This museum tells the real life stories of immigrants who built their lives on the Lower East Side. From the several tour options we selected a tour to visit an apartment depicting the lives of two different families in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Epstein family were Jewish Holocaust survivors from Poland. Our guide provided excellent insight to the history at that time so that we would better understand why and how the Epsteins ended-up in the Lower East Side of NYC.
Here are a few pictures of what their home was like during the 1950s.
During the 1960s the Saez Velez family migrated from Puerto Rico. The kitchen and living room have been furnished as they would have been at that time. The kitchen was the heart of this Puerto Rican home.
The living room couch was covered in plastic and the hand-crocheted doilies were prevalent, just like my own grandmother's home!
Thank you Marilyn for this wonderful suggestion! One visit is not enough. There are several tours offering insight into this diverse neighborhood.
Another day we visited the Banksy Museum.
Banksy is perhaps one of the most mysterious artists of our time. We were fortunate to see an original Banksy work when we visited Venice. Although the works in this museum are replicas, they are true representations of the actual street works!
I think the museum describes its space best: "Step into a space where humor cuts deep, rules get flipped, and art says the quiet parts out loud."
Banksy's works provokes and questions authority, consumerism, art, and life.
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| "NOLA - Umbrella Girl" Marigny neighbourhood in the city of New Orleans, 2008 |
The mural "The Girl with Balloon (There is Always Hope)" was created on a wall in the Southbank area of London in 2002.
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| "GIRL WITH BALLOON", 2003 |
This very popular and charming work was released in limited print editions in 2003. However, at 2nd glance, has Banksy flipped our view? Has the girl just released the balloon or is she really reaching out to catch it?
A visit to this hidden gem will make you think a little and see the world in a different way!
A couple of blocks from the Banksy Museum is another hidden (truly) gem. The Mmuseumm is open only on Saturdays and Sundays.
This tiny, 36-square-foot museum is located inside a former freight elevator shaft in a Tribeca alleyway. The current exhibition is "Rubble: Around the World". Similar to a cabinet of curiosities, this rotating collection is certain to spark your inquisitiveness!
