Tenement Museum Tours

The Lower East Side Tenement Musuem seen from Delancy Street.

Tenement Musuem

Neighborhood Walking Tours

Building on the Lower East Side - Neighborhood Walking Tour

Housing is New York’s enduring issue. Nowhere has this been more felt than the Lower East Side, at one point the most crowded place on the planet. Explore how architects, activists, civic agents, and everyday people have influenced the very landscape of the neighborhood and uncover the stories of the Lower East Side. Learn about some the earliest homes in the neighborhood, before they were replaced by the humble tenement, and gaze upon the modernist urban renewal efforts of the 1950s. This is an approximately 1.4 miles and 60 minute tour.

Outside the Home - Neighborhood Walking Tour

On this tour we’ll look at how Lower East Siders shaped and were shaped by their neighborhood over the 19th and early 20th Centuries. From stores to parks, movie theaters to schools, discover how these spaces became important centers for navigating identity, advocacy, and cultural exchange. This is an approximately 1 mile and 60 minute tour.

Reclaiming Black Spaces - Neighborhood Walking Tour

From the 1640s to the modern day, on this 90 minute walking tour we’ll highlight stories of how Black and African Americans shaped Lower Manhattan as they made homes, businesses, and communities there over the centuries. Discover what drew Black New Yorkers to Lower Manhattan, and how their experiences were shaped by that migration, how those communities created a sense of home, and how they resisted the racism they faced. This is an approximately 1.5 miles and 90 minute tour. 

Tenement Apartment Tours

A Union of Hope: 1869

Explore the story of Joseph and Rachel Moore, Black New Yorkers who made their home in Lower Manhattan’s tenements in the 1860s and 1870s. Joseph Moore moves from New Jersey to Manhattan in 1857, his wife Rachel from Kingston, New York in the same decade. They lived in a rear tenement in today’s SoHo neighborhood, in a building with both Irish and African American New Yorkers. 

Years in the making, the Joseph and Rachel Moore exhibit traces Joseph’s history from his free Black community of Belvidere, New Jersey, through his family’s migration to New York City, and the community he and his wife Rachel built in their neighborhoods and workplaces. This is a 75 minute tour. 

Under One Roof

Explore the stories of the Rogarshevskys and the Baldizzis, a Jewish family and an Italian family who became neighbors in 97 Orchard during a critical time in New York City history. In the early years of the 20th century, when the city and nation saw an unprecedented number of new arrivals, heated debates sprung up among both politicians and ordinary people about the government’s role in housing and workplaces in response to the conditions of tenement districts and factories. 

Through stories of shared meals, neighborly help, and advice on immigration status, we’ll explore how families like the Baldizzis and Rogarshevskys respond to the conditions of immigration and the changing role of government in their lives. This is a 75 minute tour. 

100 Years Apart

Explore how immigrant women coped with economic hardship through the stories of Natalie Gumpertz and Mrs. Wong. Hear how these two women, living a century apart, shared similar struggles, hopes, and survival strategies as they made new lives. Visit the recreated 1880s tenement apartment of the Gumpertz family, whose primary breadwinner disappeared during the Panic of 1873. Then visit an interactive 1980s Chinatown garment shop that connects you directly to the memories of Mrs. Wong, her children, and her co-workers. How did a 19^the century German-Jewish immigrant and a 20^the century Chinese immigrant rely on their communities during hard times? This is a 60 minute tour. 

Finding Home

Visit the tenement homes of the Epstein-Barr and Same Vela families in the 1950s and 1960s. The families shared a tenement building at 103 Orchard Street, and shared a changing Lower East Side, yet had very different experiences as Jewish Holocaust survivors and Puerto Rican migrants. What was it like to live in a neighborhood becoming more racially and culturally diverse and how did newly arrived families find a sense of belonging? Visitors will explore these questions through the memories of the families and the historical context of the mid-20^the Century while touring their recreated homes. This is a 60 minute tour. 

Tenement Women: 1902

Enter the world of tenement families and explore the challenges and changes faced by Jewish immigrant mothers in 1902. Visit the Levine family’s tenement apartment, where Jennie Levine managed a household and oversaw family finances while her husband ran a garment factory in their front room. Then, explore a few stops nearby to learn where and how women organized the Kosher Meat Boycott of 1902, led by women like Jennie, which both divided and united Jewish Lower East Sides. This interactive tour invites you to explore how women asserted their rights before they had rights as citizens, and how they inspired future generations and movements. This is a 60 minute tour.

Meet Victoria

Visit our historic 97 Orchard Street tenement and journey back in time to 1916 for an immersive experience with an actor playing Victoria Confino, a real teenager who immigrated to the United States in 1913. You’ll meet Victoria in her family’s recreated tenement apartment and get to ask Victoria questions and hear stories about her home in Greece, her journey to the United States, and her experiences as an immigrant in the Lower East Side of 1916. Recommended for visitors of all ages! This is a 60 minute tour.

Family Owned

Amidst wars, depressions, and changing laws, family businesses served as the anchors of the community, but they had their costs. This tour spans the 75-year-old residential history of 97 Orchard, taking you to the 1870s century lager beer saloon and home of John and Caroline Schneider and the 1930s auction house of Max Marcus. 

This immersive and interactive tour starts with a visit to Schneider’s Saloon, which served food, beer, and entertainment, but also acted as a living room for German immigrants and families to socialize and a meeting place for local clubs and political organizations. You will also visit the Schneider’s bedroom at the back of the saloon; as they moved into 97 Orchard in 1864, it is the oldest apartment featured at the Tenement Museum. Then, you’ll travel forward in time to the Great Depression, where you’ll learn how Max Marcus made a living in an interactive multimedia exhibit in the space that once held his auction house. This is a 60 minute tour.

After the Famine: 1869

Having fled famine conditions in Ireland in large numbers, the Irish helped make New York an immigrant-majority city and a metropolis. Joseph and Bridget Moore came to the rapidly growing, culturally diverse tenement neighborhoods in the years after the Civil War. In 1869, they left a more Irish neighborhood for 97 Orchard, a brand-new building. But while this tenement had new amenities, the majority of its residents were German. 

How did Joseph and Bridget create an Irish American lifestyle for their family? Discover how music, politics, religion came together to form a complex Irish American identity. This is a 60 minute tour.

Details

Duration

60-90 Minutes

Guided building and walking tours range between 60 to 90 minutes. 

Activity

Guided Tours

Age(s)

6 and Older

Children under 5 are not permitted on most tenement apartment tours, but are welcome to join a Meet Victoria tour, neighborhood walking tours, or our virtual programs and events.The Tenement Museum is best suited for children at least 8 years of age, who have a concept of history and are able to compare and contrast. 

Pets Allowed

Yes with Restrictions

Service dogs are welcome on all museum tours. However, pets and emotional support animals are not allowed inside tenement buildings, but can be brought on outdoor neighborhood walking tours.

Activity Fee

Yes

The Tenement Museum Does Not Accept NPS Passes

As an affiliated National Park Service site the Lower East Side Tenement Museum does not accept or sell National Park Passes, or any of the America the Beautiful—the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes.The Museum is only accessible by guided tenement apartment tours or neighborhood walking tours and requires the purchase of the appropriate ticket.

Tickets are required for all tours. 

Apartment and Walking Tours

Adults: $30
Seniors: $30
Students: $30
Museum Members: Free

Food Experiences

Adults: $55
Seniors:$55
Students:$55
Children under 5: Free
Members: $27.50 (50% off)
 

Online and phone orders are subject to a $2.00 per ticket service fee.

The Museum also offers discounts for teachers, active military, neighborhood residents (10002 zip code), visitors with disabilities, and members of AAM, MANY, and National Trust. Discounted tickets purchased online or through phone orders are still subject to service fees. For more information, email us at [e-mail]

Location

Tenement Museum Visitor Center

All tours start and end at the museum visitor center. 

Reservations

Yes

Reserving your tickets in advance is highly recommended. Tickets for tours can be purchased online, or in person at the visitor center located at 103 Orchard Street. 

Online and phone orders are subject to a $2.00 per ticket service fee. For more information, email us at [e-mail]
 

Season

Year Round

Time of Day

Day, Night

Accessibility Information

Accessibility Information

The Tenement Museum welcomes all visitors. We recognize the diverse needs of our audience and offer accessible programs and services to enable all visitors to explore the stories we interpret at the Tenement Museum. 
For questions about Museum accessibility and how we can accommodate your specific needs, contact our Visitor Services team by calling [phone] or e-mailing [e-mail].

Membership

The Tenement Museum offers a special $65 membership for visitors with disabilities.For more information, please call our Membership Office at [phone].

Free entry to care partners

Regardless of Museum membership status, all visitors with disabilities can obtain free entry for their care partners upon request. 

Service Animal Policy

Service dogs are welcome on all museum tours. However, pets and emotional support animals are not allowed inside tenement buildings, but can be brought on outdoor neighborhood walking tours. 

Wheelchair Accessibility

The following tours are wheelchair accessible:

• Finding Home
• Reclaiming Black Spaces
• Building on the Lower East Side
• Outside the Home

The Museum has a limited amount of wheelchairs available to borrow for wheelchair accessible programs. To reserve a wheelchair for your visit, please contact our Call Center at 877-975-3786 (Monday–Saturday: 9 am–5 pm) or e-mail [e-mail]

Individuals who are Blind or have Low Vision

Handling objects are available for our 100 Years Apart, Finding Home, and Tenement Women:1902 tours. Ask for these materials when you arrive at the Visitors Center.

Visitors can book a free tactile orientation to the Museum before their tour with two weeks’ advance notice.

Individuals who are Deaf or have Hearing Loss

Assistive Listening Devices

Assistive listening devices are available on all tours. However, these devices are not compatible with most hearing aids. 

For visitors who cannot use an assisted listening device, we can provide simultaneous transcription of the tour on an iPad with at least 24 hours notice. The Museum can also arrange ASL interpretation of a tour with at least 2 weeks notice. 

To request simultaneous transcription service or book an ASL interpreter through the Museum, please call or email us. 

Language Aids

The Museum offers simultaneous translation aid on our tenement apartment tours using the Forum app. Please note that translation will be limited during parts of our A Union of Hope: 1869, Family Owned, and 100 Years Apart tours due to interactive technical components. 

If you are interested in using a translation aid during your visit, please email us for options.