Orchard Street, Lower East Side, NYC Card

A view looking down the Lower East Side's legendary street named Orchard Street. Some history and context: The orchard in question belonged to James Delancey, who returned to England in 1775, and his farm was declared forfeit. Orchard Street is often considered the centre of the Lower East Side and is lined end to end almost entirely with low-rise tenement building with the iconic brick face and fire escapes. First known as Kleindeutschland, or "Little Germany," later a Jewish enclave, the neighbourhood has been home to first generation immigrants from the mid 19th Century to the present day. The street's past as the heart of the immigrant experience is captured at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum's centerpiece, the restored 97 Orchard Street tenement. The street is known for its discount shopping - Orchard Street was long the Lower East Side's main marketing thoroughfare. There are severallingerie shops and Orthodox Jewish-owned men's suit stores below Delancey Street, while discount clothing and luggage stores dominate the block between Delancey and Rivington Streets. More recently, upscale boutiques and designer shops have begun to line the street. Every Sunday, Orchard Street from Delancey to East Houston Street closes to vehicular traffic turning the street into a pedestrian mall with stores setting up tables and racks advertising their wares to passersby.