Lower East Side History project

the people working here are a pretty friendly bunch, and the atmosphere is cozy, especially during heavy rains like this summer season. the coffee is only a dollar, although the pastry's more expensive, as expected of coffee shops in general.



now, about the tours. the guide was a pretty cool looking guy, and since he grew up around the area he was natural in telling us the facts about the neighborhood. very informative, and overall a good experience.

First I gotta say I was never really a fan of walking tours. I always preferred the free spirited nature of just taking a map and exploring by yourself. This tour, however, changed my mind quite a bit. During my short stay in NYC, I accompanied my friends to explore the downtown areas, namely the soho east village parts. We found about the Visitors Center, and went on a total of two tours, (at first, reluctantly,) The East Village History tour, and the Gangster, Murderers & Weirdos tour. I was thoroughly surprised by the information provided during the tour, and I gotta say it was very interesting. The guide, Eric, brought pictures of how the building looked in the past, and so we had the chance to see side by side of the past and present. What was a mafia hideout of yesterday was now...a coffeeshop. Pretty weird twists and turns in the neighborhood.



Overall, I really recommend visiting here and taking a tour. You will not be dissapointed. Btw, here's the website. eastvillagevisitorscenter.com/