New York City, 2026 2

Brooklyn is so unique. Right across the Williamsburg Bridge from lower Manhattan to Brooklyn is Williamsburg (makes sense). There you will find wall to wall Hasidic Jews, known for distinct traditional clothing, speaking Yiddish as a primary language, and a lifestyle separate from modern technology.

We may have had the best bagel ever there!

Then it was down to the trendy DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) neighborhood for the obligatory photo of the Manhattan Bridge and some fun (and funky) shopping.

Since Allyn was born and spent her first few years in Brooklyn, we headed to Coney Island to check out her neighborhood. It is such a fun neighborhood and a place where all New Yorkers can enjoy.

Needing some chill time, we took a Circle Line boat narrated boat tour around all of Manhattan.

The highlight and certainly the most gripping part of our week was the visit to the Tenement Museum on New York’s Lower East Side. During the turn of the 20^th century TWO-THIRDS of New York City’s population lived in cramped, poorly ventilated tenements. These 5- to 7-story buildings packed multiple families into 300–400 square-foot apartments. Plumbing was nonexistent. Typically, about 100 people would share 4 outhouses.

The buildings were dark with no electricity. Since there was no running water, heavy urns of water were carried up the stairs daily along with heavy sacks of coal.

In this rectangle a typical family might be a tiny sweatshop garment business in one room with a couple of employees. The ironer would be in the tiny kitchen as that is where they could heat the iron. Often the apartments housed 10 people as owners would rent space to help make ends meet.

Our final NY evening took us back to Broadway where we saw the fabulous Hadestown, which in 2019 won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.