Lower Eastside

For our Final Class, we left Penn Station and jumped on the F Train for one quick stop.  We went to the Essex Street Market, the Market began in 1940 as part of an effort by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia to find a new place for street merchants to do business.  I took a walk around the Market, and can tell there is a sense of pride in the employees and the role they each have in keeping the Market as successful as it has been for seventy years.  The Market has evolved by meeting the changing needs of the Lower Eastside and customers.

Then our group was split up when we arrived at the Tenement Museum.  Our guide took us to the Tenement of the Moore Family.  The Tenements are very small, we were told that some families would have up to fourteen people living in one.  Each Tenement was connected from room to room so if there was a fire all the people living there can get to the one fire escape, this meant they had to leave there apartments unlocked.  The Moore Family included Joseph and Bridget and there three young daughters.  Joseph worked long hours to support his family, leaving Bridget home to take care of there children and the home.  In was unaware back then that Germs were bad, and could harm people.  Due to this, there youngest daughter passed away, the Funeral was held in the living area of the Tenement.  A small casket with Rosary beads placed on top, chairs set up around the room, and the mirror is covered with a sheet so no one reflection is seen or they will be the next to pass.  Finally the window is open the spirit of the baby can pass.

We then went to Tom & Jerry's Bar, where I sat back and had a cold Corona.  We met Ruby McDonald who told us how Tom & Jerry's was started and how she came to work there.  Ruby explained how the bar has changed over the years and the people she interacts with on daily basis.  The Bar was decorated with great art that changes each month.  Behind the Bar there are pottery pieces that are from Tom & Jerry which is where the name of the Bar comes from.  The original name was 288 because that was the address of the Bar.  

For lunch we went to Congee Village, an excellent Chinese Restaurant with very fast service.  We reflected about the class and how future classes will benefit from taking the Course.  

After lunch, we were guided through the Lower Eastside and Chinatown.  Chinatown is expanding Eastward beyond its original boundaries into the Lower Eastside and Northward into Little Italy.  Merchandise crowds the display windows; signs in English and Chinese hang from every storefront.  Visitors come for bargains, food and knockoff designer handbags and perfume.  Sunday is the busiest day, when Chinese who have moved out to the suburbs return to the old neighborhood.                       (Blue Guide p. 107).

We finished up our last class in the Five Points section.  I have to say I learned a lot of things that I did not know existed in NewYork.  I learned a great deal of History and have many more reasons why I love and appreciate to live in the Greatest City in the World, New York.