Wonderful sunny day again, woo hoo. Off to stroll through Greenwich village, referred to by locals as simply “the Village”, is a largely residential neighbourhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan. A majority of the district is now home to upper middle class families. For the last 2 centuries, it has been known as an artists’ haven, the Bohemian capital, the cradle of the modern LGBTI movement, and the East Coast birthplace of both the Beat and ’60s counterculture movements. 

Then strolled through to the Lower East Side to hear the history of immigration and to walk the precinct to understand the living situation of different tides of émigrés as they landed on shore. The Tenement museum is a great help in understanding the issues. Essex Market opened in 1940 and signalled the end of the pushcart era that was the neighbourhood’s defining character. The Jewish Daily Forward Building, newspaper still published today, was a popular socialist newspaper that was culturally Jewish but secular! The decorative work on the facade has relief busts of the famous socialists Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Ferdinand Lassalle and William Liebknecht. Orchard St in the area is gentrifying, with expensive little cafés, restaurants and galleries starting to line the street. (Saw some endearing posters in one gallery…..I had to take a pic). Above however are the (tenement building) remains of a disgraceful history of immigrant neglect and discriminatory legislation by Government; different but not unlike what’s currently happening in Aust.

Lastly, hopped the Upper Manhattan bus for a short journey until Central Park, to get a view of some of the modern architecture in the city….lots of glass that looks gorgeous against a vibrant blue sky. More on that bus tomorrow……