Friday, October 22, 2010

New book: "The Bowery: A History of Grit, Graft and Grandeur"

We are very proud to announce the release of The Bowery: A History of Grit, Graft and Grandeur, the latest title by LESHP director Eric Ferrara (with a foreword by Rob Hollander).

(From back cover): Originally part of a Lenape trail running the entire length of Manhattan Island, the Bowery has become one of the most notorious thoroughfares in America. Developed in stages by the Dutch, British and then Americans, this stretch of street has continually risen from its own ashes, interminably experiencing periods of popularity, poverty and prosperity.

It has been celebrated as a haven of counterculture, entertainment and theater and denigrated as New York's "Skid Row." Home to bums, bohemians, criminals, artists, performers and the rich and poor alike, the Bowery has attracted the most diverse population of any place in all of New York City's history. Travel down the Bowery with New York City author and researcher Eric Ferrara as he explores its rich, fascinating and at times troubling past.

On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1609491785/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=eastvillage09-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1609491785&adid=1A3JBPV55T6B2KC6R1Z2&

LESHP's "On The Bowery: An Historical Exhibit"

LESHP is proud to partner with Whole Foods and the Bowery Alliance of neighbors for an historical exhibit about one of the most culturally influential thoroughfares in America, the Bowery.

Crowded with commerce, spectacular theaters, entertainments high and low, brilliant nightlife, cheap hotels, prostitution and gay bordellos, saloons, gangsters, corruption and political power-brokers, Bowery exuberance suddenly vanished into a ghost town of indigents and artists, its buildings alone remaining. Learn the story of what happened ON THE BOWERY..

ON THE BOWERY: An HISTORICAL EXHIBIT
at Whole Foods Gallery
95 East Houston St at Bowery (2nd Floor, east wing)
Open daily, 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM
October 29, 2010 through Winter 2011
FREE!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Eric Ferrara discusses Mafia bosses on WFUV radio

Listen to LESHP's Eric Ferrara discuss Mafia bosses on WFUV for a special segment on National Boss Day.

Listen Here

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Listen to Rob Hollander on WNYC radio

Listen to LESHP's Rob Hollander on WYNC discussing the re-release of Lionel Rogosin's 1957 film, On The Bowery.

Rob Hollander, cofounder of the Lower East Side History Project, and Michel Rogosin son of Lionel Rogosin, the legendary filmmaker of “On the Bowery,” talk about the 1957 film about life on the streets in downtown Manhattan. It won Best Documentary at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. “On the Bowery,” is showing at Film Forum September 17-23.

Listen Here

Sunday, February 7, 2010

See Eric Ferrara on SyFy Network, March 31

GHILESHP director Eric Ferrara was recently interviewed by the Ghost Hunters International crew about the history of a local Irish pub.

The episode will premier on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2010 at 9:00pm. Check back for more information as the air date approaches.

Newsday features Gangster Tour

"What Hollywood has done its part to bring the Italian Mafia to life, but nothing gets you closer to the real thing than this tour. Let Eric Ferrara, executive director of the Lower East Side History Project, separate myth from fact as you trace the roots of organized crime. Walk the same streets and alleyways where mob legends Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel held court."

-Newsday, Sunday, Feb 7, 2010
"These tours take you to quirky corners of NYC"
By Jeanne Fury

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

East Village Visitor Center Reopens on E.4h Street

The Lower East Side History Project (http://leshp.org) has joined forces with Fourth Arts Block (http://fabnyc.org) and the Cooper Square Committee (http://www.coopersquare.org) to bring the East Village Visitors Center to the heart of the E.4th Street Cultural District.

After almost a year at 308 Bowery, the new East Village Visitor Center opened February 2, 2010 at 61 E.4th Street (Bowery/2nd Ave). The hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00am to 6:00pm. Besides providing local information, maps and brochures, the East Village Visitor Center will offer theater discounts through Fourth Arts Block and sell advance Lower East Side History Project walking tour tickets.

The East Village Visitor Center (http://eastvillagevisitorscenter.com) will serve to highlight and provide clear access to East Village & Lower East Side businesses, attractions and history to tourists and local resident’s alike.

“It seemed natural to combine the East Village Visitors’ Center and Fourth Arts Block Central. Where better to host a visitor center but in the heart of the only Cultural District in Manhattan? Everyone wins. We get an opportunity to stimulate the local economy by directing visitors to East Village businesses, and visitors looking for entertainment have access to Fourth Arts Block's incredible network of theater and arts groups. says Eric Ferrara, executive director of Lower East Side History Project and founder of the East Village Visitor Center.

“When Eric came to us and suggested moving the visitors’ center in with our ticket window, we were really excited, because now we can help even more people experience the best in East Village arts,” comments Tamara Greenfield, executive director of Fourth Arts Block.

“This neighborhood has such a rich history of activism and arts, which we think Lower East Side History Project has done a great job in preserving and educating people about. Having the visitors’ center in our building, here in the East 4th Street Cultural District only emphasizes the tie between the two,” mentions Steve Herrick, executive director of Cooper Square Committee, one of the oldest tenants rights and advocacy organizations in New York City.

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What: East Village Visitors Center
Where: 61 E.4th Street, NY NY 10003
Cross Streets: Bowery and 2nd Avenue
When: Tuesday thru Saturday, 11:00am-6:00pm
Why: Local information and discounts, maps, brochures, advance tour tickets
Directions: F/V to 2nd Ave, 6 to Astor Place
Website: http://eastvillagevisitorscenter.com

Friday, January 8, 2010

We recommend: Slide Show History of the East Village @ Middle Collegiate Church

Slide show History of East Village
Middle Collegiate Church
50 East 7th Street, NY NY 10003
@ 2nd Ave

January 13th, 2010 - 7PM
Donation suggested

Contact Anthony for more information: antoned@aol.com

We recommend: "New York Undercover: Private Surveillance in the Progressive Era"

A in-depth look at a surprising finding: early 20th-century social reformers, seeking to expose the roots of the city’s social ills, ended up spying on the very people they were meant to assist. Working women, interracial couples, immigrants, and radicals all found themselves under the microscope of “private investigators,” usually untrained social workers or journalists. Most of those under scrutiny had committed no crime except acting outside of society’s norms. Sound at all familiar? Fronc asserts that these local Progressive-era practices helped to shape modern federal surveillance policy.

With Jennifer Fronc, assistant professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 6:30PM
Tenement Museum
108 Orchard Street
http://www.tenement.org/vizcenter_events.php