Lower East Side Tenement Museum

Had a great time at the Tenement Museum! The tour lasted about an hour and a half and was more focused on stories than exhibits, which made it feel really personal. Grace was an amazing guide—friendly and super engaging. Your experience will definitely depend a lot on your guide, so we were lucky to have her! If you’re into NYC’s immigrant history, it’s worth a visit.
Rostyslav Sydorenko - a week ago

We went on a weekday after Christmas. They have a variety of tour options, 60-70 minutes each. You are paying for the guided, insightful tour guide. The tours seem to go into two buildings. Each tour is different focusing on one or more individuals/families. We took the "One Hundred Years" tour focusing on a Prussian family from the 1860s and Chinese family from the 1970s. Interesting to hear their stories. Just average people trying to better their lives and the lives of their children.
Jeff Hayes - 3 weeks ago

I am so grateful that I finally had the opportunity to take one of the tours offered by the Tenement Museum located in the Lower East Side. The guide will lead you into one of the Tenement buildings they use as examples of life as it was lived by immigrants. These buildings were uninhabitable and about to be torn down when they were rescued to be used for educational purposes. We did the early 1900s tour that focused on the role of mothers and the Kosher Meat strike. Our guide was extremely well-versed on her topic and offered context and details that really "colored in" the experiences of these immigrant families. It was incredible to realize the challenges they had in simply accessing lavatories, fresh water, and coal to heat their homes through their stoves. I highly recommend this experience and am looking forward to taking a different tour in the future.
Jackie Adler - a month ago

I heard about this on my food tour of the lower east side. So glad she recommended it. I did the 100 years apart tour. Mark was a wonderful guide. It’s amazing to learn about people’s lives, the neighborhood, history, and see how people lived. The 100 years apart includes two apartments, one on the 3rd floor (elevator for people who need it) and another in a separate building on the second floor. The second building is amazing. The restoration work but also keeping some of it so we can see how life was in the 1800’s. The tour was about 1:15 in duration. Very interesting and Mark answered all our questions. I want to go back and tour another apartment/time. Definitely worth a visit.
karen savage - a month ago

I happened to be part of a free tour to visit the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. A five-story building dating back to the 1800s with some original features inside. Some parts of the building have been renovated. Actually, this is an ongoing project. This building has been the residence of many immigrants from different countries. The story the guide told us was about a number of Russian and Austrian Jewish immigrants who settled in this building in the early 1900s. The women of these working families at one point had a great impact on the society of that time, like the strike they did to reduce the price of kosher meat. The current owners of the building have tried to preserve the interior to make it look like what it was in the 19th century and show how these working-class people lived, worked and helped the many immigrants. This space takes you back more than 100 years to get a glimpse of everyday life without indoor electricity and running water. The only source of water was a backyard pump. There you will see detached closet structure in the back yard that was used for when nature called. There is also a gift shop related to this museum. Check their website "Tenement Museum" for visiting the museum.
Z Sara - 2 months ago