Lower East Side

In 1933, a new development rose on the Lower East Side. It was Knickerbocker Village, the first federally-funded apartment complex in the United States, and one of the first developments that would later fall under the umbrella of the city’s “Slum Clearance” program. The “slum” that Knickerbocker Village replaced wasn’t just any rundown collection of buildings – it was the notorious “Lung Block” between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, bounded by Cherry, Monroe, Market and Catherine Streets, which in 1903, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ernest Poole named the most congested and disease-ridden place in the city, or, perhaps, the world. But was it? “The Lung Block: A New York City Slum and its forgotten Italian Immigrant Community,” a new exhibit opening April 25th at the NYC Department of Records curated by researchers Stefano Morello and Kerri Culhane, will revisit the neighborhood and the immigrant community that called it home. With maps, journals, photos and other artifacts, the exhibit will consider the connections between health and housing, affordability and gentrification, public health and progressive reform, and architecture and the immigrant experience.
Learn more about this community

New Essex Market officially opens on the Lower East Side next month

Rendering by SHoP Architects via NYCEDC

April 24, 2019

New Essex Market officially opens on the Lower East Side next month

Essex Market's new home on the ground floor of the mega-development Essex Crossing officially opens to the public on May 13. Located across the street from its nearly 80-year-old home, the market is hosting a free event on Saturday, May 18 at 88 Essex Street to celebrate, as Eater NY first reported. The market's more than 20 existing vendors will make the move across the street, to be joined by 18 new vendors and two restaurants. The old market will officially close its doors on May 5.
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Food & Dining

April 23, 2019

Pier 35 eco-park and ‘urban beach’ is open to the public

After years of anticipation, Pier 35 on the East River waterfront is officially open (h/t Curbed). The project, designed by SHoP with Ken Smith Workshop, consists of a new eco-park and an "urban beach" anchoring the northern flank of the East River waterfront esplanade and providing much-needed public space on the waterfront. The park also functions as a habitat restoration feature: "Mussel Beach" was created to replicate the characteristics of the original East River shoreline.
See more of pier 35, this way

14-screen Regal theater opens at Essex Crossing on the Lower East Side

Photo courtesy of Regal

April 11, 2019

14-screen Regal theater opens at Essex Crossing on the Lower East Side

The Lower East Side has a new movie theater. The Regal Essex Crossing opened on Saturday at 129 Delancey Street, as part of the nine-site project being developed by the Delancey Street Associates. The new theater contains 14 screens and enough space for 1,200 seats, which all recline and feature footrests.
See inside

Uncategorized

Sample the wares and see what’s new at NYC’s top flea and food markets

Image courtesy of Brooklyn Flea; photo credit: Scott Lynch

April 5, 2019

Sample the wares and see what’s new at NYC’s top flea and food markets

The city's local flea and food markets set up shop in springtime, bringing irresistible edibles and covetable goods to a neighborhood near you. Though dates and locations vary and favorite vendors come and go, the mighty market phenomenon keeps growing. The shop-and-nosh mecca Brooklyn Flea again changes locations (hello, WTC!), a favorite night market returns in Queens, and the Manhattan classics are back to offer more of what you didn't know you couldn't live without. Some of the best fairs are the most fleeting, and one-offs like the annual Renegade Arts and Crafts Fair are always worth the trip. The list below rounds up the city's top food and flea picks. Let the hunting and gathering begin!
Plan your market strategy

Events & Things To Do

Lower East Side residents sue city to stop development of Two Bridges ‘megatowers’

Rendering via Handel Architects

March 22, 2019

Lower East Side residents sue city to stop development of Two Bridges ‘megatowers’

A group of Lower East Side residents on Friday filed a lawsuit against New York City to stop three luxury developments planned for Two Bridges. The residents, who are being represented by the Lower East Side Organized Neighbors (LESON) and the Asian-American Legal Defense Fund, argue the new skyscrapers violate zoning rules meant to protect against out-of-scale development (h/t Bowery Boogie).
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Uncategorized

Sebastian Errazuriz’s Lower East Side sculpture live streams NASA satellite footage of the Earth

Photo taken by 6sqft

March 14, 2019

Sebastian Errazuriz’s Lower East Side sculpture live streams NASA satellite footage of the Earth

When 6sqft visited designer, artist, and activist Sebastian Errazuriz in his Bronx studio last year, we noted that "nothing he does is cookie-cutter." This outside-the-box thinking is now on view for all of NYC to see in his latest public artwork titled blu Marble, a 20-foot, LED structure in a vacant Lower East Side lot that depicts live NASA satellite footage of the Earth. Located at 159 Ludlow Street, blue Marble will be on view until 14th to "inspire awareness and mindfulness in our everyday lives."
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Events & Things To Do

City’s new $1.45B East River Park flood protection plan leaves community groups high and dry

Image courtesy of David Shankbone via Flickr

January 22, 2019

City’s new $1.45B East River Park flood protection plan leaves community groups high and dry

Last July, Rebuild by Design, a collaborative organization formed to address the affects of climate change, released an RFP for a stewardship partner for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR), a reconstruction of the 64-acre, 1.5-mile East River Park. The project, a flood protection system conceived in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and budgeted at $760 million, was the first of three phases in a series of self-sufficient flood zones stretching from West 57th to East 42nd Streets. In October, the Mayor's Office announced an updated $1.45 billion design that would begin in spring of 2020. 70 percent of the original design was updated, ostensibly to allow flood protection to be in place a year earlier, by summer 2023. But, as the New York Times reports, the new plan, which basically calls for burying the park beneath 8-10 feet of landfill and starting over–has left community groups who participated in the original plan feeling like they've been hung out to dry.
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Rental tower at Essex Crossing’s new foodie mecca launches leasing from $3,750/month

Renderings by We Are Visuals/QuallsBenson via Delancey Street Association.

January 3, 2019

Rental tower at Essex Crossing’s new foodie mecca launches leasing from $3,750/month

Leasing has officially launched at The Essex at 125 Delancey Street, the newest rental residence at the Lower East Side's Essex Crossing. Delancey Street Associates (DSA), the project's developers, announced the official launch of the building's 98 units today along with new renderings of interiors and amenity spaces within the tallest tower at the nine-site development. The 26-story Essex, designed by Handel Architects, also launched its website, which shows even more detail on the available units, which range from studios to three-bedrooms, starting at $3,750.
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Controversial Two Bridges towers get city approval despite community ambivalence

Rendering courtesy of Handel Architects.

December 6, 2018

Controversial Two Bridges towers get city approval despite community ambivalence

Update 12/7/18: The City Council and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer filed a suit in the Manhattan Supreme Court "claiming city planners usurped the Council’s authority over land-use issues in approving the project," reported The Real Deal. The City Planning Commission gave the green light Wednesday to a controversial application filed by four developers to build three new residential towers in the Lower East Side's Two Bridges development, which are expected to add 3,000 housing units between them, The Real Deal reports. 700 units will be affordable. The large-scale residential towers were approved in a 10-3 vote on Wednesday, after a lengthy, often acrimonious review process. The towers are comprised of JDS Development’s 1,000-unit rental tower at 247 Cherry Street, L+M Development and CIM Group’s 798-foot tower at 260 South Street; and Starrett Corporation’s 730-foot building at 259 Clinton Street.
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The Henry Street Settlement’s new exhibit showcases 125 years of progressive reform

Students from Camp Henry at the exhibit, courtesy of The Henry Street Settlement

December 3, 2018

The Henry Street Settlement’s new exhibit showcases 125 years of progressive reform

In honor of its 125th anniversary, the Henry Street Settlement, the community hub and social services organization at 265 Henry Street, has mounted a new permanent exhibit in its historic 1830 landmarked headquarters. "The House on Henry Street" is a multi-media exhibit that highlights the legacy of the Settlement’s founder, Lillian Wald, and explores over a century of social activism, urban poverty, and public health on the Lower East Side through the lens of the Settlement’s own history. Incorporating archival photos, video and sound recordings, historic objects, and quotations from both settlement workers and clients, the exhibit distills over a century of history into a stunningly rich and deeply moving meditation on the vital importance of community-oriented social activism.
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Lillian Wald’s Lower East Side: From the Visiting Nurse Service to the Henry Street Settlement

Henry Street Nurses, courtesy of The Henry Street Settlement

November 30, 2018

Lillian Wald’s Lower East Side: From the Visiting Nurse Service to the Henry Street Settlement

In 1893, the 26-year-old nurse Lillian Wald founded the Lower East Side’s Henry Street Settlement, and what would become the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. Two years of nursing school had given her the “inspiration to be of use some way or somehow,” and she identified “four branches of usefulness” where she could be of service. Those four branches, “visiting nursing, social work, country work and civic work,” helped guide the Settlement’s programming, and turned Wald’s home at 265 Henry Street into a center of progressive advocacy, and community support, that attracted neighbors from around the corner, and reformers from around the world.
Learn about Lillian

History

Rental Offers: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

Images (L to R): The Lewis, The Rollins, 1510Lex, and 46 Cook Street

November 25, 2018

Rental Offers: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

By Ondel Hylton

Newly-Built Rentals at The Lewis Leasing Serene Midtown West Rentals from $2,825/Month=[LINK] The Rollins at Essex Crossing: New Lower East Side Rentals Leasing with Special Offers[LINK] Carnegie Hill Luxury Rentals from $2,995/Month at 1510 Lexington Avenue[LINK] Newly-Constructed, No Fee Rentals at 46 Cook Street in Williamsburg; 2-Beds for $2,999/Month[LINK] SEE MORE RENTAL NEWS AND OFFERS […]

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Rental Offers: Money to Burn? Greenwich Village apartments on Houston Street from $14,995/mo

Images (L to R): 136 West Houston Street, 223 Fourth Avenue, 10 Rutgers Street, and Halo LIC

November 17, 2018

Rental Offers: Money to Burn? Greenwich Village apartments on Houston Street from $14,995/mo

By Annie Doge

High-End Greenwich Village Rentals Available at Newly Constructed 136 West Houston Street=[LINK] 223 Fourth Avenue Offers Luxury Park Slope Rentals from $2,452/Month [LINK] Newly-Renovated Lower East Side Rentals at 10 Rutgers Street; No Fee + 1 Month Free[LINK] Halo LIC: Industrial-Inspired No-Fee Rentals with 1 Month Free in the Heart of Long Island City [LINK] […]

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De Blasio announces new Delancey Street bike lanes ahead of L train shutdown

Delancey Street via Wiki Commons

November 15, 2018

De Blasio announces new Delancey Street bike lanes ahead of L train shutdown

Mayor de Blasio has announced the opening of a new quarter-mile, two-way protected bike lane along Delancey Street on the Lower East Side. The stretch connects to the Williamsburg Bridge, the most traveled by cyclists of all the East River crossings, and is "expected to play a central role during the shutdown of L train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan" when it begins on April 27th. Currently, 7,300 cyclists cross the Bridge each day, and the Mayor expects the new bike lanes to double or even triple that number.
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Transit

November 14, 2018

New renderings of Sunshine Cinema-replacing office tower reveal “Houston Alleyway”

Nearly a year ago, we got our first look at the glassy box that would replace the Lower East Side's formerly iconic Sunshine Cinema. And now, developer East End Capital has launched an official website to market the office spaces at 141 East Houston Street that includes a trio of new renderings. First uncovered by CityRealty, not only do they show an interior commercial space and the ground-level retail, but they reveal "Houston Alleyway," a new green-walled passageway that will run south from Houston Street.
See all the renderings

Developers of controversial Two Bridges towers pitch $55M in transit and open space improvements

Via Handel Architects

October 18, 2018

Developers of controversial Two Bridges towers pitch $55M in transit and open space improvements

During a City Planning Commission hearing on Wednesday, local residents and officials of the Two Bridges community voiced their strong opposition to four towers planned for the Lower Manhattan neighborhood. Those who testified against the buildings questioned the developer's draft environmental impact study (DEIS), which found the projects would not cause displacement, amNY reported. Developers also announced measures to mitigate the potential adverse effects on the neighborhood, which include upgrading the F train station at East Broadway, improving public parks, and implementing flood protection measures.
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The East Coast’s largest Trader Joe’s opens at Essex Crossing

Image courtesy of Trader Joe’s.

October 18, 2018

The East Coast’s largest Trader Joe’s opens at Essex Crossing

Yet another Trader Joe's store has landed in New York City; the quirky discount grocery chain's newest location is scheduled to open tomorrow at the new Essex Crossing development on the Lower East Side, Bowery Boogie reports. The new TJ's–the seventh in Manhattan–is located in the lower level of 400 Grand Street, and the 30,000-square-foot emporium is being hailed as the largest one on the Eastern Seaboard.
Find out more

October 10, 2018

Where I Work: Mendel Goldberg Fabrics has been outfitting the Lower East Side for 130 years

By James and Karla Murray

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and businesses of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re going inside 130-year-old Lower East Side shop Mendel Goldberg Fabrics. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! Mendel Goldberg Fabrics, a fourth-generation family-owned textile boutique, has been in business since 1890 and is located on a quiet side street on the Lower East Side. People who walk down Hester Street often take the time to notice the exquisite designer imported fabrics that hang in the window display as well as the huge range of brocades, silk, gabardine, lace, wool, novelty fabrics and boucle´ in a wide variety of colors and textures, which line the shops walls from floor to ceiling. Despite a devastating fire in the building in 2012 that destroyed the entire basement fabric stock and required substantial rebuilding, the business is thriving. On a recent visit to the fabric store, we had a chance to speak with Alice Goldberg, the great-granddaughter of Mendel Goldberg, about how the business went from a pushcart to a unique destination, the joys of running one of the oldest surviving shops in the neighborhood, and the secrets of some of their most high-end fabrics.
Get a fabric lesson from Alice

Where I Work

October 9, 2018

$6,250/month loft shows the state of today’s Lower East Side

This 1,400-square-foot open loft space is located in the heart of the historic, iconic and fun Lower East Side at the corner of Eldridge and Rivington Streets at 193 Eldridge Street; the neighborhood was, a couple of decades ago, a relative bargain, rent-wise, when it was a diverse and low-key stomping ground for downtown rockers and punks. A complicated evolution of New York City's neighborhoods means the area now counts itself among downtown Manhattan's chicest and priciest, and this narrow but sunny third-floor walk-up loft above a former dance hall, with one existing bedroom area, is a condominium that's asking $6,250 a month in rent.
Get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

October 1, 2018

Ten secrets of the Eldridge Street Synagogue

As a media sponsor of Archtober–NYC’s annual month-long architecture and design festival of tours, lectures, films, and exhibitions–6sqft has teamed up with the Center for Architecture to explore some of their 70+ partner organizations. With stunning stained glass windows and a striking mix of Moorish, Gothic, and Romanesque features, the Eldridge Street Synagogue cuts an imposing figure on the Lower East Side. The Synagogue opened in 1887 as the first and finest Orthodox house of worship built by Eastern European Jews in America and served as a spiritual headquarters for millions of immigrants as they made new homes in New York. By the turn of the 20th century, over 4,000 congregants supported three daily services, and holiday crowds overwhelmed the building. But, by the 1940s, the congregation dwindled, and the doors of the great sanctuary were sealed; not to be reopened until the 1970s. When preservationists rallied to save the building on its 100th anniversary, they rediscovered the splendor of the sacred structure and spent 20 years restoring it. Following a meticulous restoration, the Synagogue reopened in 2007 as the Museum at Eldridge Street. Today, the museum welcomes visitors from around the world, and preserves city’s immigrant history as well as the structure’s sacred secrets.
Learn about these 10 secrets of the synagogue

Lower East Side Coastal Resiliency Project will get fast-tracked with an updated design

A previous rendering by Bjarke Ingels Group of ESCR, courtesy of the Mayor’s Office of Recovery & Resiliency

October 1, 2018

Lower East Side Coastal Resiliency Project will get fast-tracked with an updated design

In July, Rebuild by Design released an RFP for a stewardship partner for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR), a reconstruction of the 64-acre, 1.5-mile East River Park, a flood protection system conceived in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. ESCR is the first of three phases in Bjarke Ingels' Big U, a series of self-sufficient flood zones stretching from West 57th to East 42nd Streets. Under the city's new mandate, construction on ESCR, which spans the loop from Montgomery Street on the Lower East Side to East 25th Street, will begin in spring 2020. Roughly 70 percent of the design will be updated, allowing flood protection to be in place one year earlier, by summer 2023, with the entire project wrapping up six months sooner. According to a press release from the Mayor's Office, the updated $1.45 billion design will also "raise the entire East River Park, with the flood wall at the water’s edge integrated with the bulkhead and esplanade that does not obstruct views to the water."
More details on the updated plan

Tenement Museum will stay open late on Thursday nights for special tours and programs

Via Tenement Museum

September 24, 2018

Tenement Museum will stay open late on Thursday nights for special tours and programs

Starting in October, the Tenement Museum will stay open late every Thursday night for exclusive events, programs, and tours. Recently added programming includes a new permanent tour, a pop-up exhibition, and a costumed interpreter tour, all offered on Thursday nights. The Lower East Side museum, which opened in 1992, is a national historic site with a mission to share the stories of immigrants in New York City.
Details here

Events & Things To Do

How the East Village grew to have the most community gardens in the country

Community Gardeners at the Bowery Houston Community Farm and Garden, 1974 via Liz Christie Community Garden

September 19, 2018

How the East Village grew to have the most community gardens in the country

Awash in gray pavement and grayer steel, New York can be a metropolis of muted hues, but with 39 community gardens blooming between 14th Street and East Houston Street, the East Village is the Emerald City. The neighborhood boasts the highest concentration of community gardens in the country thanks to a proud history of grassroots activism that has helped transform once-abandoned lots into community oases. By the mid-1970s, as the city fought against a ferocious fiscal crisis, nearly 10,000 acres of land stood vacant throughout the five boroughs. In 1973, Lower East resident Liz Christie, who lived on Mott Street, refused to let the neglected lots in her neighborhood lie fallow. She established the urban garden group Green Guerillas, a rogue band of planters who lobbed “seed bombs” filled with fertilizer, seeds, and water into vacant, inaccessible lots, hoping they would flourish and fill the blighted spaces with greenery.
Get to the root of the story!

History

August 29, 2018

Asking $850,000, this cozy HDFC co-op on the Lower East Side is the perfect starter home

A prime Lower East Side location for under $1 million, a top-floor duplex layout with lots of windows, and a super-low maintenance fee of $498/month--no, it's not too good to be true. This charming unit at 208 Forsyth Street is an HDFC co-op, meaning that prospective buyers can't make more than a certain amount in order to qualify. And with loads of exposed brick and wood ceiling beams, an adorable spiral staircase, and a country-chic kitchen, this $850,000 is even more of a deal.
Check it out and learn the income requirements

Distinctive Homes

Tenement Museum will open an info kiosk at the Market Line inside Essex Crossing

Image via Tenement Museum

August 16, 2018

Tenement Museum will open an info kiosk at the Market Line inside Essex Crossing