2. The Jewish Lower East Side

Photo by Jeff Rothstein

The Lower East Side of Manhattan was once inhabited by a large population of Jewish immigrants, whose businesses catered to the needs of New York’s Jewish community. The neighborhood remained a predominately Jewish community until the late 1990s when business owners were often driven out by larger businesses and rapid redevelopment took place, building larger-scale hotels and residential condos on demolished lots.

“I used to go down there to shoot photos and then eat matzo brie at a small place on Essex Street,” said Rothstein. “All these stores are memories now, driven out by gentrification and high rents.” Today, the New York Jewish community has worked to preserve many of the buildings and businesses of the Jewish Lower East Side so you can still get the feel of what the neighborhood once was in some places.