Walking Manhattan. Ellen Levitt
Street.
20 Cross Bowery onto Doyers Street.
21 Walk right on Pell Street to Bowery.
22 Go left on Bowery.
23 Go left on Canal Street to one of the subway stations.
CONNECTING THE WALKS
To begin Walk 7 (The Bowery, Little Italy, and Soho), head east about six blocks on Canal Street to Chrystie Street, then walk two blocks north on Chrystie to Grand Street.
The busy, bureaucratic, yet beautiful Municipal Building
6 LOWER EAST SIDE: HISTORY, MEET HIPSTER
BOUNDARIES: E. Broadway, Chrystie St., Delancey St., Norfolk St.
DISTANCE: 2.2 miles
SUBWAY: F to E. Broadway
The Lower East Side has a mythic quality that is cherished by locals and tourists alike. Long known for its importance in Jewish American history, it has also been home base for generations of Latino and Chinese families and institutions. (Puerto Rican residents coined its Spanglish nickname, “Loisaida.”) Lacking the polish and glamour of Midtown, the quaint historical feel of City Hall, the cultural cool of the Upper West Side, or the moneyed elegance of Fifth Avenue, the Lower East Side has long held a reputation as a gritty place where people strive, where kids run the streets, where vendors and businesspeople hustle. It’s certainly more than that, of course, but it retains this essence in many ways.
The Lower East Side still shelters a mix of ethnicities, but with dollops of high style and hipster chic added to that mix. Upscale eateries, art galleries, posh or offbeat shops, and boutique hotels dwell side by side with grungy tenements and modest storefronts. And it seems like one out of five people is sipping a flavored bubble tea.
The neighborhood’s major anchors include Seward Park (which my old assistant principal fondly referred to as “Sewer Park”), Sara D. Roosevelt Park, the stores of Delancey Street, and the Williamsburg Bridge, along with the many houses of worship that have sustained residents over the years.
As architectural evidence of the Lower East Side’s deep Jewish roots, this walk takes you past 6 of New York City’s 250 lost synagogues, which now serve non-Jewish congregations, have been repurposed for nonreligious use, or sit abandoned and in danger of being lost forever.
Emerge from the F station on Rutgers Street; East Broadway is half a block north. First take a look at the rustic Church of St. Teresa, housed in an old stone building that looks like it belongs in the countryside. Across the street is Captain Jacob Joseph Playground, more interesting for its name than the equipment in it. Joseph was a World War II hero who died in battle, and the great-grandson of Rabbi Jacob Joseph, the first (and only) chief rabbi of New York City.
Walk the half-block to East Broadway and turn right. On the north side of the street is Straus Square, a triangular plaza named for Nathan Straus, a department store mogul (Abraham & Straus, Macy’s) and philanthropist. Just behind you at 173–75 East Broadway, towering above its neighbors, is the Forward Building (1912). It’s pricey condos now, but for decades it served as the offices of The Jewish Daily Forward, the best-known Yiddish newspaper in the United States. The front entrance, the western outer wall, and other spots have FORWARD emblazoned on them. Peer up at the clock near the roof—here, the Hebrew lettering reads FORVERTS, Yiddish for “forward.” Look for many opulent touches and a few surprises, such as carved heads of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. (Still published in print and online, The Forward was long associated with the socialist movement and continues to espouse progressive views today.)
Cross East Broadway and walk into the park that’s just north of Straus Square. This is Seward Park, the first permanent city playground in the US, opened in October 1903 and named for William H. Seward, the noted 19th-century statesman. It has benefited from renovations over the years, but some of its pieces are more than 100 years old. (The Jacob H. Schiff Fountain, on the west side, dates to 1895, but it was brought here in 1936 from another park.) Inside the park are play areas, sprinklers, sports fields, a white-and-blue field house, a running-dog statue, and pigeons galore. You’ll often see Chinese senior citizens here working on their Tai Chi.
Walk just east of the park to pay a visit to the Seward Park branch of the New York Public Library. It’s a handsome old building (1909), heavily used, with artwork by locals festooning the walls. It’s also one of 65 NYPL branches built with funding from Andrew Carnegie.
Return to East Broadway and cross Rutgers Street heading right (west). At #145 is Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem, a prestigious house of learning for Orthodox Jewish men. Its main building has five stories, its annex three. Note the four arches along the ground floor of the main building. Next door to the annex is an apartment building with stores on the street level; while the building looks worn overall, it has impressive window decorations all along the third and fourth floors and roofline, including several Jewish stars. At #125, find a hybrid of Chinese and midcentury New York architecture at the Fukien Benevolent Association of America. Two grinning-lion statues flank the front door, and gilded Chinese characters are inscribed just above it. Even if you can’t read the language, you can admire the style.
Turn left at Pike Street. In the middle of the block is a large, off-white building that houses the Sung Tak Buddhist Association. Ascend the stairs and you’ll see ritual items such as incense urns, statues of animals and deities, paper lanterns, and plaques. If the bright-red doors are open, peek inside to see the temple and its pieces, such as drums, firecracker strands, and bells.The temple building (1904) was originally constructed in a hybrid Romanesque–Moorish Revival style for a prominent Jewish synagogue, B’nai Israel Kalwarie (Sons of Israel from Kalwaria, a Polish town). Better known as the Pike Street Shul, it was the birthplace of the Young Israel Modern Orthodox movement within Judaism. Out on the porch, you have views of the Manhattan Bridge, the grass dividers that partition wide Pike Street, and more.
Return the way you came on Pike, past East Broadway, and turn left on Division Street.
Make a right at Eldridge Street. At #12 is the Eldridge Street Synagogue, which opened in September 1887. It was the first purpose-built synagogue in the US for an Eastern European congregation. Look up, down, and all around to see the myriad decorative touches: wood carvings, faux-marble finishes, gilt stars in heavenly domes, and such. The Moorish Revival front entrance is breathtaking, and the windows, from the small east window (2010) to the huge rose window, amply show the artistry of their creators. In addition to the congregation that still davens (prays) here, the building houses a museum and gift shop.
The Eldridge Street Synagogue is chock-full of astonishing architectural detail.
Back out on the sidewalk, walk to the right to see another religious group’s home, Pu Chao Buddhist Temple at 20 Eldridge. The doors and entrance are red and gold, and the buildings across the street are reflected in the brownish-red marble front.
Walk north and east on Eldridge to Canal Street, and turn left.
Just before you make a left onto Forsyth Street, note the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge, a grand archway flanked by regal columns. Cars, subway trains, bicyclists, and pedestrians all make their way over this bridge. Walk on Forsyth Street and perhaps you’ll see a few itinerant vendors toiling in the shadow of the bridge during pleasant weather. On the east side of Forsyth—the only side with buildings along it—is St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, with its pretty three-door entrance and false dome. At this point, you may not be surprised to learn that this was also a former synagogue, Kol Israel Anshe Poland.
Go in the other direction on Forsyth and