SHOPPING

The Lower East Side is - and always has been - a shopper's haven. Iconic images of the district show the streets teeming with shoppers and the once-ubiquitous pushcart vendors. Hester Street was known for its raucous Chazzer (Pig) Market where you could buy nearly anything - except pork, of course. Later, Orchard Street became the favored block for bargains and bargaining, particularly on Sundays when stores in other areas were required by law to close for the Sunday Sabbath. Uptown shoppers were lured downtown by great prices and the incredible range of wares, from jewelry to clothing to pickles. Today many Jewish-owned businesses remain alongside shops of new immigrant merchants from all over the world. Add to the mix young designers of clothing and furniture, great restaurants and hip nightlife, and you have a true consumer's paradise.

For a comprehensive list of shops and restaurants in the neighborhood, please contact the Lower East Side Business Improvement District.

If you are specifically interested in Jewish books, artwork or Judaica (i.e., bar mitzvah sets, mezuzot, ketubot, tefillin, yarmulkes), you might visit these local shops, arranged in order of proximity to the Eldridge Street Synagogue:

A-1 Sofrim, 11 Essex Street

Zelig Blumenthal, 13 Essex Street

Weinfeld's Skullcap & Religious Articles, 19 Essex Street

Israel Wholesale Import, 21 Essex Street

Eisenbach Soifer Scribe, 41 Essex Street

Hebrew Religious Articles, 49 Essex Street|

Grand Sterling, 345 Grand Street