This chapter really coordinated with our trip to the Lower East Side. Our tour guide at the beginning of the tour had talked about how more people lived in the Lower East Side than the rest of New York during the early 1900s. I was so surprised to learn this considering that the Lower East Side is not that large compared to Manhattan but after reading about the conditions and seeing the tenements I understood why. The tenements were cramped and held families of seven or eight people. There was very poor lighting, and unsanitary conditions. It made me wonder why so many people would move to the Lower East Side once word of such horrendous circumstances spread. But then I realized that these people are coming from a foreign land and they would want to be near other people just like them, even if that means living in dirt and dilapidated homes. Also, of course, not many places of living were  offered to these immigrants and they had to take whatever opportunity they could get.

It’s interesting to see what these ethnic neighborhoods in the Lower East side have become today. While Chinatown is still thriving, other neighborhoods such as Little Italy are slowly dwindling away. Even if you look around Manhattan, besides Chinatown there are very few ethnic neighborhoods. Little Korea is only about two blocks and Little India takes over a few streets on Lexington Avenue.  Why are there so few ethnic neighborhoods left in Manhattan?