Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Yesterday Jess and I had lunch at 88 Orchard and then went to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. It was really good, if you haven’t been there, you should go. The museum has preserved an actual tenement building and access to it is by tour only. There are three different tours to choose from and we chose a tour called “Getting By: Weather the Great Depressions of 1873 and 1929″. This hour-long tour takes you through 3 apartments in the tenement building. The first apartment is unfurnished and somewhat dilapalated. This apartment has not been restored at all and is almost exactly as it was discovered when the museum purchased the building. It is used to show the layout of each of the apartments and to explain their features. The next apartment has been restored to the period of the 1870s. At this time the Gumpertz family, a German-Jewish family, lived in the apartment. You get to see how the apartment would have been furnished when the family lived there and the tour guide walks you through the history of the family and what everything in the apartment is. The last apartment was that of the Badizza family, a Sicilian-Catholic family that lived in the apartment in the 1930s. Again, you are told about the family and the apartment. What was really great about this apartment was the woman who lived there as a child contacted the museum a while back and gave an oral history of living there. So.. you not only got to hear the tour guide’s description, you got to hear stories of the apartment in the words and voice of someone who actually lived there.
Our tour guide was Carlo d’Amore. He did an awesome job giving us historical facts but throwing in personal stories and jokes to keep things lively. It helped that he was kind of hot. Also, at one point early on he stopped the tour to point at me and say “Has anyone ever told you you look like Renee Zellweger!?”. To which I replied, “Yes, all the time.”
Economy Candy, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Jessica at Economy Candy, Lower East Side, Manhattan
After the tour (and purchasing far too many books) Jess and I headed over to Economy Candy. I’d heard Jeannette talk about this store before but I’d never been inside. It’s so fun. An entire store filled from front to back, floor to ceiling with candy!!!!
Eating Candy and Watching a Movie, East Village, Manhattan
Rachelle and Jessica - Wax Lips, East Village, Manhattan
Candy Coma, East Village, Manhattan
A quick dash uptown to stock up on skin care products from Mario Badescu, and then Jess and I went home to rent Gangs of New York and to eat candy!!! heh. We picked Gangs of New York because I thought it would drive home some of the things that we saw at the Tenement Museum. I’d already seen the movie and read the book. And read Five Points, a book on similar subjects, so going to the museum then seeing the movie again brought everything together for me.
12 responses so far ↓
1 tien // Jan 25, 2004 at 9:17 am
i was going to say, “was it anything like the stuff in five points?” so…was it anything like the stuff in five points?
i’ve gotten about halfway through that book. and now it’s packed up somewhere. but i’ll eventually finish it, right?
2 Ed // Jan 25, 2004 at 2:07 pm
I was one of the peole that wrote and said you look like Renee Zellwiger, lol.
I was a Democratic spokesperson on Fox News during the 2000 election - and if you ever watch Fox News Channel (cable), you’ll know it slants Republican. So I used to get people coming up to me and saying “you look a lot like that Democratic guy on Fox News.”
To avoid getting into a debate at places like the mall or the grocery store, I would just answer “yeah, I get that a lot.” To which one lady replied “that must make ya mad!” So much for being almost famous. lol
3 jeannette // Jan 25, 2004 at 7:18 pm
god - those last photos are hilarious!! lips and candy coma - those are moments to savor in life.
i can’t believe you guys didn’t stop in toys in babeland!! you were RIGHT NEXT DOOR!
4 dmadeo // Jan 25, 2004 at 11:31 pm
You should have finished up with a meal at Five Points restaurant. Though it isn’t really in the five points.
5 joe s // Jan 26, 2004 at 9:11 am
Now I don’t want to prematurely jump to any conclusions, but would it be fair to say that you have a sweet tooth?
But… no halvah?
6 Nan // Jan 26, 2004 at 10:26 am
I have those chocolate band aids too and I bought swoops last week, but almond joy ones.
7 Mike // Jan 26, 2004 at 1:15 pm
Someone told me Economy Candy was a drug front. Have you been, er, extremely satisfied with your candy purchases?
8 Richard // Jan 26, 2004 at 1:47 pm
Bottlecaps! I love those.
9 rachelle // Jan 26, 2004 at 2:38 pm
yeh, mike.. i cannot stop eating these runts at my desk!!!! bottle caps are one of my favorite non chocolate candies.
one more thing about the tenements i wanted to point out.. i think my dad was asking about this after his first trip here but i didnt know the answer.. and some other people might wonder about it too -
the reason that the fire escapes are on the front of the tenement buildings in nyc is because in most buildings, at least at first, the owner of the building lived there for a while. since there was no electricity, the apartments in the front of the building facing the street were the ones that got the most light.. they were the most desirable apartments.. the apartments in the back not only didnt get any light because there was another building right behind it, but they were also very smelly because that’s where the privvy and trash were. so the front of the building is where the owner would choose to live.. and he would also put the fire escapes on the front of the building and not the back because he was more concerned for his own safety than for that of the tenants int he back of the buiding.
10 rachelle // Jan 26, 2004 at 2:39 pm
oh.. and joe.. yes, major sweet tooth! and dmadeo, that would have made the day totally complete!!
11 joe s // Jan 26, 2004 at 6:01 pm
I really enjoyed Five Points. What new books did you get?
12 rachelleb // Jan 28, 2004 at 8:03 am
the other books i got are listed under books now.