Lower East Side Tour: Immigrant History and Transformation

Explore the rich, tragic, and redemptive history of NYC’s Lower East Side. Discover immigrant life, tenement housing, and cultural evolution on this captivating tour.

Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Foley Square - We begin at the former sites of The Five Points neighborhood and Mulberry Bend, one-time notorious slums in New York City’s history. The focus is on the “tenement,” the early purpose-built housing for the working class, mostly immigrant poor whose history begins not far from this spot.
  • Columbus Park - Jacob Riis and his seminal…
What's Included
  • Local guide
  • Professional guide
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

From the Five Points and Mulberry Bend, through the Italian and Jewish immigrant waves, and finally what is today’s Chinatown, this tour explores the development of a rustic landscape of lakes and farms into what became the mostly densely overcrowded neighborhood on earth barely 100 years ago. The incremental step-by-step process of putting the need for…

Location
Foley Square
Centre Street
Tour starts nearby the sculpture, Triumph of the Human Spirit, at Foley Square
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.7
(15 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
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1 star
Jentoys
Oct 7, 2024
Captivating, interesting, one for the history buffs, one of the best attractions in NYC. - Such a fantastic experience! Una, our guide was very engaging and the apartment was restored exactly as it was in 1869. Highly Recommended A+ rating! ⭐️
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mary_e
Oct 3, 2024
Full of information! Excellent tour. - Absolutely outstanding. We saw such a great variety of Manhattan history and sights…and our guide Rob was phenomenal, We would definitely hope to use him again to see other parts of the city.
Review provided by Viator
Janet_j
Sep 17, 2024
Well worth the money! - Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and accommodating. He was able to answer all questions and made this tour a great experience.
Review provided by Viator
Ayn_c
Aug 19, 2024
Tenement History Tour - The tour guide was excellent. Really knew his stuff and his passion for the subject was infectious. My friend and I put his tour as one of the best experiences we had in New York
Review provided by Viator
Manon
Jul 7, 2024
Curious about the development of Manhattan? Take this tour! - A wonderful and thoughtful tour including the history of the development of Manhattan. The tour focuses on the lower east side of Manhattan which is where 5-points and Chinatown originate. Truly worthwhile if you're a history person or you like learning cool stuff about urban development from a housing perspective. Five stars!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mark
May 17, 2024
Very informative. We learned so much. - The tour was amazing. We learned so much in about 2.5 hours. Our tour guide is very well informed and we got a detailed account accompanied with photos. The time just flew by.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Stephanie
Dec 30, 2019
Amazing tour of the history of New York’s tenements - Rob is an expert on the history of the tenements and immigration of the 1800’s and up. I live in New York and learn so many new things, the tour was the best we have done. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jeffg1993
Dec 26, 2019
Super Informative Look at the History of Low Income Housing in NYC/Lower East Side - Robert was great, giving us a terrific perspective of the history of low income housing in the Lower East Side, and the succession of immigrant populations who passed through there. His binder of charts and pictures he shared with us as we walked was very helpful, as we saw how things changed over the years legally, architecturally, and geographically. Would definitely recommend for someone with a serious interest in the socio-economic and political history of the area. We also did two tours out of the Tenement Museum, and there was enough variation between the three that we didn't feel like it was too redundant. My wife and I were the only ones on the tour that day, and he was extremely easy to talk to, and took us on a few diversions because of our unique questions and interests.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rhodajoyner
Dec 8, 2019
Manhattan UnLocked-Robert Amell-Superb! - We were amazed at the knowledge that Robert Amell shared with us. He was well organized and well-versed on the history of housing in New York City. He answered our many questions and was very gracious to spend so much time with us. Our eyes were opened and we want to know even more now. His tour was far beyond our expectations. Plus Mr. Amell was friendly and knew little spots tucked in along the way where we seniors could stop for a bathroom break or an egg cream. If you are interested in history, take this tour. We really enjoyed it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cam_j
Apr 13, 2020
Scam - Our tickets printed from the website had 10 a.m. at one point and 1 p.m. at another. We saw 1 p.m. and didn't question it to look the ticket over to see a different time elsewhere. We showed up at the statue at 1 p.m. waited 20 minutes and no one showed. Then we scrutinized the tickets and saw two different times listed. Apparently 10 a.m. was correct and 1 p.m. was a misprint. We walked to the Tenement Museum, which we thought from your website, we had to take one of your tours to get in. When we showed them the tickets to see if we could still get in, they said the tour had nothing to do with them. I don't see any way I could search the Tenement Museum and end up on your website led to believe the only way we could visit it was to take one of your tours, without being intentionally mislead by you, just as we were mislead by your tickets. I feel scammed.
Review provided by Viator
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up to 15 guests
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November 2024
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