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11 Most Endangered
The Lower East Side
Year Listed: 2008
Location: New York , New York
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development
The Lower East Side of New York City
Demolished buildings have left large gaps in the fabric of this community. Photo by Kate Stober, Lower East Side Tenement Museum.
The Lower East Side of New York City
New construction on the Lower East Side. Photo by Kate Stober, Lower East Side Tenement Museum.
The Lower East Side of New York City
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum. Photo by Greg Scaffidi.
Significance
Few places in America can boast such a rich tapestry of history, culture and architecture as New York's Lower East Side. However, this legendary neighborhood—the first home for waves of immigrants since the 18th century—is now undergoing rapid development. New hotels and condominium towers are being erected across the area, looming large over the original tenement streetscape. As this building trend shows no sign of abating, it threatens to erode the fabric of the community and wipe away the collective memory of generations of immigrant families.
Although the Lower East Side was placed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places in 2000, such a designation functions primarily as an "honor roll" and does not preserve a neighborhood's appearance or regulate real estate speculation. The community, with little recourse for protection, is reeling from the recent destruction of its cultural heritage, including the defacing of several historic structures and the loss of First Roumanian Synagogue. Slapdash and haphazard renovations have led to the destruction of architectural detail, while modern additions to historic buildings sharply contrast with the neighborhood's scale and character. In 2007, permits were approved for the full demolition of 11 buildings on the Lower East Side, compared with just one in 2006. These developments, among others, signify the quickening erasure of the neighborhood's architectural and socio-cultural fabric.
The Lower East Side Preservation Coalition, comprised of nine community organizations, formed in 2006 to create a landmark district that would protect the physical character of the neighborhood and its history of the immigrant experience. The proposed District encompasses an area bounded on the west by Allen Street, with an extension that includes Broome Street west to Eldridge Street, on the north by Delancey Street, on the East by Essex Street, and on the South by Division Street, with an extension that includes Eldridge below Canal Street. The Coalition has garnered significant support from politicians, members of the Lower East Side community and diverse ethnic groups throughout New York.
A melting pot of cultures and nationalities, the Lower East Side remains central to the social history of the United States. Its preservation of 19th and early 20th century properties convey the story of immigrant home, health, entrepreneurship, labor, education and recreational life in New York City.
Updates
At the end of 2008, New York City's rezoning of parts of the Lower East Side lowered height limits in ways that will help preserve the character and scale of its historic streetscapes. The Landmarks Preservation Commission continues its survey of the Lower East Side's resources in 2009, the first step toward creating a landmark district.
New construction immediately slowed with the start of the economic downturn, but advocates know from experience that the need to protect the rare resources of the Lower East Side has not disappeared. In the current climate, it is worth noting that landmark districts have generally been found to stabilize property values in New York City. Creating a landmark district now is the only way to manage change in the most historically significant and intact part of the neighborhood, in anticipation of future cycles of development pressure.
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Share your memories of this endangered place
Submitted by Miriam at: April 16, 2009
Bob, I think you are on the wrong site....it's beside the point that "there aren't any living people in these places". You may not want to be posting on a preservation site if that is your stance.
Submitted by Anna J. King at: April 15, 2009
My grandparents, on both sides, came from Italy, when the Italians were coming into New York City, Ellis Island. Their plight here was a hard one, with hardly any money, hopes and dreams. New York City lower east side, offers and embraces the early europeans american dream and will keep it alive. Please preserve this area.
Submitted by Bob at: March 10, 2009
OK there aren't any living people in these places
Submitted by Sarah at: January 24, 2009
There is a museum in the lower east side pertaining to the tenament buildings. What are they doing to help?
Submitted by LA at: January 20, 2009
I agree with KMC. Preserve all of it before it is reduced to nothing, sort of like expansionism in reverse. I spent my entire life in NYC and can say what disillusioned me was the chronic development, demolishing, building...over and over again - it just never stops. While you're at preserving LES, bring back the boarding houses. That will solve some of the affordable living problems and provide an income for the owner. Now that's self sufficiency and independence. It also creates community life.
Submitted by sweeper at: December 13, 2008
i completly dont understand wat this article means lmao but i love canal street and i dont want tht to change!!
Submitted by Mimi1 at: November 22, 2008
My parents escaped from Germany, and entered the US on a ship through Ellis Island, My mother had a common cold when she entered and they did not want to let her into US, but she had an amazing personality and she talked the doctor into letting her enter the country. My parents had three children, and worked hard to raise them. We now have a wonderful big family.
Submitted by Chuckles at: September 5, 2008
I was born and raised on the Lower East Side (Sherriff St and then Grand Street) and still consider it home. I, and my wife, would never have moved had the city responded to the needs of families-most importantly decent schools. We always knew the LES was a hidden treasure. Like all treasures it has a rightful owner and a rightful "place". What has happened to the LES is not right on either count. By the way, I am and have been involved in NYC real estate for many years and have learned that true value is often not measured in terms of money.
Submitted by ElegantBallerina at: June 23, 2008
I grew up on the Lower East Side. I went to P.S. 91, JHS 65 and Seward Park HS. I remember the Greek and Turkish Coffee Houses on Allen Street and I still attend the Greek Synagogue on Broome Street. I am glad they have started to redo the Essex Street market but most of Orchard Street is lost. Some of my friends moved back there after many years away but it has become too expensive and has lost much of the charm and warmth of the immigrant poplulation.
Submitted by LES Lady at: June 15, 2008
Are you a resident of the Lower East Side/East Village? Do you have opinions about the recent changes to the area and/or future changes to the area, public schools, development, historic primacy, neighborhood businesses, public transportation, and more? Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES) has undertaken a broad and comprehensive community assessment and we need your opinions to make it happen. Consider yourself opinionated? Prove it! Fill out our L.E.S. community assessment survey online @ http://survey.dev.mayfirst.org/index.php?sid=48764&lang=en GOOD OLD LOWER EAST SIDE Serving the community since 1977 As a neighborhood housing and preservation organization, GOLES is dedicated to tenants' rights, homelessness prevention and community revitalization.