This museum allows visitors to briefly inhabit the Lower East Side's heartbreaking, hardscrabble but unexpectedly inspiring heritage. Two remarkably preserved (and minimally restored) 19th-century tenements are the focus of various tours, including the impossibly cramped home and garment shop of the Levine family from Poland, and two immigrant dwellings from the Great Depressions of 1873 and 1929. The visitor center – which has an excellent gift shop – shows a video detailing the difficult life endured by the people who once lived in the surrounding buildings, which initially had no plumbing or electricity. Visits to the tenement building are available only as part of scheduled guided tours, with many departures each day. They sell out daily, so book tickets in advance.
In addition to the "Hard Times" tour that features the homes of two immigrant families, the museum also runs various other tours, including "Find Home," which illuminates life for Jewish Holocaust survivors and Puerto Rican migrants in the 1950s and 60s, and "A Day in the Life: 1911," which explores NYC through the eyes of the Russian Rogarshevsky family. You can have a more interactive experience with "Meet Victoria Confino," which gives a firsthand glimpse of life in a tenement as related by a 14-year-old Italian immigrant (played by a costumed interpreter) – it's the only tour recommended for children between five and eight, though most tours allow ages five and up.
Make sure to browse the museum shop for great NYC-themed gifts. There are also neighborhood walking tours and other experiences added occasionally, so be sure to check the website.
