Page 94 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New York City

92  NE W Y ORK CIT Y AREA B Y AREA

dilapidation in the early 1970s.
Although the building is a
functioning house of worship,
its interiors can be explored
with the help of guided tours.
These begin on the lower
level, where the Bes Medrash
(House of Study) also serves
as a synagogue.

0 Lower East Side
Tenement Museum
97 Orchard St. Map 5 A4. Tel (212)
431-0233. q Canal, Delancey, Essex,
Grand St. Open for tours only.
8 every 15–30 mins; 10:15am–5pm
Mon–Wed & Fri (until 6:30pm Thu),
10:15am–5:15pm Sat & Sun. & ^
Lectures, films, videos. = (daily).
∑ tenement.org
This building, dating from 1863,
provides a rare opportunity to
experience the claustrophobic
and crumbling interior of a
historic tene ment. Guided
tours inside give a rare insight
Gold statue of Buddha on the main altar at the Mahayana Buddhist Temple into the carefully researched
lives of several families who
8 Mahayana 9 Museum at lived here. These include a
Buddhist Temple Eldridge Street German-Jewish clan in 1874,
an Orthodox Jewish family
133 Canal St. Map 5 A5. Tel (212) 925- 12 Eldridge St. Map 5 A5. from Lithuania in 1918, and a
8787. q Canal St. Open 8:30am–6pm Tel (212) 219-0888. q East Broadway. Sicilian Catholic family during
daily. ∑ mahayana.us Open 10am–5pm Sun–Thu, 10am– the Depression of the 1930s.
3pm Fri. & ^ 8 Every half-hour There were no indoor toilets –
Larger than its counterpart from 10am until 3pm. = two external toilets would
∑ eldridgestreet.org
on Mott Street, this opulent have instead been shared
Buddhist temple was built by
the Ying family, who are from Constructed in 1887, this
Ningbo, China. Constructed in was the first synagogue to be
1997, the temple boasts classic built by the Eastern European
Chinese designs, and the main Orthodox Jews in the US.
altar contains a massive gold In 2007, the site opened as a
idol of the Buddha, bathed museum, after an overhauling
in blue neon lighting and restoration. The facade is a
surrounded by candles. grand hybrid of Romanesque,
The 32 plaques along the walls Moorish, and Gothic influences
tell the story of Buddha’s life. in terracotta and brick, but the
A small shrine to Guanyin, the real attraction is the sanctuary
Chinese Goddess of Mercy, upstairs. Visitors can view
stands in the entrance hall. the stained-glass windows,
There is a small shop upstairs stunning chandelier, rich
that sells statues, books, and woodwork, and painted ceiling
other knick-knacks. within. The women’s balcony
On the other side of the offers a closer view of the
Bowery, the former Citizens detailed artwork. The rose
Savings Bank is a local landmark, window, an incredible Star of
its Neo-Byzantine bronze David roundel, looks stunning
dome completed in 1924. on the western wall. There
The building now functions are also displays that show Brick and terracotta facade of the
as a branch of HSBC. the synagogue’s state of Museum at Eldrige Street

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