WHAT: A PUBLIC WALKING TOUR
WHEN: SUNDAY, June 26, 2011
TIME: 10:45 A.M. (approximately 3 hours)
WHERE: MEET AT THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF SECOND AVENUE AND 12TH STREET, SITE OF THE FORMER YIDDISH ARTS THEATER, NOW A MULTIPLEX.
FEE: ADULTS: $16; SENIORS AND STUDENTS: $14.
($2 additional day of tour)
Second Avenue is rich in cultural history. You'll stroll down the historic street of the famed "Yiddish Rialto," and explore the connections between what is now the East Village and the Lower East Side.
You'll see names of many famous performers of the Yiddish theater on the Second Avenue "Starwalk." Visit Community Synagogue, originally
St. Marks Lutheran Church, spiritual home of the German congregation that lost 1,000 parishioners in the General Slocum disaster. Meet Herb Latner, a senior officer of Community Synagogue, and hear his charming description of life as a choir boy in a Yiddish theater. Hear about citizen activism at a selection of charming "hidden" gardens.
The tour will be led by Elissa Sampson, a well-established neighborhood historian who has conducted original research and written articles. A longtime resident of the Lower East Side, she has extensive historical knowledge of this iconic neighborhood's synagogues.
