Coming up in May, it’s the second annual Lower East Side History Month, a celebration of the neighborhood’s rich cultural contributions. More than 80 organizations and businesses have come together to offer live performances, exhibits, gallery and walking tours, talks, film screenings and more.
The month kicks off with LES Stories, “a participatory project to bring LES history, art and stories onto the streets of the neighborhood.” Starting May 1, you’ll notice chalked trivia and memories at sites throughout the community. The project was inspired by Ruth Sergel’s initiative to remember the victims of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
Another event around history month is the LES Community Hero Awards on May 5. Honorees include: Chino Garcia, Joyce Mendelsohn, Nelson Valentine, Paul Garrin, Mateo Gomez and Nelson Landrieu.
More details available on LES History Month’s website. Here’s the program lineup so far:
Festivals & Community Events
36th Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Festival
Chinatown Partnership / Chinatown BID
5/3 @ 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Mott Street, between Canal & Worth St
MOCACITIZEN: APA Heritage Month Trivia Night
Museum of Chinese in America
5/7 @ 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
215 Centre Street
The Ukrainian Festival
St. George’s Church
5/15 – 5/17
E 7th Street (between 2nd Ave & 3rd Ave)
Loisaida Festival
Loisaida Inc.
5/23 – 5/24
Avenue C (between 6th & 12th)
IDEAS CITY: Invisible City
New Museum
5/28 – 5/30
On and around the Bowery
Greek Jewish Festival
Kehila Kedosha Janina
5/31 @ 12:00PM – 6:00 PM
Broome Street (between Allen Street & Eldridge Street)
Exhibits & Workshops
A Day of Martial Arts on the LES
Chinese Hawaiian Kenpo Academy
5/2 @ 12:00PM – 5:00PM
34 Avenue A, 2nd Floor
1990-91: A Visual Retrospective
ABC No Rio
5/7 – 6/4
156 Rivington Street
MOCACREATE: Storytime with Puppets
Museum of Chinese in America
5/2, 5/16, 5/29 @ 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
215 Centre Street
Typewritten Tales
FABnyc
5/9 @ 6th & B Garden
5/15 @ St George’s Ukrainian Festival
5/30 @ IDEAS CITY
Talks & Storytelling
East Village: 1984 and 2014
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
5/7 @ 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
638 E 6th Street
LES is More: Storytelling & Open Mic
Five Boro Story Project & Downtown Art
5/8 @ 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
61 E 4th Street
Activism and Revolution: Urban Gardeners, Squatters & Slam Poets
Destination Downtown
5/13 @ 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Suffolk St Garden: 174 Suffolk Street
New Forms of Expression: Street Art, Music, Fashion & Culture
Destination Downtown
5/20 @ 7:00PM – 5/21 @ 8:30 PM
St. Marks Bookshop: 136 E 3rd Street
Theater
East Side Stories
Metropolitan Playhouse
4/14 – 5/3
220 E 4th St
Nirbhaya
Culture Project
5/3 – 5/17
45 Bleecker Street
Longing Lasts Longer
Penny Arcade
5/18, 5/25 @ 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Joe’s Pub @ The Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street
Tours
Teeming Tenements Transformed
Friends of the Lower East Side
5/2 @ 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Southeast corner of Delancey and Orchard Streets
Weekend Walks
Chinatown Partnership / Chinatown BID
5/3 @ 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Mott Street, between Canal & Worth St
Evening Guided Tour
Merchant’s House Museum
5/7, 5/14, 5/21, 5/28 @ 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
29 E 4th Street
Chinatown: A Walk Through History
Museum of Chinese in America
5/9, 5/16, 5/23 @ 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
215 Centre Street
Heroines of the LES
Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy
5/10 @ 10:45 AM – 1:15 PM
Meeting place: Straus Square (East Broadway)
19th Century Landmark Treasures of NoHo
Merchant’s House Museum
5/10 @ 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
29 E 4th Street
Historic House and Playhouse Tour
Henry Street Settlement
5/16 @ 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
267 Henry Street
East Village / LES Community Gardens Tour
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens
5/16 @ 11:00AM – 1:00PM
Location upon RSVP
Colonial Jewish New Amsterdam
Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy
5/17 @ 10:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Corner of Pearl St & Broad St (across from Fraunces Tavern)
Moving Stories
Manny Cantor Center
5/30 @ 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Sara D. Roosevelt Park at the Stanton Street
Film & Literature
Old Timers, Young Dreamers: The Magic of the LES
FABnyc & KGB bar
5/3 @ 7:00 PM
85 E 4th St
Spring Thing: The Poetry Project’s Annual Spring Fundraiser
The Poetry Project
5/9 @ 8:00 PM
St Marks Church: 131 E 10th Street
Diane the Zebra Woman Film Screening
Lower East Side Biography Project
5/4 @ 11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Live stream here
Jayne County Biography Screening
Lower East Side Biography Project
5/11 @ 11:00PM – 11:30 PM
Live stream here
Richard Foreman Biography Screening
Lower East Side Biography Project
5/18 @ 11:00PM – 11:30 PM
Live stream here
