National Endowment for the Humanities’ Section 106 Review of the Tenement Museum Collections Storage Reorganization Plan

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PUBLIC NOTICE

Regarding the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Section 106 Review of the Tenement Museum Collections Storage Reorganization Plan

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has offered the Lower East Side Tenement Museum (Museum) in New York, NY, Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections Grant (PF-280749-21) to improve environmental conditions, install collections storage, and rehouse collections in two historic house locations within the Museum that document immigrant history and daily life in the mid- to late-nineteenth century in Lower East Side Manhattan.

NEH is an independent grant-making agency of the United States government dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. This public notice is issued as part of NEH’s responsibilities under 36 C.F.R. Part 800, the regulations which implement Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, 54 U.S.C. 306108. NEH, a funding agency, is required by regulation to identify and assess the effects of any proposed actions on historic properties. If any proposed action will have an adverse effect on historic resources, NEH works with the appropriate parties to seek ways to avoid, minimize, or mitigate any adverse effects. Additionally, the Section 106 regulations require NEH to consider the views of the public on preservation issues when making final decisions that affect historic properties.

The project site is the located at 91/262 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002. It is a contributing structure to the Lower East Side Historic District (National Register of Historic Places (NHRP) # 00001015). The site is located on the southwest corner of Orchard and Broome Street and consists of two buildings connected to one another on the first floor, second floor, and basement, forming a shared space across the two buildings. The building at 91 Orchard was constructed in the early 1880s, while 262 Broome was built in the early 1870s. Both buildings are six stories, and contain 5 floors of residential apartments, two floors of museum office space, and a basement used for storage. Upon acquisition of the property in 2002, the Museum renovated the basement, first, and second floors in converting the building into office space. Significant structural work was conducted on these lower floors and basement with the addition of steel beams, new plumbing, HVAC, life safety, and electrical service installations. The Museum’s two historic tenements, 97 Orchard Street, which is a National Historic Landmark (NHRP # 92000556), and 103 Orchard Street, a Congressionally designated National Historic Site, are located on the same block. These two tenements housed nearly 15,000 newcomers from 20 nations between 1863 and 2014.

The proposed renovation work for the project will be undertaken in a section of the basement of 91 Orchard/ 262 Broome Street, and will:

• create a smaller room within the larger collections storage space to separate the boiler room from museum collections storage cabinets and shelving units containing artifacts to help reduce extreme environmental fluctuations. This room will be created using drywall on aluminum framing construction.
• install a HVAC unit within the new room, with the associated air handler installed in the rear yard of the building, and all necessary plumbing routed through existing openings.
• replace damaged drywall throughout the collections storage space and investigate any visible leaks to prevent further water damage;
• mitigate an existing rat infestation by sealing holes to the exterior and implement a robust trapping and monitoring program;
• install a new overflow pump in the floor drain;
• install environmental monitoring sensors in the basement collections storage space that will alert staff to prolonged periods of dry and humid conditions.

This work is intended to be accomplished with minimal demolition within the existing space.
In a letter dated February 8, 2023, Olivia Brazee, Historic Site Restoration Coordination for the New York State Historic Preservation Office, indicated that the project would have no adverse effect on historic properties. Based on a review of the project and the SHPO’s recommendation, NEH has determined that the project will have no effect on historic properties.

As required by Section 106, NEH is providing the public with information about this project, as well as an opportunity to comment on any knowledge of, or concerns with, historic properties in the proposed project area, and issues relating to the project’s potential effects on historic properties. Comments may be submitted to the NEH by e-mail to [email protected]. The deadline for submitting comments is Tuesday April 11, 2023.