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Pulse of the city
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Rivington Street denizens may gripe about the bridge-and-tunnel drunkies, but in the late 19th century, Lower East Siders had an even greater volume of boozeries to contend with. In 1882, The New York Herald ran a guide to “liquordom” on the LES, in response to temperance advocates’ complaints that the proliferation of “dens of iniquity” led to gambling, prostitution, wasted wages and other vices. The map, which spans Houston to Broome Streets between Norfolk Street and the Bowery, plots 61 liquor bars and 242 lager saloons, the latter of which doubled as social halls for Germans to congregate and visit with family. A scanned copy of the map is on view at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum (108 Orchard St at Delancey St, 212-982-8420).
—Erin Clements
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