The Lower East Side has been home to the Jewish Community since half a million Eastern Europe Jews have settled here. Hence, the area abounds in the synagogues and other historical places connected with the Jewish traditions and culture. The Eldridge Street Synagogue, dating back as far as 1887, is definitely a landmark. The synagogue was the first prayer house for the Jewish community in the USA. At the turn of the 20th century as many as about 1,000 worshippers attended the High Holiday services. Nowadays the synagogue, a registered historical monument, is under a thorough restoration. However, guided tours of the buildings as well as concerts, art exhibitions and educational lectures are on offer at the Eldridge Street Synagogue.

Within a walking distance, there is the Bialystoker Synagogue whose recently renovated interior is worth seeing. If one would like to learn more how the Jews lived at the turn of the 20th century, visiting the Lower East Side Tenement Museum is advisable. There are video shows, weekend interactive and walking tours of the neighborhood on offer.

Though the Jewish community has shrunk, making the area less ethnically flavored, there are still traditional businesses offering the old-world pickles (Gus's Pickles in Orchard Street), bagels and bialys (Kossar's Bialys in Grand Street) and other traditional snacks (Rus&Daughters Appetizing in Houston Street). Nowadays the Lower East Side attracts locals, with brand-new luxury apartment buildings, and tourists, with a wide array of cafes, bars and art galleries. There is also plenty of restaurants, live-music venues and nightlife clubs, which makes the Lower East Side one of the hottest areas of New York City.

The Lower East Side, with its 300-odd shops, is also a shopping paradise. The low prices attract loads of bargain-hunters to the area, once filled with pushcarts and East European merchants, hence the name ''Bargain District.'' If craving for stunning views of the Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges or sports activity, visit he East River Park. The newly refurbished park, with lots of green space plots, biking paths, running paths and an amphitheater, is a perfect site for recreation.

The East Village is known as a neighborhood which over the centuries changed from the historic district, inhabited by the Dutch, the Germans, the Ukrainians and the Jews, into the art scene for the Beatnik poets, hippies, musicians and artists. Although the area has been gentrified, there are still places which remind of the East Village past. One of them is St Mark's Place, once home to the hippies, which is the center of youth subculture in the East Village. To get the feel of the East Village come here at the end of August when the ''Howl!Festival of East Village Arts'' takes place. The event, also known as ''eight days of countercultural euphoria'', includes bluegrass concerts, punk shows, art exhibitions, performance art shows, etc.

There are also other cultural events in the East Village like poetry readings and Danspace dance performance held in the historic St Mark's-in-the-Bowery Church. Morever, the East Village attracts crowds with fabulous drinking and dining spots, offering Japanese, Polish, Ukrainian, Lebanese, Italian, Thai and Indian dishes, nightlife venues and indie shops. If you feel tired of sightseeing, walk to Tompkins Square Park or have a leisurely bath in the Russian and Turkish Baths. Those who feel like getting familiar with the Ukrainian folk art should visit the tiny, though interesting, Ukrainian Museum.