Lower East Side Tenement Museum
The untouched rooms of the Tenement Museum tell an interesting story about the lives and living conditions of 1000s of NYC immigrants
This museum has quite an interesting story to tell. What makes it unique is the way the untouched rooms seem to speak to today's visitors from the immigrant families that lived there many years ago telling tales about their lives and the living and working conditions they had to face every day.
The building housed approximately 7,000 people from over 20 different nations world wide between 1863-1935. It had 22 apartments about 325 square feet each and a staircase on the outside of the building that lead down to a saloon in the basement.
The Tenement Museums co-founders, Ruth Abram and Anita Jacobson, were friends with similar interests in what they wanted to experience when visiting a museum. They were more interested in the social aspect of society and what one can learn from the experiences and traditions brought over from the immigrants that first came to New York City. Finding out how as a society we are affected today and what we can learn from one another in the future by understanding, tolerating and embracing differences from many backgrounds without fear and prejudice.
They set out to look for a old building that was left untouched to house their museum in. Shortly, they discovered this was an almost impossible task as in 1934 a law was put in place in New York City that all public buildings had to pass updates such as fireproofing them. This was very expensive to the landlords. Either they put the money into the renovations and rented the building out to make up for the loss of the updates or they closed them up for good. Those that updated them changed the character of the building, making it very hard to find one that wasn't updated and changed. It was very unusual that the landlord of this apartment building decided to evict his tenants and board up the windows and close off the apartments only keeping the storefront open for business.
It was by pure accident that the two woman came across this unique building. After two years of searching for the right building to house their museum, they nearly gave up and decided to tell about the lives of the immigrants on the Lower East Side by giving walking tours and plays needing only a storefront. Anita Jacobson spotted the storefront at 97 Orchard Street and knocked on the door. The young woman that answered it told Anita that her family had owned the 5 storey brick building since 1905 and it really had minimal changes.
The storefront had nothing in it. However when asking to use the washroom and being directed down the hall, Anita soon realized what a gem she had discovered. She knew enough about the decor of old buildings from that era as she had studied them while looking for old unique structures to house their museum. Realizing she had stumbled on something great she called Ruth right away and told her they had to purchase this building. It took Ruth Abram and Anita Jacobson 5 years to convince the owner to sell the place to them. In 1988 the Tenement Museum was founded. On April 19th 1994 it was designated a National Historic Landmark.
There are educational tours to choose from where you can learn so much about the residence and get a real inside look at the way the immigrants to America lived, worked and survived in the early days of old. Over 200,000 people enjoy these tours every year.
Most tours are about an hour and a half to two hours long. Reservations are recommended for all tours.
Note: If you are taking a child along it is best to phone and find out if the tour you are interested in is suitable for his or her age.
Facts For Your Visit
Fee: YesLower East Side Tenement Museum Hours:
Opening hours may differ on holidays
- Monday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Friday: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
- Saturday: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
- Sunday: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Address: 103 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002, USA
Phone: (877) 975-3786
Official Website: Lower East Side Tenement Museum
Lower East Side Tenement Museum Reviews
Rated
out of 5 A must do in the lower East side. I’ve been wanting to visit for a couple of years - always sold out! I can’t buy in advance but suggest you do so you aren’t turned away. Well today was my lucky day because I got a ticket for the Tenement Women 1902 tour. I’m sure they’re all outstanding. Our guide, Penny, was wonderful. It’s very cool to have a look back at the (not so distant) past. The tour included lots of extra details in the story of one real life family along with great pictures & artifacts. An hour well spent. I’d like to do them all. What a fantastic thing to keepsake such interesting history. Nice job!!
Lyl Rose - 3 months ago
This was our first, and hopefully not last, tour at the Tenement Museum. We chose the 'Under One Roof' tour and it was fascinating. It followed the stories of two families and their previous home. Very incredible to be faced with the harsher realities of days gone by. The tenement building is a fascinating glipse into history.
Ingrid Hill - 2 months ago
It's guided tour only, and almost always sold out, so get tickets in advance.
Regardless, it's a great museum, the unique preservation of a tenement building and period-correct item really add the vibe to the tour.
It also helps that the museum staff was super enthusiastic.
NYC has always been immigrant entrance point and the museum really shows their struggle to be "American".
Haziq Farhan - a month ago
I went to the museum with my friend who lived in NY. Neither of us had been before, we bought the tickets in the shop and picked the Finding Home tour after the staff member explained a few options, as we had 20min before our tour, we looked around the gift shop and watched some of the stories shown in the theatre.
Our tour was led by Amy and it was accessible, though we were the youngest people on the tour, we had done so much walking already, we used the lift, we were taken up by another staff member and met the rest of our group at the apartment entrance. Amy was a great tour guide, engaging, very easy to understand and answered any questions we had. The stories were interesting and lovely to see original items as well as authentic replicas used in the space. Would definitely recommend the Tenement Museum and hope to go back and do a different tour on another visit!
Jennie B - 2 months ago
Really cool venue and informative tour. The unique preservation of a tenement building with the re-creation of living spaces of real families is a novel way to share the story of the United States and NYC. Only downside… The tour I joined was sold out and uncomfortably crowded in the tiny spaces. I recommend decreasing the capacity for tours by at least two.
Joshua Phillips - 2 months ago
Directions
Subway Line | Nearest Station | Walking Time |
---|---|---|
B or D | Grand Street | 6 Minutes |
F | Delancey Street | 3 Minutes |
J, M or Z | Essex Street | 4 Minutes |
How to get to Lower East Side Tenement Museum by Subway
From Grand Street on the B or D line exit onto Grand and Chrystie and go east on Grand Street for four blocks, then go left (north) on Orchard Street two blocks to the Museum Shop at 103 Orchard Street.
From Delancey Street on the F line or from Essex Street on the J, M or Z line, exit and walk west (away from the bridge) on Delancy Street, then left (south) on Orchard to the Museum Shop.
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