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| Immigrant New York |
TEAR, TEAR. :.-(
This is our final class together and we will be seeing the most interesting museum of this course, the Tenement Museum. It has been a great seven days accumulated. I made great friends during the course of this program and I will find it hard to depart. The day seems interesting and lunch seems filling so let’s see where Mike and Meritta take us!
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| Essex Street Market (where they hide the cupcakes) |
I love me some cupcakes! I know that is grammatically incorrect so do not penalize me for it, Mike!! We took the F to Delancy where the Essex Street Market is. From the outside, I am thinking it is similar to the Chelsea Market. However, as we walk inside I am surprised to see that it’s just like a Compare Foods and Tri-County Flea Market combined. The market is a lower class market, unlike Chelsea Market, which is an upper-middle class market. I feel like I am at home in this marketplace. The prices are nice and low, the variety of food is great and there are dessert stands!! You know what that means? CUPCAKES! Before walking out, I made sure I didn’t leave empty handed.
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| Tenement Building with storefront |
We had an appointment with a guide to take us on a tour of the tenement buildings. I was super excited because I have always wanted to check these buildings out. The woman who gave us a tour was Irish. Her ancestry shows that her family came to the United States and settled in tenements similar to the ones she is giving us a tour in. Walking around the block, she tells us that millions of people cycled through tenement buildings over the course of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The families never settled in these apartments because of the urge to move out due to living conditions. The first pie
ce of history that the guide showed and discussed with us was the toilet houses. These were wooden latrines that actually had some kind of sewage system. Having a sewage system was a sign of greater sanitary conditions for that particular building. She then brought us upstairs into the building itself and had us sit in a “parlor” 
where we watched a short film about the living conditions of the time; the stories were told through Irish song. We then wandered through the apartment and saw a bedroom, toilet room, and a room dedicated to the mourning of the loss of a child. We also saw some artifacts left behind in the building. It was pretty interesting to see how immigrants lived after their long voyage to New York. Was it worth that type of unsanitary standard of living?
ce of history that the guide showed and discussed with us was the toilet houses. These were wooden latrines that actually had some kind of sewage system. Having a sewage system was a sign of greater sanitary conditions for that particular building. She then brought us upstairs into the building itself and had us sit in a “parlor” 
where we watched a short film about the living conditions of the time; the stories were told through Irish song. We then wandered through the apartment and saw a bedroom, toilet room, and a room dedicated to the mourning of the loss of a child. We also saw some artifacts left behind in the building. It was pretty interesting to see how immigrants lived after their long voyage to New York. Was it worth that type of unsanitary standard of living? |
| Tom and Jerry's |
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| Congee Village |
We stopped in at a bar called Tom and Jerry’s. The bar is located on Elizabeth St in NoHo and is a different bar than those I’ve been to. This one is artsy in style and hosts a collection of artists’ paintings and other pieces. It’s more of a place the neighborhood goes to rather than an attraction, according to our interim teacher Ms. Ruby McDonald. We had a drink which was refreshing then we scooted on over to Congee Village. Although I now think that Pa Thai is my all-time favorite dish, the Chinese cuisine we had at Congee was delicious. From soup to chicken to rice to vegetables, the list goes on and on. We got so full from all the servings of dishes. I just want to take this time to formally thank Mike and Meritta for lunch!!
We then met up with our next guide who took us around town. We went from the Lower West Side, through the Bowery, Little Italy, and then Chinatown. We saw a few buildings built in the late 1800s, early 1900s that showed the culture of the time as well as the group of people who were living in the neighborhood during construction. The most interesting neighborhood that stood out to me during the tour was Chinatown. It was so intrinsic and full of good stories and interesting facts. For example, Chinatown hosts one of the narrowest and one of the steepest streets. On the small, narrow street, history shows that there was so much crime due to many underground passageways that the criminals would escape through. COOL! The guide completed the tour at Columbus Park and showed us a picture of what the area looked like before, and we compared it to the industrious present. Times have definitely changed in the neighborhood. |
| Confucious |
Class was finally dismissed, no more Friday ventures into the City of New York, no more “hey guys, what’s new,” or planning where to get together after class. It was saddening. But that was all drowned away at the Red Lion in Chelsea. The drinks were amazing and we all had a great time!!! THANKS MIKE AND MERITTA FOR BRINGING TO LIGHT THE HISTORY OF THE CITY AND TELLING US WHAT THE WALLS ARE HOLDING BACK!!!! (As well as where all the good spots to eat are ;-))
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