Journal #8: Immigrant New York

            I woke up today and was saddened by the fact that it was our last class. I never thought I would ever be sad at the fact that class was over, but since this class has been the best class I have ever taken, I was very upset. When I arrived at Penn Station and we all arrived for the last time, I realized how many unique and different people I had met. I am shy when I am sitting in a classroom and it is hard for me to talk to my fellow classmates. Since we were all together for 8 hours every time we met, it was impossible not to talk and get close. Like always I had a positive attitude for our last adventure in New York City and knew it was going to be another exciting and knowledgeable day.if we knew why

            Our day started off on Delancey Street, at the Essex Street Market. This grand market was built in 1940. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia wanted the push cart peddlers off the streets, and this market was built for that purpose. The Essex Market offers food for all tastes: Latino, Jewish, and upscale urbanite. These urbanites include chicken gizzards, nopales (cactus stems), sherry vinegar, fish cheeks, prime cuts of beef and artisanal cheeses (BG, 123).  Walking through the market I was blown away at how big it was and all the choices of food that were available. It would take me forever to get through everything and decide what I needed.

            From there we walked down a few blocks to Allen Street where we began our two hour walking tour through Immigrant New York. Our tour guide was energetic, eager, and kind of annoying. I knew that she was passionate about what she was going to be teaching us, so I decided to play along and see what I could learn from her. She started off explaining how Robert Moses widened Allen Street and how it used to be the heart of the red line district. She then went on to say how the tenements that were built only went up to five floors and she asked  if we knew why that was. Most of us said because of the fire hazards, but she said it was because of the stairs and people did not want to walk up that far. When she was talking about how in the 1800s the streets were covered in horse manure and was knee high, I was so disgusted. She also said when horses died they would just leave it on the street. I tried to imagine what the smell must have been like. The amount of germs that were being spread around must have been ridiculous.

            We then came across the Forward Building. I was blown away at the architecture of the building. The Forward is a legendary name in American journalism and revered institution in American Jewish life. It was launched as a Yiddish-language daily newspaper on April 22, 1897. The Forward entered the din of New York’s immigrant press as a defender of trade unionism and moderate, democratic socialism. Today the building is comprised of luxury condominiums.

            Then it came time for our walk through Chinatown. “While many of Manhattan’s other ethnic enclaves are shrinking or gentrifying, Chinatown is expanding eastward beyond its original boundaries into the Lower East Side and northward into Little Italy (BG, 107). Chinatown is basically taking over the Lower East Side. It saddens me to see how small of the area that makes up Little Italy is left. Every time I go to Chinatown I feel like it gets bigger and bigger. Walking around, I saw ducks with their heads still on hanging from the windows of food stores. EW! I saw different types of fruits that I have never seen before. Everything was in Chinese, obviously, and there were many different colors and objects for the Chinese New Year. Although Chinatown is expanding and growing, it remains plagued by poverty, overcrowding, and physical deterioration. The housing and business space is largely substandard. Chinatown supports an underground economy that included sweatshop labor and the smuggling of illegal immigrants (BG, 108). We then walked over Canal Street. This is where you can get designer knockoff bags for really cheap. There are jewelry stores and elegant crystal lamp stores. There are all types of furniture stores. My parents loved going down to Canal Street to shop for the house. We purchased beautiful furniture and light fixtures there. 

            Now it was time for lunch. Mike was treating us all to Chinese food, my favorite type. I have had Chinese food from all over, but this honestly was the best Chinese food I have ever had. The chicken and rice were so delicious and melted in my mouth. I also ate something that I didn’t know what it was, but all I have to say is it tasted really good. Mike told us to try the Chinese broccoli and I’m glad I did. AMAZING! The lunch was spectacular and I thank Mike for treating us and also for broadening my horizons to all different types of food.

            After lunch it was time for our tour of the Tenement Museum. I was really looking forward to this tour and knew I would find it interesting. We were seeing what an actual tenement looked like. Tenements were built to exploit all available space and maximize the return for the landlord. These tenements were one of the many horrors of immigrant life. These tenements were not living friendly. The city passed many acts that made the landlords improve the tenements, but of course there were many loopholes (BG, 122). The Tenement Museum was founded in 1988, and is a former pre-Old Law tenement. This museum is to honor the millions who lived on the Lower East Side and in other immigrant ghettos. Its purpose is to preserve the heritage of the nation’s immigrants (BG, 122). Our tour guide Dave was great. He knew everything there was to know about these tenements and I knew from two minutes after meeting him that I was going to learn a lot.

            Dave informed us that we were getting a rare tour of the Tenement Museum. We were going to have an interactive tour where we would pretend to be an Italian Immigrant family who is visiting the tenement of the Confino family or more specifically, Victoria Confino. He also told us how we were going into the only tenement in the museum that was air conditioned. This was a relief since it was extremely humid and hot out. I was beyond excited for this. He told us to ask questions as if we didn’t know anything about the city in this time period and how we could find jobs, take baths, get clothing, and so on. When we walked through the hallway of the building, it was just like it was in 1916. We all got into character and were waiting for Dave (our English as a second language teacher) to knock on the door of the Confino’s.

            When Victoria opened the door, I could not stop laughing. It was so much fun trying to act like I was in 1916 and was an Italian Immigrant. Victoria opened the door and we walked into the apartment. Boy was it tiny! Three rooms in total; a bedroom, kitchen, and what looked like a little living area/bedroom. I couldn’t imagine my family of five trying to live there let along ten! Victoria never broke her character and I tried very hard not to either and at the same time ask questions about her life. She told us that her family of ten lived in this tiny apartment and how tough her life was. She told me that the cushion I was sitting on was the pillow of her younger brother. Six of them slept in a tiny room; one on the floor, two on the bed, one slept sitting up in a chair, another lying across two crates on the floor, and another laid across three chairs. It was amazing to see how “happy” they were to be in America, but how much sacrifice they had to make.

Victoria kept calling us “greenhorns”. Greenhorn was a term that was used when immigrants would come to America. It meant that they were different and didn’t fit in. Victoria said that each day they would wash themselves in the apartment with a basin of water and a rag. They got to shower once a week and had to pay 2 cents for five minutes. I wouldn’t be able to not shower every day and have a restricted amount of time. I guess you can call me spoiled.

This was the best tour of all time! It was so amazing to be able to feel what it was like to be an immigrant new to America and how hard it must have been to assimilate and be accepted. I learned so much from this tour and feel privileged to have been able to experience this.

This was when the class was dismissed. Mike asked if any of us wanted to go to Williamsburg, but everyone voted on going back to Penn Station to have a farewell drink. At this point I was extremely sad. We all went back to Penn Station, but Rose and I decided to head home and skip the drink. Saying goodbye to my fellow classmates was hard for me. I had met so many great and outstanding people in this class. I hope I see them around on campus and can share a common appreciation and connection of this experience we shared together. I am forever thankful that I was able to be a part of this class and can’t thank Mike enough for opening my horizons to the amazing New York City.