“A melting pot of cultures and nationalities, the Lower East Side remains central to the social history of the United States. Its preservation of 19th and early 20th century properties convey the story of immigrant home, health, entrepreneurship, labor, education and recreational life in New York City.” [1] One of the oldest neighborhoods of New York, Lower East Side is located in southeast part of Manhattan. It is bounded by East Houston Street, Canal Street, Allen Street, and East Broadway. Nowadays, Lower East Side is known for trendy bars and lounges. There are also plenty of trendy boutiques and chic restaurants in this area. When I first went to this neighborhood, I was fascinated by its atmosphere which is funky mix of culture. Lots of exotic restaurants and five to six story pre-war buildings are concentrated in this area. The fact that it has long been an immigrant and working class neighborhood built its unique impression. A lot of immigrants with American dream took their first steps on the Lower East side. “Since the mid-19th century, Manhattan’s Lower East Side has been a magnet drawing people from all around the globe. It is a section of the city that wasonce home to Africans freed from slavery, followed by Irish, German, Southern Italian, Eastern European and Sephardic Jewish immigrants fleeing from starvation, political turmoil, oppression and economic deprivation.”[2] It had long been the largest Jewish neighborhood. “In 1915, 60% of the neighborhood’s population – just over 320,000 people – was Jewish.”[3] Even though today’s Jewish population has been spread to other area, their community continues to maintain its heritage in the Lower East Side.
Katz’s Delicatessen is a symbol of the Lower East Side’s Jewish history. “The arrival of over a million East European Jews in New York over a forty year period, 1880-1920, transformed New York Jewish life and led to the expansion of Jewish communal life across the state in cities of all sizes, but particularly in New York City. In 1880, approximately 60,000 Jews lived in New York City. By 1914, the Jewish population of the city exceeded 1.5 million. Hundreds of thousands of these immigrants initially settled in New York City's "Lower East Side." To meet the needs of the growing numbers of East European Jews, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) was formed in New York City in 1884. Yiddish culture in New York was rich and diverse. The leading Yiddish theater district in the world developed along Second Avenue in Manhattan. Numerous Yiddish daily newspapers were popular including "Der Tog" and Abraham Cahan's "Forward." Sholem Aleichem, perhaps the greatest Yiddish writer of all time, died in New York in 1916. His funeral was one of the largest public Jewish events in New York Jewish history.While the Lower East Side has seen a series of immigrant communities pass through, American Jews relate to the neighborhood in a particularly strong manner, much as Chinatown in San Francisco holds a special place in the imagination of Chinese Americans, and Astoria in the hearts of Greek Americans. In the late twentieth century, the strong pull of the Lower East Side on the imagination of American Jews led to the preservation of a number of buildings associated with the Jewish immigrant community.”[4]
New York’s oldest deli, Katz’s delicatessen founded in 1888 on East Houston and Ludlow street and became popular among locals and tourist. “During World War II, Katz's encouraged parents to "send a salami to your boy in the army" which became one of the deli's famous catch phrases, along with "Katz's, that's all!" which is still painted on the side of the building. The former phrase is referenced in the Tom Lehrer song "So Long Mom (A Song for World War III)", with the lyric "Remember Mommy, I'm off to get a commie, so send me a salami, and try to smile somehow". Katz is also well known for its pro-Israel plaques and photos of famous people eating in Katz's placed along its wall.”[5] When you enter Katz’s, take a ticket and choose whether to wait for table service or to go in the lines, place your order and watch him at work. This place is always crowd with people waiting for pastrami, corned beef and other deli food. Like the bagel, and smoked salmon and cream cheese and rye bread, too, pastrami is a food developed by Jews. It is a comfort to both Jew and non-Jew, male and female all New Yorkers. Katz’s is proud of the only one where the pastrami and corned beef are still hand-cut.
“Both the dish and the word pastrami were introduced to the United States in a wave of Jewish immigration from Bessarabia and Romania in the second half of the 19th century. The word, derived from the Yiddish: פּאַסטראָמע (pronounced pastróme), entered the Russian language as pastromá (пастрома) via the Romanian pastramă, and it is likely rooted in the Turkish pastırma (pressed) and the Armenian bastourma. Although Sussman Volk is generally credited with producing the first pastrami sandwich, in New York, in 1887, that claim could be disputed by the founders of Katz's Deli, in New York, which also was founded in 1887. Volk, a kosher butcher, claimed that he got the recipe from a Romanian friend in exchange for storing the friend's luggage while the friend returned to Romania. According to his descendant, Patricia Volk, Volk prepared pastrami according to the recipe and served it on sandwiches out of his butcher shop. The sandwich was so popular, Volk converted the butcher shop into a restaurant to sell pastrami sandwiches.Romanian Jews immigrated to New York as early as 1872. Among Jewish Romanians, goose breasts were commonly made into pastrami because they were inexpensive. Beef navels were cheaper than goose meat in America, so the Romanian Jews in America adapted their recipe and began to make the cheaper beef pastrami.”[6] Since sandwiches were a hugely popular food in New York, it is possible that Romanian Jewish immigrants were making pastrami sandwiches. Besides, many movies even made it internationally famous. For example, when Meg Ryan displayed her “faking-it” skills in “When Herry Met Sally”, when Johnny Depp meets with his FBI contact in “Donnie Brasco”, and when Judge Reinhold goes out to eat in “Offbeat”, it was at Katz’s. Many signs hang from the ceiling and pointing the table where Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal sat during the “I’ll have what she’s having” scene from When Harry Met Sally. Photos of celebrities and politicians are on the walls; neon signs urge “Send a salami to your boy in the army” and boast “No connection with any other store.” Many People come to the Lower East Side to connect with their heritage in the old neighborhood. They trace family memories, discover various historic places and visit small restaurants remembering the past.
These days, the Lower East Side has a different flavor. Even though still an immigrant neighborhood, this area became New York City’s rising price area. Many luxurious condominium buildings had been constructed in the neighborhood. “In the early 2000s, the gentrification of the East Village spread to the Lower East Side, making it one of the trendiest neighborhoods in Manhattan. Orchard Street, despite its "Bargain District" moniker, is now lined with upscale restaurants and boutiques. Similarly, Clinton Street has long been a destination for trendy dining establishments.Several restaurants, bars and galleries have opened below Delancey Street since 2005, especially around the intersection of Broome and Orchard Streets. The neighborhood's second boutique hotel, Blue Moon Hotel, opened on Orchard Street just south of Delancey Street in early 2006. However, unlike The Hotel on Rivington, the Blue Moon used an existing tenement building and its exterior is almost identical to neighboring buildings.”[7] A great example of new wave is Blue Building located in the heart of the Lower East Side. It is a Seventeen storey condominium building constructed in November 7, 2007.
The building has generated some impression, not all of it positive. Many people concern about losing itself welcoming melting pot heritage. The people who provide culture and diversity are now forced to move out. Not only construct new building, but also we have to preserve historic neighborhood.
Park 5
Bibliography
Dans Peter E. and Wasserman Suzanne, Life on the Lower East Side (Photographs
by Rebecca Lepkoff 1937-1950)
Levine Harry G, Pastrami Land, the Jewish Deli in New York City (2007)
Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy http://www.nycjewishtours.org
Mendelsohn Joyce , The Lower East Side Remembered & Revisited—History and
Guide to a Legendary New York Neighborhood
Sussman Lance J, New York Jewish History, http://www.archives.nysed.gov
The New York First Company: There's Nothing More New York Than Katz's, http://www.newyorkfirst.com, September 24, 2006
[1] Dans Peter E. and Wasserman Suzanne, Life on the Lower East Side (Photographs by Rebecca Lepkoff 1937-1950)
[2] Joyce Mendelsohn, The Lower East Side Remembered & Revisited—History and Guide to a Legendary New York Neighborhood
[3] Dans Peter E. and Wasserman Suzanne, Life on the Lower East Side (Photographs by Rebecca Lepkoff 1937-1950)
[4] Sussman Lance J, Department of History, Binghamton University,New York Jewish History, http://www.archives.nysed
[5] The New York First Company: There's Nothing More New York Than Katz's,
http://www.newyorkfirst.com, September 24, 2006
[6] Levine Harry G, Pastrami Land, the Jewish Deli in New York City (2007)
[7] Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy http://www.nycjewishtours.org
