<p data-block-key="we764">On Wednesday, Mr. Sandler’s Period 8 NYC History class explored the Lower East Side, Bowery, and Nolita, bringing the city’s immigrant history to life. Students examined Jewish immigration during the Gilded Age and the rich communities immigrants built around synagogues, labor unions, Yiddish theater, and socialist newspapers.</p><p data-block-key="a1ark">A highlight of the day was tasting the neighborhood itself, including bialys, pastrami at Katz’s, and especially babka prepared by a 96-year-old Holocaust survivor who worked at a kosher bakery for over 60 years.</p><p data-block-key="aj3e6">Walking the Bowery, students learned about its past as “Skid Row,” home to flop houses and alcoholism, as well as the 1897 Bowery Mission, before considering its transformation into a center of boutique hotels and contemporary art. The tour also explored Irish Catholic immigration and the political power of Tammany Hall through figures like “Dagger John” Hughes and “Honest John” Kelly, both connected to Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral.</p><p data-block-key="2jm44">Connections to culture and crime rounded out the day, from <i>Mean Streets</i> (1973), which launched the Scorsese and De Niro partnership, to the story of “Dapper Don” John Gotti, the Ravenite Social Club, and his dramatic fall from power. Students loved using the city as a textbook! </p><p data-block-key="el8e"><a href="https://canva.link/stgc4sp35ta6vhl">See a full size photo collage here.</a></p>
