The Bowery: The Rise, and Fall, and Rise Again

Join David Mulkins, Chair of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, for an illustrated lecture on the history of the City’s oldest and most-illustrious thoroughfare. The Bowery was an Indian foot path, a Dutch farm road, and in the early 19th century home to wealthy merchants like Peter Cooper and the Tredwells. It was later notorious for gangs such as the Bowery Boys, saloons and dance halls, brothels and flophouses. It was also New York’s first entertainment district and cradle for tap dancing, vaudeville, Yiddish theater – and punk rock. In recent years, the Bowery has experienced a ferocious wave of gentrification and real estate speculation, threatening its historic character. This spring, the Bowery was named to the National Register of Historic Places.
19th-Century Lifeways is the Museum’s new public program series — in which experts lecture on 19th century American decorative arts, architecture, New York City history, preservation, and related subjects. The Merchant’s House Museum’s intact 1832 landmark building and original collections provides the springboard for the lectures.
Reservations required.
–Merchant’s House Museum