Lower East Side at a Glance:

Now viewed as an historic icon of New York's immigrant past, the Lower East Side was once home to the "wretched refuse" mentioned in Emma Lazarus' poem for the Statue of Liberty. ..."

And so the huddled masses came - from all corners of Europe at the turn of the century - settling in the area now roughly bounded to the east by the East River, to the south and west by Chinatown and to the north by the East Village.

Today, an earlier generation of New Yorkers would no longer recognize the old neighborhood, which has slowly become an enclave for young urban professionals and students drawn to its trendy clubs and music venues.

Large pockets of old (now refurbished) tenement buildings still stand, and the Immigration Heritage Trail along with Orchard Street's Tenement Museum remain popular tourist destinations offering a glimpse of at what life was like on the Lower East Side for millions of Jewish, Irish and Italian immigrants who first settled there.

How to Get to the Lower East Side by Subway: B or D trains to Grand Street, F train to Delancey Street or J, M, or Z to Essex Street.

How to Get to the Lower East Side by Bus: M15