I spent Labor Day walking around the Lower East Side ("LES"). It was about 15 miles in total and I think I passed the halfway point of the project (254 miles) along the way.

The LES was traditionally a working-class / immigrant neighborhood. [Sidebar: That's not very descriptive though, is it? I mean, with only a few exceptions, most areas of Manhattan were immigrant neighborhoods at one time or another, and probably working-class too. In 1910, when Manhattan's population peaked at 2.3 million (it's about 1.6 million today), 41% of New Yorkers were foreign born. By default that would have given a lot of neighborhoods at least some immigrant character. Sidebar over.]

The LES in particular though was known for its crowded, squalid tenements. In 1884 there were 334,000 people in a single square mile of the LES, making it the most densely populated place in the world (compare that with about 50,000 per square mile in Manhattan today). The old tenement buildings still remain, but I'm pretty sure that indoor plumbing and other modern amenities have been added to most of the apartments. For a view of what it used to be like, you can visit the Tenement Museum at Orchard and Delancey (I've never been, but I hear it's cool).

Chinatown (to the west) has grown and now extends into the western streets of the LES. You see a lot of Chinese restaurants and businesses in the area and the fish markets give you an idea of what the neighborhood might have smelled like in the tenement era.

The area is also home to the three bridges connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn. From north to south, they are the Williamsburg Bridge (1,600 ft. span / opened 1903), Manhattan Bridge (1,480 ft span, opened 1909), and the Brooklyn Bridge (1,596 ft. span / opened 1883).

Start of walk

E Houston St. at Forsyth St.

Cool building

Eldridge St. btw. Division St. and Canal St.

Eldridge St.

Eldridge St. btw. Division St. and Canal St.

Eldridge Street Synagogue (b. 1887)

Eldridge St. btw. Division St. and Canal St.

Vandal

Eldridge St. btw. Grand St. and Broome St.

I'd like to take this moment to thank the National Endowment for the Arts for all my funding

Eldridge St. at Broome St.

Orchard St.

Orchard St. btw. Rivington St. and Delancey St.

Tenement Museum

Orchard St. btw Delancey St. and Broome St.

Ludlow St.

Ludlow St. btw. Rivington St. and Delancey St.

Another cool building

Orchard St. btw. Broome St. and Delancey St.

Discarded journal

Mangin St. btw Stanton St. and E Houston St.

Williamsburg Bridge

Delancey St. at FDR Dr.

Williamsburg overpass

Delancey St. btw FDR Dr. and Lewis St

Old tenements

Orchard St. btw Delancey St. and Broome St.

Grand St. #1

Grand St. btw E Broadway and Pitt St.

Ideal hosiery

Grand St. btw Essex St. and Ludow St.

Grand St. #2

Grand St. btw Chrystie St. and Bowery

Ducks

Grand St. btw Chrystie St. and Bowery

Grand St. #3

Grand St. btw Chrystie St. and Forsyth St.

Orange pharmacy

Hester St. btw Ludlow St. and Essex St.

Lower East Side subway

Canal St. btw E Broadway and Essex St.

Painted street

Canal St. btw Ludlow St. and Essesx St.

Color television

Canal St. btw Ludlow St. and Essesx St.

View downtown

Canal St. btw Chrystie St. and Bowery

View down East Broadway

E Broadway btw Catherine St. and Market St.

Jewish Daily Forward Building

E Broadway btw Canal St. and Essex St.

Cool little bar

E Broadway btw Canal St. and Essex St.

View down Henry St.

Henry St. btw Catherine St. and Market St.

Beekman Tower (designed by Frank Gehry)

Madison St. btw James St. and St. James Pl.

Incongruous building

Madison St. btw James St. and Oliver St.

Lobster palace

Madison St. btw Catherine St. and Market St.

Al Smith was Mayor of New York four times and the 1928 Democratic candidate for President

Madison St. btw Oliver St. and Catherine St.

And he lived here

Madison St. btw Oliver St. and Catherine St.

Two bridges

Cherry St. btw Rutgers Slip and Pike Slip

Manhattan Bridge

Cherry St. btw Rutgers Slip and Pike Slip

Brooklyn Bridge

Cherry St. btw Rutgers Slip and Pike Slip

Skate park under Manhattan Bridge

Monroe St. btw Market Slip and Pike Slip