Well with all the excitement of the baby coming I never got to write-up our field trip. We got the news from Jake while we were on the subway in fact! So let me fill you in...
Susan, Danny and I headed off to NYC on the PATH train from Harrison around 8am. We stepped out into the ground zero area, and saw the freedom tower rsing up. It is awe inspiring. As we walked along the building fence, we saw one of the original Missing posters tacked on it, with flowers wedged in around the smiling face. What a poignant reminder of all the people lost and families affected. We walked over to the Lower East Side Tenament Museum and fabulous find that Donnie told us about.
A historian and social activist, Ruth Abram wanted to build a museum that honored America's immigrants.
New York's tenements were the perfect place for her museum: these humble, multiple family buildings were the first American homes for thousands of immigrants.
97 Orchard's initial appeal was an available storefront: Jacobsen and Abram considered renting the space to run tours of the Lower East Side. While inspecting the storefront, Jacobsen went to the hallway to look for a bathroom.
She saw sheet-metal ceilings, turn-of-the-century toilets and an aging wood banister.
"It was as though people had just picked up and left", Jacobson recalled. It was a little time capsule...I called Ruth and said 'We have got to have this building.' It was perfect."
Shuttered for over 50 years, 97 Orchard's apartments were in ruin. It would take time to transform the tenement into a museum.
Undaunted, researchers scavenged through 97 Orchard and combed through archives, compiling evidence about tenants and tenement life.
After several years of research, the Museum began the difficult task of restoring apartments that had been left vacant for so long. In 1992, the Museum opened its first restored apartment, the 1878 home of the German-Jewish Gumpertz family.
Over the past 20 years, the Tenement Museum has blossomed from an idea into a thriving institution.
. We've carefully restored 6 apartments, including our newest one: the home of the Moores, Irish immigrants who lived at 97 Orchard in 1869.
We went on the tour they call getting by, which talked about two families who experienced hard times, one in 1873, the other in 1932.
Our tour guide was fantastic and there were only 10 people on the tour! Lots of time to ask questions and learn. I told Danny that this is the kind of background both our families came from, Polish and Irish immigrants.
We met Donnie for lunch at Katz's Deli, since 1888, they filmed that restaurant scene from
When Harry Met Sally at this spot. Danny had an egg cream and potato latkes, real Jewish food on the lower east side! We took a walk around the area, visited a Jewish center, and St. Mary's Catholic Church, where we were able to light candles for Jake and Cammy.
It was a great day! With lots of learning and a baby!
Susan, Danny and I headed off to NYC on the PATH train from Harrison around 8am. We stepped out into the ground zero area, and saw the freedom tower rsing up. It is awe inspiring. As we walked along the building fence, we saw one of the original Missing posters tacked on it, with flowers wedged in around the smiling face. What a poignant reminder of all the people lost and families affected. We walked over to the Lower East Side Tenament Museum and fabulous find that Donnie told us about.
A historian and social activist, Ruth Abram wanted to build a museum that honored America's immigrants.
New York's tenements were the perfect place for her museum: these humble, multiple family buildings were the first American homes for thousands of immigrants.
97 Orchard's initial appeal was an available storefront: Jacobsen and Abram considered renting the space to run tours of the Lower East Side. While inspecting the storefront, Jacobsen went to the hallway to look for a bathroom.
She saw sheet-metal ceilings, turn-of-the-century toilets and an aging wood banister.
"It was as though people had just picked up and left", Jacobson recalled. It was a little time capsule...I called Ruth and said 'We have got to have this building.' It was perfect."
Shuttered for over 50 years, 97 Orchard's apartments were in ruin. It would take time to transform the tenement into a museum.
Undaunted, researchers scavenged through 97 Orchard and combed through archives, compiling evidence about tenants and tenement life.
After several years of research, the Museum began the difficult task of restoring apartments that had been left vacant for so long. In 1992, the Museum opened its first restored apartment, the 1878 home of the German-Jewish Gumpertz family.
Over the past 20 years, the Tenement Museum has blossomed from an idea into a thriving institution. . We've carefully restored 6 apartments, including our newest one: the home of the Moores, Irish immigrants who lived at 97 Orchard in 1869.
We went on the tour they call getting by, which talked about two families who experienced hard times, one in 1873, the other in 1932.
Our tour guide was fantastic and there were only 10 people on the tour! Lots of time to ask questions and learn. I told Danny that this is the kind of background both our families came from, Polish and Irish immigrants.
We met Donnie for lunch at Katz's Deli, since 1888, they filmed that restaurant scene from
When Harry Met Sally at this spot. Danny had an egg cream and potato latkes, real Jewish food on the lower east side! We took a walk around the area, visited a Jewish center, and St. Mary's Catholic Church, where we were able to light candles for Jake and Cammy.
It was a great day! With lots of learning and a baby!
Visit the homes of German-Jewish & Italian Catholic families surviving the Panic of 1873 and the Great Depression.
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| Freedom Tower going up |
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| Danny masters the NYC subway system |
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| on the steps of the tenament at 97 Orchard St. |
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| the famous BabyCakes cupcake store! |
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| an awesome chinese grocery store in Chinatown(reminded us of HK) |
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| facade |
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| latkes and egg cream at Katz's |
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| saying a prayer at Saint Mary's |
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| I Love New York! |
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