Visiting the Grave of Sarah Winchester

Yesterday, three former Winchester Mystery House tour guides (myself, Sarah, and Hannah) took a journey that I have been meaning to take since moving to the East Coast. We met in Grand Central Station at noon, boarded a train to New Haven, CT, and went to the Evergreen Cemetery to find the final resting place of the woman who built the House we all loved working in so much - Sarah Winchester.

Nym's Guide to the Jewish Lower East Side

It's officially Passover, that special time of year to have "Da-Dayenu" stuck in your head for 8 days straight and to eat so much matzo that by the end of the week you never wanna see a matzo ball again. It's time to commemorate the "passing over" of the Jewish people from the slavery of Egypt to the promised land by attending a Seder or two, and/or by (and this is my own yearly tradition) watching your favourite movie adaptation of the Exodus story. (For the record, I'm team "Prince of Egypt", and all you team "Ten Commandments" people can bite my ass.)

But while all that that is certainly worth commemorating, it's not the only "passing over" that the Jewish people have experienced. And lately (thanks in large part to Sarah who enables me) I've been thinking a lot about a different time period's "passing over".

Namely, when Eastern European Jews fled the pogroms and prejudice in the Pale of Settlement, passed over the Atlantic Ocean, and settled in the United States. Many of them in the Lower East Side neighbourhood of New York City, as dramatised by another appropriate movie for this time of year, "American Tail." (I like animated movies, so sue me!)

Photo courtesy of the National Park Service

With the current political "debate" surrounding immigration (in my opinion there should be no debate - human beings are not illegal, you fucks), this Passover is a perfect time to find connections with our immigrant past, and the Lower East Side is the perfect place to do that, whether or not you are Jewish. (This place was also home to Italian, Polish-Catholic, Irish, German, and Chinese immigrants. This post is focused on the Jewish experience in honour of Passover.)

Now unfortunately, the historic Lower East Side is changing fast nowadays. Gentrification is pushing out family businesses - There's a Whole Foods on Houston Street, and I heard recently of plans to completely overhaul the Seward Park area, which I am completely against as it completely changes the historic character of the park, which is one of the few places left where one can still imagine what life was like for these immigrants. And even putting gentrification aside, Chinatown is rapidly expanding, pushing into the area and covering up Hebrew signs with Chinese ones. (Though the two communities do mostly live in harmony, thankfully.)

However, there are still quite a few remnants of the neighbourhood that the Eastern European Jews of the early 20th century knew, if one knows where to look. And they're all within walking distance of one another, so it's quite easy to form a walking tour of all of them! Of course, I won't tell you which order to visit all of these - I think it's much more fun to wander the streets and take in the sights until you stumble across them rather than try to hit every stop in order like some sort of grocery store checklist. I'm simply presenting them in alphabetical order.

The Sad Tale of Angelica Hamilton

Every so often at the Grange, I get asked "what's your favourite story about something in this house?" I never quite know how to answer. It'd be simpler if they asked what my favourite story about Alexander Hamilton was - I have lots of answers to that one. But about the Grange itself?

Usually, I answer, "I don't know if I would call it my favourite, since it's completely depressing, but I can tell you the most interesting one..."

This is the story that I tell.

Happy Birthday Prospect Park

This weekend was the 100th anniversary of Prospect Park, which, being in Brooklyn, is not one of New York's most famous parks. (Though Brooklyn has been getting far more attention in recent years, Manhattan - and Central Park - still get most of the glory.) The park had quite a few fun events going on in honour of their birthday and, having never been, Sarah dragged my depressed ass out of bed to go, and wow am I glad she did.

Look at this beautiful place

Guys? I love Central Park. I do. When I moved to New York City, I quickly found that Central Park not only was one of the few tourist attractions that lived up to the hype, it completely surpassed it.

But... I think in some ways I might like Prospect Park better.

See, Central Park is, for the most part, completely tamed. It's all controlled and manicured for premium aesthetics. Prospect Park isn't like that. In fact, Prospect Park is one of the few areas in the city that hasn't changed much since the Revolutionary War. This is land that the Battle of Brooklyn took place on, and when you walk through the park, you can picture the soldiers running through this terrain rather easily.

The other thing is that Prospect Park is in Brooklyn. I love Manhattan and its skyscrapers, I do, but sometimes I need to feel like I'm getting out of the city and I can't afford to go to Albany every time I get that itch. Central Park is beautiful, but in most of it you can still see skyscrapers. You are always aware you're in the middle of New York City. Prospect Park doesn't have many tall buildings surrounding it, so when you're walking around - especially in the woodsy areas - it really does feel like you've escaped, either to a faraway forest or to another time.

It really is lovely.