I attended the Jane’s Walk NYC by the Municipal Art Society on Saturday, May 4th. The walk I went to was called “On and Off the Bowery with MAS Docents” and it took place on Bowery, between Grand Street and East Houston Street. The walk lasted about 45 minutes and the two guides didn’t take us very far but they gave a lot of history about the Bowery in lower Manhattan and the historical buildings.
One of the guides began with a history of the entire street. He mentioned how historic the Bowery is since Washington marched down the street at one point and Lincoln signed some laws on the northern part of the street. The Bowery used to be an Indian trail which the Dutch later transformed into a street. Apparently the Bowery was names as such because in Dutch the word was similar to farm and there used to be many farmlands and natural landscapes located on the Bowery. It is hard to imagine the city street as a farmland but it has changed a lot over the years. Eventually as the city grew a lot of slaughterhouses were built to supply to city with meat. A large elevated railway was eventually also built above the Bowery, probably similar to the Highline. Since there is no trace of it now, it was completely removed.
The Bowery later became run down with crime. The guide pointed out many houses still standing that served as “flop houses” where people would rent a cramped space to live in. There were a lot of bars in the area and drunks would remain in the streets. Some bars even started renting out space for a few hours for patrons to sleep. There was a presence of the mafia and gangs for some time in the neighborhood. The guide pointed out a Chinese food store which used to be a historic meeting place of the mafia.
Some of the buildings in the area were designated as historic landmarks and cannot be destroyed but many were completely renovated or demolished. After a while the neighborhood became more gentrified and prices on rent rose. The guide discussed a famous restaurant which had historical patrons but had to eventually move since the rent became too high. Finally the guide talked briefly about the New Museum. It displays art from the current decade no more than 20 years old and was built to make sure the most current art has a place to be displayed. The architecture was designed by a couple of Japanese architects who won a design competition.
The tour seemed very short because we did not walk very far but it was packed with a lot of information. I never thought the Bowery was such a fascinating street and it never occurred to me that so much history took place there. The guide was very knowledgeable and would occasionally show us old pictures of what the street used to look like. I would like to learn more about how the Bowery transformed into the neighborhood it is today and how the crime was able to decrease over the years.
The tour guide showing us an old picture of the Bowery
The guide said this entire building was purchased by one person-an artist who still lives there today.
A historical landmark designated building
A historic restaurant was once located here but had to move due to rising rent prices
The New Museum
