A family of five from Florida (
originally from Queens and the Lower East Side- LES) missed Sunday's
Tour C because of a flight delay but we were able to hook up for a great ride in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn on Tuesday! Early in the day we marveled at how much history has been maintained in the West Village. Sadly,
Chumley's does not fall into this category. This is the first glimpse I've gotten inside since the interior chimney collapsed just over a year ago and it was very cool. The hope is that this bar will eventually be restored and, as you can see, the workers seemed excited about the progress.
Towards the end of the ride, I relinquished my tour guide role and these former New York natives led me through the LES. At one point we happened upon a TV filming starring Adam Goldberg, who they fondly referred to as the
Hebrew Hammer. I like Adam Goldberg as much as the next man, but
I'm not so sure Ill see the movie.
After being nudged away by the TV crew, my new tour guides made the
LES's Jewish history come alive. The mural you see below was painted in 1973 by the mother of this family (pictured here-- the only one wearing a helmet!) and other members of the Jewish community at the time. The mural is a collage of Jewish-American history containing the faces of people in the neighborhood. My group even made me guess which one was her! As the neighborhood changes, we hope that such valuable pieces of this rich culture can be preserved.
