Visit The NYC Tenement Museum: Where Every Room Represents A Different Time Period

There is no shortage of things to see and explore in New York City. It is just one of those destinations that's almost impossible to see everything - like the must-see NYC Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Another of its incredible museums that ought to be on the bucket list of anyone visiting the Big Apple is the Tenement Museum. This museum has two historical tenement buildings that were once home to around 15,000 people from over 20 nations between 1863 and 2011.

The Tenement Museum furnishes different rooms to recreate the past from different time periods to tell the stories of these immigrants. They aim to promote tolerance and the historical perspectives of moving to America from the points of view of the immigrants. After this museum, discover the hidden city beneath the street - here's what we know of NYC's secret tunnels.

About The Tenement Museum

The Tenement Museum is something of a unique museum. Whereas most museums have priceless paintings or significant biological specimens or fossils, the Tenement Museum has ordinary stuff. See spools of thread, a deck of playing cards, a bottle of shampoo, and other unassuming everyday items. And yet one can regard this museum as having one of the most unique collections in the world.

Open: Thursdays Through Tuesdays
Note: All Visitors Above the Age of 12 Must Be Fully Vaccinated
Children: Children Under The Age Of 12 Are Not Permitted On Building Tours, But They are Welcome In Their Shop, Visitor Center, Theater, and On the Walking tours

See how the historically restored apartments show how the immigrants once lived in the United States.

The tenement buildings have been restored to show how the immigrants once lived in New York's Lower East Side in the 19th and 20th centuries. One will be challenged to think of present immigration with a view of the past. Here are their exhibits and tours (one can also join a virtual tour):

Hard Times: 1880s

Once NYC was home to Little Germany back in the 1880s. This was one of the earliest immigrant neighborhoods in the United States. On the Hard Times: 1880s exhibit and tour, see the hard times of these immigrants and visit the tenement apartment of Natalie Gumpertz and her daughters. See the saloon run downstairs by John and Caroline Schneider. See the challenges these immigrants faced and how they were overcome.

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Access: There Is No Elevator or Lift Access On this Tour
Duration: 60 Minutes
Address: 97 Orchard Street, 2nd Floor
When: Thursdays Through Mondays
Cost: $30 (Adults, Seniors, And Students)

Tenement Women: 1902

Perhaps hard to imagine now, but in 1902 the streets of the Lower East Side were alight with protests of thousands of Jewish women. See how working-class Jewish mothers took matters into their own hands after the hike in the price of kosher meat that threatened their families. See how they boycotted Kosher butchers and stood in opposition to shop owners of their own Jewish community.

In this tour - Tenement Women: 1902, visit Jennie Levine's tenement apartment. Gain a glimpse into how she managed the house and oversaw the household finances while her husband ran a garment factory in their front room. Understand how she must have struggled to feed her family in the wake of rising meat costs.

Afterward, explore the story of Goldie Lustgarten - the family's kosher butcher shop. See how they were both united and divided as Jewish Lower East Siders.

Access: There Is No Elevator or Lift Access On this Tour
Duration: 60 Minutes
Address: 97 Orchard Street, 3rd & 4th Floor
When: Thursdays Through Mondays
Cost: $30 (Adults, Seniors, And Students)

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Day In The Life: 1911

The Day In The Life: 1911 exhibit combines a walking tour with a building tour and takes on into the lives of the Rogarshevsky family in 1911. Visit the recreated historical tenement building that the Rogarshevskys once called home, see their daily life, before stepping out into the neighborhood that they would have shopped, played, and lived.

Access: There Is No Elevator or Lift Access On this Tour
Duration: 75 Minutes
Address: 97 Orchard Street, 3rd Floor
When: Thursdays Through Mondays
Cost: $30 (Adults, Seniors, And Students)

Day In The Life: 1933

This building and walking tour delves into the Baldizzi family in 1933 as the Great Depression swept the land while barriers to immigration were impacting the Lower East Side. Join the Day In The Life: 1933 exhibit and tour, and see their daily lives and where they went to school, and how they connected to their communities in a time of national crises.