We were here to go to the Tenement Museum and after that we walked around a bit. Lots of history here and lots of interesting architecture. You will find the remnants of the old tenement buildings mixed in with some modern ones that show the signs of gentrification. It is a multi-ethnic area that has long been the home of recent arrivals. Lots of good food here.

At the beginning of the 20th Century, this was where many immigrants ended up to start their lives in the New World. The area was full of overcrowded tenements and it was a slum. But it was loaded with culture, and then history. Most of the blocks were wiped out through urban renewal, but there still is a core left with some interesting tenement architecture, some old fashioned restaurants, some art.

Walking through the Lower East Side is like walking through a movie set of New York in the late 1800s/early 1900s. This was the home of immigrants with crowded tenement buildings and gritty streets. Initially German and Irish and later Italians, Eastern European Jews, and others from Europe filled the neighborhood. By 1920 it was one of the largest Jewish communities in the world. The Tenement Museum located here provides an excellent idea of the challenges immigrants faced when living in the neighborhood and is well worth experiencing. Although much of the architecture remains, the area has evolved and is now filled with upscale apartments and has an energetic nightlife scene where local 20-something year olds fill the bars, music venues and restaurants of the neighborhood. This is also where you can find the famous Katz's Deli, located here since 1888 and NYC's oldest deli, serving up incredible sandwiches.

The Lower East Side stretches from Midtown south towards Brooklyn Bridge. This area has a really good vibe and one of the things I loved about the area is the huge amount of street art that there is.Even without trying to hard you can find some brilliant artwork on the sides of buildings.There are a few squares and places to sit and watch the world pass by.Definitely worth checking out on your visit to the city.

NYC's Lower East Side has traditionally been an area of impoverished ethnic neighborhoods. Little Italy was the center of Italian life in NYC, until the process of gentrification began, and many Italians moved out, mainly to New Jersey. Chinatown continues to prosper. Many new immigrants find shelter here. The traditional Jewish neighborhoods have been overtaken by new tenement dwellers. The Lower East Side is undergoing a revival, as artists and new settlers move in. It's well worth a look around, we stayed here and were made welcome.