At the turn of the century, the Lower East Side was the Jewish capital of America.  Immigrants arrived at Ellis Island (check it out, that's an actual video of an Ellis Island arrival from Thomas Edison), largely from Eastern Europe, including LetMyPeopleGo's founder's grandmother, Sarah. 

Thus, it follows, that without the Lower East Side, there would be no LetMyPeopleGo and, without LetMyPeopleGo, no fun party this Saturday.  But we digress.

The Jewish immigrants lived in cramped tenements (to tour actual Lower East tenements, do visit the Tenement Museum).  In fact, by 1900, the Lower East Side was the most packed neighborhood in the world - with 700 people per acre (thanks).  More than half of the immigrants worked manual labor jobs, including many in the garment industry in airless sweatshops.  

Others worked in retail or as pushcart vendors (here's an actual video of pushcart vendors being shooed away by police).

The Jewish immigrants to the Lower East Side fled virulent anti-semitism for the religious freedom of American.  With Independence Day upon us, what better time for a Jewish return to the Lower East Side?

We'll be celebrating our freedom by, well, drinking fancy cocktails and hitting on each other at the Lower East Side's most popular nightclub, Libation (rated one of the city's Top Ten Hotspots by Zagat).  Arrive early for cheap drinks ($5 beer, $6 wine, $7 well drinks from 8-9:30 pm) and to raise a glass to those who came before us.

For more information on Jewish immigration to the Lower East Side, please visit (among many) http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/polish6.html .