The iconic Lower East Side, one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, is listed on the National Register of Historic Districts, and is the gateway to the American Dream. It is a section of the city that was once home to Africans freed from slavery, followed by Irish, German, Southern Italian, Eastern European and Sephardic Jewish immigrants fleeing starvation, political and religious turmoil, oppression and economic deprivation.
During the late 1800s to the early 1900s, it was populated with mostly poor Ashkenazi Jews crammed into just 450 blocks. The neighborhood was not for the faint of heart, with conditions being stressful, crowded, and challenging. Teeming with the masses, residents lived in tenement buildings, which were designed to house as many people as possible with the greatest financial gain for the landlords. During this period, the Lower East Side was the most densely populated place on the planet, filled with more Jews than anywhere else in the world, with a turn of the century census listing over 500 synagogues. Jacob Riis' book "How the Other Half Lives" documented the squalid living conditions in what essentially were slums. This particular bit of photojournalism helped to initiate social reforms.
As the epicenter of Jewish immigrant culture, it fostered the birth of Yiddish theater, Yiddish newspapers, the garment district, political and social groups responsible for creating reform organizations for things as basic as housing, and as fun as the first municipal park in the Country. The impact of this area on history cannot easily be measured. Countless famous Jews are associated with this neighborhood such as Irving Berlin, the prolific American composer, to the tremendously influential American Comic Book artist, Jack Kirby, creator of characters such as Captain America, the Fantastic Four, the Black Panther and others.
Some other noted individuals have included performers such as Sophie Tucker and George Burns; musicians like George and Ira Gershwin, Harburg ("Over the Rainbow"), and Lou Reed; comedians such as Zero Mostel, Jimmy Durante (although not Jewish he was considered a "landsman" due to his roots in the neighborhood,) and Jackie Mason; Yiddish performers including Jacob Adler, Bessie and Boris Thomashefsky, and Emmy Award winner, Fyvush Finkel; social reformers including Lillian Wald, Clara Lemlich, and Fiorello LaGuardia, and even gangsters, such as "Bugsy Siegel“ the 'inventor' of Las Vegas. The list of fascinating and world-transforming Lower East Side residents goes on and on.
Like all neighborhoods, The Lower East Side is a living entity which changes and evolves. The area is now home to many Latinos and in recent years, a more extensive Asian population.
