See how the other half lived at this historic house museum, a mere 15 minute walk from Orchard Street. The home of the wealthy Treadwell family and their descendants from 1835 to 1933, Merchant's House exemplifies the federal style architecture common to the homes of the new York City's prosperous families in the 19th Century. Take a tour and walk through rooms complete with original furniture, decorative arts, clothing, and personal memorabilia of the family.

A beautiful and big synagogue that was built in 1887, Eldridge Street Synagogue is a towering testament to the enduring legacy of the Eastern European Jews of the Lower East Side. Today, the building is in a state of arrested decay, much like The Tenement, and tours are offered to the public.

The first museum in America to interpret and honor the lives of Chinese immigrants, MOCA is housed in a 19th Century Public School building in the heart of New York City's Chinatown. Walk through the galleries to see artifacts and art that both reflect and provide context for the vibrant community outside its doors.

The only synagogue in the United States to run a Greek/Judeo service, Kehila Kedosha Janina is a Romaniote synagogue with a congregation that dates from 1906. The Romaniote are descendents of Jewish slaves who were transported to Greece from Jerusalem by the Roman Emperor Titus in 70AD. Their language and customs are quite distinct from that of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews. The synagogue has recently completed a renovation and positively shines.

Founded in 1889, to alleviate the various ills of tenement living, the Educational Alliance still continues to provide social services to the community. The Educational Alliance's art school has a stellar reputation since its inception in 1897, having hosted students and teachers such as Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Peter Blume, Alexander Kruse, Elias Newman, Chaim Gross, Elie Nadelman & Sidney Simon. In addition to art exhibits, the Alliance puts on cultural events and plays throughout the year. The Alliance also offers a wide range of community services including eldercare, mental health programs and drug addiction counseling.

Housed in brick row houses dating from the 1830's the Henry Street Settlement has been providing social services since 1893. Founded by Lillian Wald, a pioneering reformer, this proto-social service agency provided parks, nurses, summer camps, cultural offerings, vocational programs and mental health services to the Lower East Side. Visit their website for rotating art exhibitions and theatre performances.

The Lower East Side Conservancy offers tours of Lower East Side synagogues and points of interest particularly pertaining to the millions of German and Eastern European Jewish immigrants that arrived to the Lower East Side in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Give them a call to check their most current schedule.

Consecrated in 1828 and completed in 1829, St Augustine's Episcopal Church has a long and storied past. Edgar Allan Poe worshiped here, and Boss Tweed attended his mother's funeral here while on the run from the law. The sanctuary features two slave galleries, essentially cubbyholes where slaves and servants were brought to worship, hidden from the rest of the congregation. Today, the church boasts a multi-cultural and varied congregation from all over the city and continues a tradition of preservation and activism.

Housed in an 1849 synagouge that artist Angel Orensanz bought in 1986 to serve as his studio, the Orensanz Foundation is a vibrant center for education and culture. Along with publishing Artscape, a quarterly of the arts, the Orensanz Foundation hosts produces cultural events such the Heinrich Heine Festival, the West Belfast-New York City Festival, Berlin Transfer (a symposium of philosophers and scientists with the Senate of Berlin) and the Installation Art Award. Visit their website for an up-to-date schedule.