Walking Tour: The Jewish Gangsters of Lower Manhattan
Organized by Museum at Eldridge Street
Pickpockets, extortionists, armed robbers, bootleggers, gamblers, and hitmen cropped up not only in the Five Points neighborhood but also in the growing Jewish Lower East Side. Join us as we take to the streets and learn the story of organized crime in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in New York City, from robbed and torched pushcarts to illegal whiskey and drugs!
Highlights:
- Learn about the famous gangsters on the Lower East Side including Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Arnold Rothstein
- Meet the lesser known personalities like “Dopey” Benny Fein, “Big” Jack Zelig, “Lepke” Buchalter, and the notorious Samuel “Red” Levine
- Walk the streets with an expert guide and visit where these Jewish Gangsters lived and conducted their business
Join a Museum at Eldridge Street expert guide on Saturday, May 16th at 11:30am.
We will meet in front of the Ottendorfer Library at 135 2nd Avenue between St. Marks Place and 9th Street. Tickets must be purchased in advance of arrival.
Tours will run about two hours in length, although this may vary.
Ticket Price (Includes Museum Admission):
Adults $25
Seniors, Students $20
Children 5 and Under FREE
Cool Culture Pass / SNAP Benefits $5
This Museum at Eldridge Street Walking Tour is only available to small groups (30 people max). This tour is available to both individual ticket holders and families. Please show your Walking Tour order confirmation at the Museum after your tour for free admission.
About the Museum at Eldridge Street:
The Museum at Eldridge Street is housed in the Eldridge Street Synagogue, a magnificent National Historic Landmark that has been meticulously restored. Opened in 1887, the synagogue is the first great house of worship built in America by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Today, it is the only remaining marker of the great wave of Jewish migration to the Lower East Side that is open to a broad public who wishes to visit Jewish New York. Exhibits, tours, public programs, and education initiatives tell the story of Jewish immigrant life, explore architecture and historic preservation, inspire reflection on cultural continuity, and foster collaboration and exchange between people of all faiths, heritages, and interests.
Image Credit: Bugsy Siegel center with lawyers Jerry Giesler (left) and Byron Hanna (right), Everett Collection Inc.