Tenement Talks Links from around the Web

In The Neighborhood: Becoming Americans
(Lox Populi, Nov. 30, 2009)

One of the things that I love most about Russ & Daughters is that our food, besides being delicious, is a conduit of memory and a catalyst for storytelling.

Every day I get to talk to people – some are new customers, many are regulars, and still others have been coming to the shop for twice the number of years I’ve been alive. The conversations take place over or in front of the counter, in the course of slicing lox, filleting a herring, sharing a piece of babka, or talking on the phone. Frequently the stories revolve around family histories and immigrant journeys; it is not uncommon for a tear to be shed in the shop.

As the immigrant experience is central to the existence of Russ & Daughters, I enjoy listening to these stories as much as I do sharing our own.

[Read more from Niki Russ Federman about Thursday's Tenement Talk, Becoming Americans, which is co-sponsored by the Museum's young professional's group Orchard Street Contemporaries]


NY Landmarks Conservancy Co-sponsors Paul Goldberger Book Talk on Architecture; Peg Breen Gives Introduction (New York Landmarks Conservancy, Nov. 30, 2009)

The Lower East Side Tenement Museum Book Shop was packed with people eager to hear Paul Goldberger, America’s foremost interpreter of public architecture, present his two new books, Why Architecture Matters and Building Up and Tearing Down: Reflections on the Age of Architecture.

The Conservancy co-sponsored the event and Peg Breen, Conservancy President, gave the introduction.

The prolific author offered his own way of seeing and experiencing the built world and how it impacts our lives.

“Architecture is the making of place. Architecture is the making of memory,” he said.

[Continue Reading]

-- posted by Kate