Lower East Side Tenement Museum, New York, USA has thousands of surprises and unique experiences that you will not live elsewhere. Lower East Side Tenement Museum is a charming place full of thousands of history of each of the people who lived. Enter and discover everything that this magnificent place has for you.
Travel back in time to one of the poorest districts in New York State. Feel the energy of the thousands of immigrants who just arrived and left their mark. Meet a completely charming place, full of incredible history, in addition, many memories and life experiences. It was wonderful to discover how those people lived many years ago and what they have become today.
Activity/Place Highlights
When visiting the state of New York, you can not miss the opportunity to discover everything that this magical place has for you. It is a small building that does not stand out much above the others, located on Orchard Street on the Lower East Side. Here lived 74 groups of immigrants who left their mark in each of their apartments, as well as in the city in general.
There are different and varied options for the tour of this museum. If this is your first visit, we recommend that you start with the “Getting By” tour. You will see the contrast of 2 apartments of two families from different eras, in addition to an apartment in total ruin.
Opt for a one-hour tour, in which your guide will show you the apartments designed to look like at the time. In addition, it will also help you to live the experience and how those families lived years ago.
A rather curious and exciting part of the tour is that each apartment will receive a “resident”. Is a person disguised as an era that represents the family that lived there. So you can imagine it perfectly.
The Present
In those years this area of New York was very poor and was characterized by drugs, gangs and dusty shops. At that time, a person paid $ 7 per month for only 30 square meters of an apartment in the Orchard Street building.
Currently, this area is one of the best and liveliest in the city. An apartment could cost even $ 1,800 per month since it now became a place of art, fashion, good food, and an active nightlife.
How to get there
Tenement Museum is located at 103 Orchard Street, on the corner of Delancey Street in the Lower East Side. You can various means: bus, metro, train, and car. The nearest airport is New York La Guardia Airport (LGA). Here are the following:
- By train – The nearest subway lines are B and D (Grand Street), F (Delancey Street) and, J, M and Z (Essex Street).
- By Bus – M15 bus and the tour bus stop at the corner of Grand and Allen streets, just one block from Orchard Road.
- By Car – If you want to travel by car, the trip is much more convenient and faster, it will only take you 15 minutes. You can also request an Uber, which will charge you from the airport around 50-60 dollars.
When to go
The absence of heating or air conditioning in the building makes autumn and spring the best seasons to visit.
How Long
Choose the tour of your preference. If you only have one day to visit the museum, we recommend you make the full day tour with a guided visit and experience. So you can learn more about the history of the museum. It is also advisable to visit the museum on Thursdays, there are many surprises those days and you have more time to enjoy
Opening and Closing Hours
Open all year, except for the days of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. Their hours from Friday to Wednesday are from 10 in the morning until 6:30 in the afternoon. Thursdays also open but from 10 in the morning until 8:30 at night. This is because Thursdays have special events.
Inside Information
Numerous tours and guided experiences, as well as tours of the neighborhood. In addition, you can enter the apartments only with a guided tour. One important thing, you should know is that you are not allowed to take pictures inside the museum.
Every Thursday night offers different events and exclusive programs of that day, also, some are free but to others need tickets. They also offer different panels or workshops on immigration, history, health, music, and politics.
History
Tenement Museum was home to around 7,000 people from 20 countries, between 1863 and 1935. All these immigrants fled their countries thanks to the Great Depression. These people struggled to work, to live in a place without gas, or water, sharing a single bathroom for 20 people and other adversities. That is why this place is considered a National Historic Site in the National Register of Historic Places since 1992.
Planning
Go to the museum to buy your tickets. However, if you want to have them safe and up front, you can buy them on your website. Also, there are different travel agencies that promote their tours.
The museum offers a variety of different tours several times a day, from mid-morning until 5 p.m. In addition, there is a 90-minute walking tour of the neighborhood visiting different sites that were important for immigrants.
Website
Other nearby attractions
Since you are in the area, you can also visit one of the most famous parts of New York, the Manhattan Bridge. Also, the best part is that it is only 20 minutes from the museum. Manhattan Bridge links Dumbo in Brooklyn with Chinatown and Little Italy in Manhattan.
From this bridge, you will have the best views and the best photos to post on your Instagram. Presented with landscapes that are not only the incredible skyscrapers of New York but also you will have in front of a neighboring bridge, the famous Brooklyn Bridge.
Cross the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan as it has the views to the front. Also, is important to know that, in general, the Manhattan Bridge is less crowded than the neighboring bridge.
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