Tombs Prison being dismantled, c. 1898

Rare image of the original Tombs Prison being dismantled to make way for a newer structure, c. 1898. Apparently nothing was spared. There was a push to rebuild the structure in Central Park for nostalgic purposes but the cost was too prohibitive. Here is a great article mentioning the preservation effort at the time: http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2011/07/lost-1838-egyptian-revival-tombs.html

Helen Hall, pioneering social worker

August 31 marks the anniversary of the passing of pioneering social worker Helen Hall, who died of natural causes in 1982 at the tender age of 90 at her home on the Lower East Side.

Known as a "second generation social reformer," Helen Hall (b. January 4, 1892) was the second director of the Henry Street Settlement between 1933 and 1967 -- succeeding Lillian Wald, who founded the esteemed settlement house in 1893.

During her three decades of service at Henry Street, Hall rallied to establish the organization's first mental hygiene clinic and family day camp, and spearheaded one of the nation's first programs for the impoverished elderly.

Hall's work was the subject of numerous articles throughout her lifetime and she is listed in several publications honoring important women in American history. In her spare time, the selfless administrator authored a handful of books, including the notable autobiography, "Unfinished Business in Neighborhood and Nation" (1971)

See it here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Business-Neighborhood-Nation-Helen/dp/B00005X20H

Rooftop Sleeping in 1897

Today is the Anniversary of the "Great Revolt"

This day in 1910 marked the end of one of the largest organized strikes in NYC history, the "Great Revolt."

Just five months after the "Uprising of the 20,000," when thousands of women bravely battled violence and arrest lobbying for a safe and equal work environment, the men gave it shot.

On July 7, 1910, over 50,000 male garment workers walked off the job, affecting over 1,800 shops and factories nation wide. The Lower East Side-founded ILGWU led tense negotiations on behalf of the strikers and an agreement was reached two months later on September 2.

The planning and sacrifices made by Lower East Side immigrants a century ago revolutionized the workplace for all Americans, leading to many things we may easily take for granted today: like eight hour days, 40 hour work weeks, overtime pay, health care, safety standards, break time, arbitration rights and much more.

Sammy's on the Bowery memorabilia

The following scans were sent to us by Barry S. of Toronto, Canada. After reading an interview we did in the Toronto Star, Barry recalled the stories of the Bowery his parents would tell him as a child. They were performers and mingled with the likes of Sophie Tucker, Edward G. Robinson and Henny Youngman. These collectibles sat in a closet for decades until last week. Now they have a new home -- right back here on the Bowery.

These original 1950s Sammy's on the Bowery cards, with autographs and snapshots of his parents, are true treasures.

Dr. Henry Moskowitz and Immigrant Patriotism

Each 4th of July in the 1910s, homegrown icon Dr. Henry Moskowitz led a movement to inspire a patriotic spirit in the Lower East Side immigrant population.

Appointed by Mayor William Jay Wagner, Moskowitz's job was to "arouse" immigrants to "participate in the American Festival," according to a 1912 New Outlook magazine. The Mayor was concerned that "the immigrant often gets his first impression of this land of the free from those who seek to exploit his ignorance," and felt that the 4th of July was an "opportunity to bring home the higher mood of American Democracy."

Each year there were special celebrations, "monster parades," music and patriotic speeches targeting the East Side's immigrants and great crowds would gather to listen to readings of the Declaration of Independence.

Romanian-born/LES bred Dr. Moskowitz was the co-founder and director of the Madison Street Settlement House, co-founder of the NAACP, Triangle Factory Fire investigator, NYC Commissioner of Public Markets, and much more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Moskowitz (Wikipedia just scratches the surface actually)

LESHP Joins New Museum for "Festival of Ideas"

The Festival of Ideas for the New City (May 4-8, 2011) is a major new collaborative initiative in New York involving scores of Downtown organizations working together to harness the power of the creative community to imagine the future city and explore ideas that will shape it.

The Festival will include a three-day slate of symposia; an innovative StreetFest along the Bowery; and over eighty independent projects and public events.

Join LESHP's Rob Hollander as he explores how politics, economics, social trends and public policy created the Bowery streetscape, considering how policy affects community and context:

When: Sat, May 7th @ 12:00pm & Sun, May 8th @ 11:00am
Reservations: Not Required, you can pay your guide
Fee: $20 for the public, $10 with a Festival of Ideas schedule/brochure
Meet: Astor Place Cube, E.8th St and 4th Ave
Map/Directions: Click Here
Subway: 6 train to "Astor Place

LESHP mentioned in NY Times Article on the Bowery

Thanks to Marc Santora for writing this timely article on the gentrification of the Bowery, and for including our quotes.

The Skids? Not Hardly
Written by Marc Santora
Published March 18, 2011
New York Times

BEFORE the Bowery bums and urban blight, before the restaurant-equipment dealers flooded the sidewalks, before lighting stores illuminated storefront windows and before the area became known as a haven for punk rock, one of New York’s oldest thoroughfares fell into the cross hairs of real estate speculators. They helped transform it into one of the city’s ritziest addresses.

A century later, the speculators are back, and over the past few years the Bowery has undergone another transformation, one that in some ways recalls its heyday even as it risks erasing the markers of its past.

Where flophouses and derelict buildings once stood, luxury condominiums with prices of more than $2,000 per square foot are popping up. Empty lots, gas stations and family businesses have been swept away. Fancy hotels now charge upward of $400 a night for the privilege of crashing on the same Bowery where $4.50 bought a bed for the down and out. Luxury rental apartments — where one-bedrooms start around $4,000 a month — have replaced John McGurk’s long closed but not forgotten watering hole.

“Historically, what happens in New York City has almost always been reflected on the Bowery,” said Eric Ferrara, the director of the Lower East Side History Project and the author of “The Bowery: A History of Grit, Graft and Grandeur.”

“So in this age of high-rise condos and hotels, gourmet cupcakes and chichi boutiques, it is not surprising that the Bowery would be vulnerable to gentrification.”

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/realestate/20cover-the-bowery.html

LESHP Helps NAT GEO Track Down "Jack the Ripper"

Look out for "Jack the Ripper: The German Suspect" on National Geographic channel.

For more than 120 years, the identity of the infamous Whitechapel murderer has remained unknown. Now, astonishing new evidence revealed by retired UK police detective Trevor Marriot claims to have finally discovered the killer's true identity - a German merchant sailor.

Teaming up with criminal psychologist Thomas Muller and a team of international experts, Marriott applies modern detective techniques to this century-old crime in an attempt to solve the apparently unsolvable case, and what he uncovers is truly remarkable. On a trail that takes him through Europe and into New York's Lower East Side, Marriott claims not only to have uncovered the identity of the Ripper but also the nature of his own grisly end. Read more from NATGEO.com

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!

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