The Bowery: 400 Years on New York’s Oldest Thoroughfare

From flophouses to penthouses, the Bowery has seen it all. Native American footpath, Dutch farm road and site of NYC’s first free black settlement, the Bowery was an early social hub for the working class, gangs, gays, and immigrant Irish, Italians, Chinese, Jews and Germans. Stephen Crane called it “the most interesting place in New York.” An incubator of American history and culture, it has important links to Washington, Lincoln, baseball, streetcars, tap dance, tattoos, minstrelsy, Yiddish theater, vaudeville, Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, Harry Houdini, and Mae West. A long-time home to rescue missions, affordable jewelry, lighting and restaurant supply districts, and an artist community, NYC’s oldest, most architecturally diverse street – including its oldest brick house – was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. Despite such honors, it is one of the city’s most endangered historic treasures. Join David Mulkins of Bowery Alliance of Neighbors for this tour.