8 Secrets You Probably Know About the Lower
                     8 SECRETS YOU 
PROBABLY KNOW ABOUT 
THE LOWER EAST SIDE
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LOWER EAST SIDE IS ONE OF THE MOST ENERGETIC NEIGHBORHOODS OF NYC 
AND THERE ARE N NUMBER OF REASONS TO MOVE TO THE LOWER EAST SIDE. 
BUT THERE ARE LESSER KNOWN FACTS ABOUT LES (LOWER EAST SIDE).
DID YOU KNOW THAT IT WAS DIVIDED INTO TWO FARMLANDS? HAS ANYONE 
TOLD YOU THAT THIS AREA HAS AN ILLEGAL BAR OF THE PROHIBITION ERA? 
AND THERE IS A PROTESTANT CHURCH THAT HAS BEEN EVOLVED FROM A 
PUBLIC BATHHOUSE. 
SHOCKING! ISN’T IT? HERE ARE SOME MORE FACTS WHICH WILL BLOW YOUR 
MIND.
THE LES WAS ACTUALLY THE TWO 
ESTATES
THE LES WASN’T AN ENERGETIC NEIGHBORHOOD IN 1750’S LIKE IT IS TODAY. 
IT WAS DIVIDED INTO TWO LARGE FARMLANDS—THE FIRST ONE BELONGED TO 
JAMES DE LANCEY, A LOYALIST POLITICIAN TO BRITISH AND THE COLONIAL 
GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. ANOTHER AREA WAS OWNED BY HENRY RUTGERS. 
THEIR LANDS WERE SOLD OF AFTER THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
BATHHOUSE TURNED INTO A CHINESE-
LANGUAGE PROTESTANT CHURCH!
MUNICIPAL BATHHOUSES WERE COMMON IN THE 19TH CENTURY AS IT WAS 
BELIEVED THAT UNCLEANLINESS LED TO A HIGH MORTALITY RATE. 
ONE OF SUCH BATHHOUSES WAS LOCATED ON ALLEN STREET, WHICH WAS 
DISCONTINUED AFTER 1975. TODAY, IT IS SERVING AS THE CHURCH OF GRACE 
OF FUJIANESE IN LOWER EAST SIDE AREA. YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE 
ICONOGRAPHY OF SEAHORSE AND SEASHELL ON THE WALLS OF THE CHURCH
THE LES HAD THE OLDEST HOUSE IN 
MANHATTAN!
THE OLDEST KNOWN HOUSE IN MANHATTAN WAS LOCATED ON THE SOUTHERN 
TIP OF CHERRY STREET. IT WAS BUILT IN 1760 AND WAS BELIEVED TO HOUSE 
SOME OF GEORGE WASHINGTON’S OFFICERS DURING THE REVOLUTION. 
THE HOUSE WAS DEMOLISHED IN 1936 DUE TO THE CITYWIDE SLUM REMOVAL 
DRIVE. TODAY, THE SPOT OF THIS HOUSE IS OWNED BY KNICKERBOCKER 
VILLAGE AND THE GOVERNOR ALBERT E. SMITH HOUSES, TWO LARGE PUBLIC 
BUILDINGS BUILT IN THE 1930S AND 1950S, RESPECTIVELY.
AN ILLICIT BAR THAT IS STILL IN 
EXISTENCE
THERE WERE ONLY TWO BARS OPERATED IN NYC DURING THE PROHIBITED 
ERA. ONE IS SITUATED AT 102 NORFOLK STREET, LES, THE BACK ROOM, ONE 
OF NYC’S NOTORIOUS SPEAKEASY COCKTAIL BARS.
IT USED TO BE THE PLACE WHERE PEOPLE HID ALCOHOL IN THEIR TEACUPS. 
THE INTERIOR IS STILL THE REMINISCENCE OF THE 1920S—THE ONE YOU 
MUST HAVE WATCHED IN THE GREAT GATSBY.
THE ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE USED 
TO BE IN THE LOWER EAST SIDE
TODAY, ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE RUNS THROUGH THE FIFTH AVENUE 
UPTOWN. BUT ONCE IT USED TO BE TAKEN THROUGH THE LES. ALTHOUGH THE 
VENUE OF THE FIRST PARADE WAS STILL UNKNOWN, THE NEWS ARTICLES 
FROM THE 1770S REPORT THAT THE MARCH OF 400 IRISHMEN RAN FROM 
LOWER BROADWAY TO TAVERNS ON THE BOWERY.
THE PARADE WAS SHIFTED UPTOWN IN 1879 AFTER THE DEPLOYMENT OF ST. 
PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL ON 5TH AVENUE.
THE LES’S SYNAGOGUE IS ONE OF THE 
ONLY TWO LISTED NYC SYNAGOGUES
THE ELDRIDGE STREET SYNAGOGUE LOCATED IN CHINATOWN IS ONE OF THE 
ONLY TWO NYC SYNAGOGUES BEING LISTED AS A NATIONAL HISTORIC 
LANDMARK IN NYC. 
THE STRUCTURE WAS BUILT IN THE 19TH CENTURY IN THE WAKE OF JEWISH 
IMMIGRATION.
THE LOWER EAST SIDE IS MORE THAN A NEIGHBORHOOD IN MANHATTAN. THIS 
AREA HAS GOT SOME REALLY INTERESTING FACTS THAT WILL AMAZE YOU.