along the East River. The official area covered here runs from East Houston Street south toward East Broadway and Henry Street and from the Bowery east to the river, so the Chinatown blocks to the southwest are counted separately.

The Tenement Museum on Orchard Street preserves apartments from different eras of immigrant life. The Bialystoker Synagogue was built in 1826 as a Methodist church and later became a synagogue, and the Angel Orensanz Foundation occupies an 1849 synagogue building. The New Museum anchors the Bowery edge, the Abrons Arts Center is part of the Henry Street Settlement, and Seward Park is a long-established community park. Katz's Delicatessen and Russ & Daughters on East Houston Street are long-running food landmarks.