A Trip Through The Tenement Museum In New York City

Take a trip through the Tenement Museum in New York City. This video was originally produced as a Facebook Live segment.
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[@diannefaith7866]

I love what Velazquez said about inviting the members of Congress to come to 103 Orchard Street! I personally identify myself with with this museum. My father migrated from Puerto Rico in the 1940's when he was in his early 20's to live in New York City. My mother also migrated from Puerto Rico in the early 1950's to live with her family in Manhattan as well. My brother and I were born in 133 West 89'th Street. I have visited the Tenement Museum 3 times! Always bringing friends and family ! And will continue to do so!

[@migslist909]

I love this guy. So passionate about what he does. That’s what being happy and rich is about, waking up with a smile on your face looking forward to what you do. ✌🏼

[@johnconway8070]

@BLAIR M Schirmer I love this guy too ! What a genuinely lovely man . As for the story of Orchard Street, you are hardly going to suggest the brutality of it all is the responsibility of this one tour guide. He is merely delivering the facts. He is a "messenger" of sorts so please don't shoot him !

[@johnnychaos152]

I grew up in a building much like this with my parents, grandma, and my older brother. The main room was about 20x15 and was the living room/ kitchen/ dining room and there was a single bedroom which was 15x15. My brother and I slept on a sofa. Fortunately we had running water but our bathroom was only about 6x6 and just had a toilet and sink. If we wanted to shower we had to go down the hall to the community shower room/laundry. It was a 4 story building with 6 identical apartments on each floor. Quite honestly those were some of the happiest years of my life. We didn't have a lot of money but we were wealthy as hell in so many other ways. I remember when my dad was finally able to buy us a house I actually hated to leave the old apartment behind! Tons of lovely memories in that tiny space!

[@chloekit4861]

When was this

[@johnnychaos152]

@@chloekit4861 It was built in 1899 and my parents moved there in 1967. My brother came along in 73 and I in 76. My grandma came to live with us in 1980 and we moved out in 1989. The building was condemned and torn down in 1995.

[@Hughes17]

@@johnnychaos152 Damn, sorry to hear your building was torn down. The hospital where I was born (St. Vincent's on 7th ave) was torn down for housing.

[@bcaye]

Do they no longer teach 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'? It is the most eloquent literary description of this kind of life that I ever read. A masterpiece.

[@stumpvillage]

I love that book. I grew up in that neighborhood, as did my great grandmother. It gives me a great idea of what her childhood was like.

[@diannefaith7866]

I had to read the book again!! 😘

[@itsallaboutalli5633]

I chose it to read on my own for a class, it was a great choice

[@bcaye]

Check out other books by Betty Smith, such a good author..

[@squeeerle]

I just finished rereading it and that's what put me on this KZbin rabbit hole!

[@letmetellya9571]

My grandmother came here at 19 all by herself as a Jewish woman she needed to get out of Austria because of the anti Semitism there. Her parents were killed and her brothers went off to fight. That was around 1900. She met and married a widower who had 4 children. They lived in a tenement in Harlem back then. My grandfather owned a tailor shop. Very interesting.

[@messagesfromlife]

jews did have a golden age during this time though. one of the best and most important times for jews in our country

[@Ilovevintage77]

Wow thank you for sharing your story.

[@JB-zo7ln]

Great tour. It is so amazing to go back in time through history and see how the original immigrants who helped build the nation up lived in such harsh conditions. Instead of having their hands out they created better lives for themselves and their future generations through hardwork, will power and by having gumption (as he stated). These people need to be celebrated for what they were able to do with little to nothing entering a new world in a big city. Its amazing to think of their perseverance.

[@mizbethe]

That tour guide sure is charming - enjoying his talk kept me engaged. Thanks

[@DsB779]

That museum is so so we'll put together and amazing. Will never forget the explorer tour where they gave out flashlights to check out all the nooks and crannies. Can't wait to go back. It's a place to discover and learn more with every visit. Cheers from Germany

[@ShanikaB]

What a wonderful preservation and gift to the city. The tour guide is great too, you can tell he's passionate and really cares about these stories and has great reverence for the families that lived there. Well done. ❤

[@moshudtareque8819]

Wow it’s an amazing museum !!! The guy was really impressive.

[@chloekit4861]

This is where both sides of my family my ancestors came from 🇮🇪 Ireland and Italy 🇮🇹

[@vernicejillmagsino9603]

You should met the current Australian Prime Minister who’s ancestors are from Ireland (Mom) and Italy (Dad)

[@mfar3016]

What a treasure! It’s nothing short of a miracle that it managed to stay a perfectly preserved time capsule. I’ve been wanting to visit ever since I first learned of its existence! My grandmother came to this country, circa 1907 as a little girl & lived in a tenement on E14 st. They were fortunate enough to have indoor plumbing, but shared a bathroom with other tenants. She said her rent was $8.50 per month, the extra fifty cents was because they upgraded to a white countertop (as opposed to, probably butcher block).

[@susique333]

I absolutely love these videos. Especially learning how life back then was, it makes me so grateful for all that I have in my life now! Wow! And the "fresh water pump" next to the outhouse.

[@bcaye]

Late, but if you're ever in South Dakota, USA- right outside Rapid City is the Badlands State Park. It's vast and fascinating. But on the road that goes there is Prairie Homestead. It looks really crap from the lot, but then you go through to the actual homestead. There is a tiny 2 room sod house, an outhouse, barn and a cave used for food storage. Someone's husband loved his wife very much- he built a wooden frame to have a window in the bedroom. Also bought a shack to add onto the original building to have a parlor. But as it relates to your post, the first thing I noticed was the well. I want to say it's about 15 feet from the house. Imagine having to carry gallons of water a day-water is *heavy*.

[@tombruner9634]

Imagine the aromas, all of those people cooking, working, and of course the ever-present privy. It was background then, but every sensation that we take for granted would be missing, replaced by utterly foreign ones.

[@stormwatcher1299]

Imagine how it smelled back when they found and opened it. And imagine how it smells now. Old buildings always have a very distinct odor

[@ZackDunlapGaming]

And like he said toward the end, walking outside and not hearing all of that traffic and those buzzing air conditioners must've been crazy

[@elcosiampiro]

I took this tour and really really makes you have an understanding of migration and the struggle people went through when coming to America to pursuing freedom.a true history museum

[@user-gm6cq2ir7r]

I found out about this exhibit perhaps two decades ago. It was a well kept secret so it was low key and we were the only visitors there. We really got to experience history. I really enjoyed learning about the people that built NYC

[@ForeverAlansGirl]

The tour guide was so amazing..but the dude taking the tour really didn't seem all that interested; asking very few rather mundane questions : ie: " why is that window inside the house?" I wasn't even born till the 60s & I even knew they were transome windows. He just didn't seem interested. I saw so many things I would have asked the tour guide: " when were the mailboxes put in?" " what was that tiny enclosed room used for?" ( the one right beside the mailboxes) " where did the ladies babies sleep when they were tiny babies?" I would have wanted to know what the weirdest artifact was that they found while renovating. The building is absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for this glimpse back in time. ❤🏢🏢

[@rozzaziobrown6515]

I really want to visit this place. The conditions these people lived in are heartbreaking but I'm glad that some of these places have been preserved so we can understand our predecessors' struggles

[@rickvacha3158]

Ok so yesterday Sat April 7 2018 , I went on the hard times tour at 4 pm. As we approached the building I was over come by a strange sensation. It was the feeling you get when you go to someone’s house and you know they are there waiting for you. As soon as the group went into the building we gathered at the bottom of the stair case. As the guide began her tour I happen to looked over toward the back down the hall way. I saw what appeared to be a woman in a long dress like from the late 1800s she was just an image coming down the hall but stopped short of the stairs . Then she was back in the back again and came forward again . Then I saw her clear as day in my minds eye but didn’t see her in the hall way anymore It happened so fast. . So at this point I’m thinking ok maybe I’m imagining it . But was wondering if anyone else saw it, I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to sound crazy. So the tour goes upstairs and the guide said we are going to talk about the story of a person who used to live here . She shows us this laminated drawing of a lady that use to live there in the 1800s and then proceeded to tell us the apartment in the front was where she lived including some info on her life . As soon as she showed the drawing I almost passed out because it was the same lady I saw downstairs . I was so overwhelmed by the feeling of her presence I started feeling nauseas and excused my self from the group and one of the other workers escorted me out of the building . Things like this have happened to be before but this time Is was so surreal I was not prepared for it. I’m wondering if anyone else has had an experience in that building ???? No doubt there are earth bound spirits everywhere In New York but this really caught me off gaurd.

[@MargieVarner44]

No but I had this went I went on the queen mary.

[@Mericless115]

We share this realm with other entities. You are not crazy .

[@nathaliebleser3007]

Yes, they can make us dizzy when their energy is strong

[@coreycox2345]

This is so well done, with different apartments of different people in different times.

[@japanvintagecamera8869]

As a kid I remember spending a month in an old city apartment. Narrow stairs, wood floors, no air conditioning, a Murphy bed, small table, and a couple chairs. The toilets and shower were shared by the 4 apartments on the floor. The plumbing was noisy, the toilets had pull handles on chains, the water for the shower was only lukewarm. It was old, dark, and, to me, coming to the big city from the empty middle-of-nowhere, too cool.

[@diannefaith7866]

I have come to this Museum 4 times now. I always bring family and friends from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 . I feel that I have stepped into another dimension!! Awesome!! Please keep up your excellent work of history 😊

[@cheleonearth]

Awesome tour ~ thank you for this! My grandmother's Czech family lived in a tenement in Manhattan for a while. My great-aunt told stories about carrying buckets of water upstairs to fill their tub and take turns bathing... and not-so-bathing, I guess, if you're the last in the tub, hahaha... The ladies in the family made their own soap and the men were marble workers. Very interesting and awesome to see all of the original detail. I can't believe I never made it to this museum the entire time I lived in Brooklyn. Some day.

[@sct4040]

My grandfather arrived in the 20s and my grandmother arrived in 1965. They lived on Eldridge and Grand Streets in the 2nd tenement from Grand street. I can still see it in my mind. It had a bathtub by the front door, an antique sink and an antique stove from early 1900 or late 1800. My grandfather was so proud of the in-apartment toilet, it used to be shared in the hallway. Great improvement. We arrived in 1968, My family and I lived in a much worse tenement on 285 Grand Street, the building burned down about 10 years ago. We spent 7 disgusting years there with huge rats. We were lucky enough to move out in 1974, thank goodness and thankful of my father's hard work.

[@Oakleaf700]

This Tenement is like so many English/Scottish houses that are layered by time :)

[@wendywoo2180]

Little Germany in Manhattan suffered a terrible blow in 1904 when around 1,400 people, majority women and children, mostly from St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in the neighborhood, boarded the General Slocum sidewheel passenger steamboat for the annual church picnic. The ship caught fire while sailing up the East River. Over 1,000 people died, the greatest loss of life in a single day in NY history until 9/11. This tragedy ripped apart the social fabric Kleindeutchland because so many people of the area died and a lot of survivors moved away. I enjoyed the video, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one of my favorite books, I’ve never been anywhere near a tenement & had to use my imagination when reading the novel (although Betty Smith described everything with such incredible detail), it’s nice to see what an actual tenement looked like.

[@randysatarsky1789]

I have roots to the place. My grandmothers family was one of the first families living there. After the place was discovered in the 80s, and when they were putting together the history of families who lived there, our family was contacted, and we gave them some photos. Now our family will always be a part of the history at 97 Orchard Street.

[@keetahbrough]

roots are tied to land.. not people. wherever your grandmother's family is from is where you can claim roots, unless your ancestry is Lenape.

[@TheMichaelgilliams]

Thank you! Thank you. I am a European history buff. This is one of the most awesome videos that I've ever watched! I visit Europe regularly, but never been to New York. This gives me the incentive to come to New York!

[@shaggydogg3786]

If I ever go to New York this is the one place I would most love to visit.

[@gabem6362]

Born and raised but I wouldn't go back ...

[@Drivingthruthebay]

This video is INCREDIBLE! Thank you so much for posting! I hope to visit in person one day!

[@plaidpaisley5918]

I've been to the museum several times. Fascinating! Appreciate this!

[@i74ceman]

I went to the Tenement Museum in around 2014. It was fabulous. I highly recommend it.

[@alanspagnolia9474]

What's totally crazy is; I have a couple of old dequerreotype photos from our family in the early - mid 1860's, and these rooms being SO SMALL, and I know the women in the photos had dresses that seemed about 10 feet wide at the bottom. HOW COULD THEY FIT IN THESE ROOMS ????

[@coreycox2345]

How did people not lose their minds living seven to such a tiny room?

[@wennw2711]

coreycox2345 there are a lot of death in this type of apartments due to poor hygiene and no air circulation.

[@Oakleaf700]

The poor would probably not have had such wide crinolines..they were expensive and used yards of material..

[@Oakleaf700]

@@wennw2711 T.B especially.

[@geoffwampler8740]

Great tour of the museum. Was a highlight of a trip to NYC in 2010. They also had great books in the gift shop providing more detail of the history of the building and tenants.

[@dianasanchez117]

can't wait for the new exhibit opens in July 2017. I want to know how my grandmother, mother and uncles lived in the 50s, when they came from Puerto Rico.

[@chenelson185]

they live in el barrio 122nd east side

[@diannefaith7866]

Diana Sánchez, I have came here a couple of times before and always bring friends from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷! This past October 2019 I came with my brother and we toured the Puerto Rican apartment, we loved it!! You have to come !! ♥️

[@jamiemarie4894]

This is so fascinating. I have so much respect for anyone that preserves history for the future of us that are curious and fascinated with it.

[@Fwyd]

Fantastic. I could almost smell that dusty air. I'm struck by the prevalence of lace doilies. "We may be poor, but we have our standards."

[@stormwatcher1299]

I’m a big history buff and I’ve read books about people living in tenements. It was extremely interesting to see how they lived back then.

[@bonnieschlink6840]

Interesting! Can u remember a few titles?

[@christianburris3474]

I’m from Arizona. Had a chance to see this a few months ago. Absolutely amazing...

[@claudiasiefer8495]

I reside in a San Francisco building which still has mailboxes like the ones shown here ! The boxes are small . Guess there were no catalogues back then. Mail carriers stuff the mail boxes to overflow capacity

[@PPikes]

Thank you so much for uploading this!!! This kinda stuff is fascinating to me all the history of my home City!

[@fakeappellation7343]

Thank you for uploading this video on youtube. Our tour bus passed by this tenement and wow, it is indeed really tiny. Heck, an apartment is as large as two dining tables. To think 6 people lived in one apartment is mind blowing.

[@Just2Intense]

Great tour but wish he would've elaborated about the kitchen, the cooking utensils, stove, means of washing dishes, & how does 4 boys sleep on 1 couch?

[@wadegibson8073]

FANTASTIC! So interesting and I could watch so much more! I will visit if I ever get there! Thank you

[@jimmyrivera9415]

what a wonderful walk in american history. thank you for your passion and enthusiasm.

[@mefford67]

So much respect for immigrants. They faced genuine hardship in America and most somehow still thrived, amazing!

[@_.Mishal._]

Anyone here from 2020

[@BenFoldsFan421]

This is so cool! And very well done… The only question I have is… How do you lose track of a giant building for 53 yea You talk about rediscovering it so that leads me to believe that for an interval of time nobody knew existed even though it’s a giant building? Also crazy how vandals didn’t swarm in there and tear everything up… I watch a lot of abandoned exploration videos and inevitably you’ll see a bunch of graffiti or other nonsense… But this here is really good

[@damselflyaway]

I took one of the tours and the reason was that as the immigrants succeeded, most moved away to other parts of the city or Long Island. Meanwhile, after WWI the government started cracking down on immigration with several laws, the city population decreased. With the Great Depression of 1929-1933 real estate priced dropped so there was no market for the buildings. It was less expensive to close a building up than to rent it partially.

[@Ilovevintage77]

I wondered exactly the same thing!

[@butcherwoman3753]

National treasure. Enjoyed thoroughly. I never knew that this history was reserved in NYC. Thank you.😊

[@thenanlife1141]

So looking forward to visiting this Tennament museum in New York next year ❤❤❤

[@evejohn1937]

This beautiful building is a priceless treasure. ❤️

[@volvof12able]

Love that just love it ,,, the guy showing us around is what this world needs 🙏

[@sexxyperv]

I powered through this even though the camera work gave me a horrible headache.

[@rgrateful]

Loved this video❤❤❤Love to our Ancestors RIP

[@suegale2273]

Thank you so much. This is amazing. Found this by accident

[@solohoh]

Brings back old memories to this old guy born in NYC in 1940. Glad I visited that Museum about 20 years ago. Hope they get it (and The City) up and running again. My family moved to California back in 1956 when we saw the Huns were coming. Now they are getting close again but I'm too old to move and there's no place to go.

[@chloekit4861]

Where did u grow up

[@pb8411]

Very interesting! Thanks for this and thank you to the wonderful presenter.

[@msrose4051]

Loved this....thank you so much

[@darilambertson6961]

skip king using d's website; my grandparents on both sides were European Jewish immigrants; growing up in hartford county ct, we would often visit nearby new york city and see my uncle Moshe and it is very fitting, since his apartment(actually built early 1900's) looked very similar inside,maybe a little bit nicer with its french doors but it still was an old tenement. My mothers parents lived in a railroad flat in hartford and it too looked like this;in fact i can remember the old wooded stairs, the slanted 2nd story porch (my folks got nervous whenever i was on it-it wasn't the greatest). One bedroom was in back of the other, with open floor space for the kitchen and parlour-1908 style, with its dual brass plated push button wall switches and old wiring. Tenements often had railroad style flats like that one. But even with all of this, there are people who live in shanty towns in underdeveloped nations who would consider such a place a big improvement over their transience.

[@timothydigiuseppe1753]

I had read of this building. I am curious as to who was responsible for the property from its condemnation in 1935 to its discovery in 1988. Who owned it? Who paid property taxes and maintained the building? How did it escape being torn down with the rest of the buildings that were once there?

[@patricksanders858]

All the plaster around the hallway painting was applied by hand using many of the same tools and techniques as a confectioner/ cake decorator, just using plaster instead of sugar icing.

[@lighteningbug2656]

I really enjoyed that. Amazing.

[@mizbethe]

Wanted to check out the museum after the mention by Fran Lebowitz. Fascinating .

[@rickvacha3158]

Don’t be surprised if you go there and you see the spirit of the the lady that used to live there who’s husband disappeared . I was there on the tour and I saw her downstairs in the back hallway. I didn’t realize who it was until we proceeded upstairs and into the apt that she used to live in. Once i realized it I almost passed out. That was in April 2018

[@phillipjones3439]

What a fascinating place.

[@cocopersiflage4705]

This is the coolest video - what an amazing guide!

[@doriscolonhakim3275]

I love this video , awesome.

[@luisvelazquez5420]

Back to the future, loved it.

[@chloekit4861]

I totally wanna go here very interesting I live in queens I gotta make my way over there

[@inkedhigh]

modern architecture can't beat this

[@MsTellitlikeitis48WithTheTea]

This is a really great tour but don't forget that the people who lived in those apartments we're not ancient nomads some of their children still remember living in those apartments and they are still alive.

[@baddiebeth]

Those pressed metal walls look like Louis Vuitton logos without the “LV”, just the diamonds

[@ImmediateAffiliate-jf4ds]

Totally fascinating!

[@StevenTorrey]

"Privy vault" would speak to diet and lots of other things from years gone by,.

[@uwiblue]

Very nice content for a documentary! I definitely want to visit this awesome place. Too bad the video recording was done with a smart phone in vertical position and no portable light. (Btw: Why is so difficult to give half a turn to the phone to record video properly in horizontal view? smh)

[@Helene2367]

Excellent video!

[@johnpicarojr.4618]

Looking forward to seeing this museum.. many Italian and Jewish immigrants were in the area of orchard street... looking forward to seeing history

[@sct4040]

John Picaro Jr. and Chinese too.

[@Charalldredge]

Well done. Guess I’m like my immigrant grand parents , moved across the country at 22 as a single mom with no family or friends. Sometimes you just got to do it.

[@marywweiss]

I would love to more about the original history😉😉😳👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@Cesarlgo1]

fascinating!!!!

[@Norfolk250]

Mixed feelings - partly based on the inconvenience of a cameraman who DOES NOT SHOW ANYTHING. No panning, no zooming, no detailing...just pointed at the tour guide’s face.

[@adrenalinefilms]

well said..what a waste!

[@jamescoughlin6911]

I have to agree the filming was not very good.

[@latanyad.mikell9821]

I love looking back when things where different than keep more vlogs coming out

[@gabem6362]

Amazing that the roof didn't leak and destroy all that precious history

[@jennifer97363]

Fascinating look back in time. Who came,why,what happened to them on their journey? Stumbling around Google Earth brought me here.

[@michaelpaul6548]

great organization !

[@nokomarie1963]

I so want to go there.

[@kevinseasidenj_4]

Thanks . Very interesting

[@lambo58]

No one who takes this tour should ever complain about anything

[@MsSmashpants]

This video was great but the narrow screen is super annoying. Why not allow the picture to fill the whole screen?

[@coreycox2345]

Brilliant point...immigration then and now.

[@WayneInBlood]

Imagine if they used a competent camera operator, this would have been amazing!

[@slydoll7877]

The frustration when he showed us the letters and things in the case! And he never showed us all of them

[@nubonewales7689]

Love it.

[@33Donner77]

Today the square footage of these apartments would bring a high rent, but the tenant families are much smaller.

[@coyotecrewman79]

At 23:10 the gentleman operating the camera is asking about the tuburcular windows and the tour guide who I'm assuming works at the museum says "they weren't original to the building, they were actually required by that 1901 law that I mentioned downstairs." WRONG. They were first mandated by the Old Law Tenement Act of 1879. So when he's talking about them being installed "a little earlier by perhaps, a benevolent landlord". Of COURSE they were installed before 1901! They would have been changed in 1879-80 as the law required landlords do. So of course his "architectural evidence" shows they were installed before 1901. Other than that, cool video and informative.

[@Kkse-bv1sy]

"Benevolent" - perhaps not, but was a regulation where existing buildings were grandfathered in and landlords only had to update if they made other changes to the building?

[@annlucas5940]

Thanks to the sensitive and humane curator for giving a tour to match. Our family members have all visited on our various separate trips to NYC.

[@francis-dt2hl]

a huge tourist attraction

[@alangray9117]

NYC when you didn't have to have 5 roommates to live in a cramped apartment. I'm sure most New Yorkers miss that. I think it's a safe bet to say they don't like 2 grand a month rent plus maintenance fees 🤔

[@squeeerle]

If I ever get to go to NYC I want to take a tour. Inshallah

[@howardrothstein2590]

In the future, please hold the phone horizontally, not vertically.

[@maunster3414]

Gorgeous.