The Museum tells the story of immigrant families and visitors view restored apartments of past residents from different time periods.

Sweatshop Workers

Pay a visit to the Levine family's garment workshop and the Rogarshevskys' Sabbath table at the turn of the 20th century, when the Lower East Side was the most densely populated place in the world. Explore how immigrants balanced work, family and religion at a time of great change.

Shop Life

Explore the changing neighborhood through the eyes of German saloon keepers, a kosher butcher, a Depression-era auctioneer, and an underwear discounter from the 1970s - tour a German saloon and see how generations of immigrant entrepreneurs brought their dreams for economic success to 97 Orchard Street's basement storefronts.

The Museum's walking tours explore the Lower East Side and the American immigrant experience

Then & Now

For generations of immigrants, the Lower East Side wasn't just a place to find a cheap home. It was also where they learned how to start a business, build a congregation, educate their children, and lobby the government. Discover the fascinating history of this neighborhood and find out why it�s such an ever-changing mix of the old and the new. [Note: This tour does not enter any buildings.]

Visit with a costumed interpreter playing one of the residents of 97 Orchard Street.

Victoria Confino

made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Visit the apartment of a Greek Sephardic family and meet a costumed interpreter playing 14-year-old Victoria Confino, who lived in the tenement in 1916. Visitors take on the role of newly arrived immigrants, and ask Victoria questions about adjusting to life on the Lower East Side . Designed for families, this tour allows visitors to handle household objects.