II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1408

To establish the Lower East Side Tenement National Historic Site, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 7, 1997

Mr. D’AMATO (for himself and Mr. MOYNIHAN) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To establish the Lower East Side Tenement National

Historic Site, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lower East Side Tene5 ment National Historic Site Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1)(A) immigration, and the resulting diversity

9 of cultural influences, is a key factor in defining the

10 identity of the United States; and
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1 (B) many United States citizens trace their an2 cestry to persons born in nations other than the

3 United States;

4 (2) the latter part of the 19th century and the

5 early part of the 20th century marked a period in

6 which the volume of immigrants coming to the Unit7 ed States far exceeded that of any time prior to or

8 since that period;

9 (3) no single identifiable neighborhood in the

10 United States absorbed a comparable number of im11 migrants than the Lower East Side neighborhood of

12 Manhattan in New York City;

13 (4) the Lower East Side Tenement at 97 Or14 chard Street in New York City is an outstanding

15 survivor of the vast number of humble buildings that

16 housed immigrants to New York City during the

17 greatest wave of immigration in American history;

18 (5) the Lower East Side Tenement is owned

19 and operated as a museum by the Lower East Side

20 Tenement Museum;

21 (6) the Lower East Side Tenement Museum is

22 dedicated to interpreting immigrant life within a

23 neighborhood long associated with the immigrant ex24 perience in the United States, New York City’s
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1 Lower East Side, and its importance to United

2 States history; and

3 (7)(A) the Director of the National Park Serv4 ice found the Lower East Side Tenement at 97 Or5 chard Street to be nationally significant; and

6 (B) the Secretary of the Interior declared the

7 Lower East Side Tenement a National Historic

8 Landmark on April 19, 1994; and

9 (C) the Director of the National Park Service,

10 through a special resource study, found the Lower

11 East Side Tenement suitable and feasible for inclu12 sion in the National Park System.

13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

14 (1) to ensure the preservation, maintenance,

15 and interpretation of this site and to interpret at the

16 site the themes of immigration, tenement life in the

17 latter half of the 19th century and the first half of

18 the 20th century, the housing reform movement, and

19 tenement architecture in the United States;

20 (2) to ensure continued interpretation of the

21 nationally significant immigrant phenomenon associ22 ated with New York City’s Lower East Side and the

23 Lower East Side’s role in the history of immigration

24 to the United States; and
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1 (3) to enhance the interpretation of the Castle

2 Clinton, Ellis Island, and Statue of Liberty National

3 Monuments.

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

5 As used in this Act:

6 (1) HISTORIC SITE.—The term ‘‘historic site’’

7 means the Lower East Side Tenement found at 97

8 Orchard Street on Manhattan Island in City of New

9 York, State of New York, and designated as a na10 tional historic site by section 4.

11 (2) MUSEUM.—The term ‘‘Museum’’ means the

12 Lower East Side Tenement Museum, a nonprofit or13 ganization established in City of New York, State of

14 New York, which owns and operates the tenement

15 building at 97 Orchard Street and manages other

16 properties in the vicinity of 97 Orchard Street as ad17 ministrative and program support facilities for 97

18 Orchard Street.

19 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

20 the Secretary of the Interior.

21 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF HISTORIC SITE.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—To further the purposes of this

23 Act and the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the preser24 vation of historic American sites, buildings, objects, and

25 antiquities of national significance, and for other pur-
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1 poses’’, approved August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et

2 seq.), the Lower East Side Tenement at 97 Orchard

3 Street, in the City of New York, State of New York, is

4 designated a national historic site.

5 (b) COORDINATION WITH NATIONAL PARK SYS6 TEM.—

7 (1) AFFILIATED SITE.—The historic site shall

8 be an affiliated site of the National Park System.

9 (2) COORDINATION.—The Secretary, in con10 sultation with the Museum, shall coordinate the op11 eration and interpretation of the historic site with

12 the Statue of Liberty National Monument, Ellis Is13 land National Monument, and Castle Clinton Na14 tional Monument. The historic site’s story and inter15 pretation of the immigrant experience in the United

16 States is directly related to the themes and purposes

17 of these National Monuments.

18 (c) OWNERSHIP.—The historic site shall continue to

19 be owned, operated, and managed by the Museum.

20 SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT OF THE SITE.

21 (a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—The Secretary may

22 enter into a cooperative agreement with the Museum to

23 ensure the marking, interpretation, and preservation of

24 the national historic site designated by section 4(a).
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1 (b) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The

2 Secretary may provide technical and financial assistance

3 to the Museum to mark, interpret, and preserve the his4 toric site, including making preservation-related capital

5 improvements and repairs.

6 (c) GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta8 tion with the Museum, shall develop a general man9 agement plan for the historic site that defines the

10 role and responsibility of the Secretary with regard

11 to the interpretation and the preservation of the his12 toric site.

13 (2) INTEGRATION WITH NATIONAL MONU14 MENTS.—The plan shall outline how interpretation

15 and programming for the historic site shall be inte16 grated and coordinated with the Statue of Liberty

17 National Monument, Ellis Island National Monu18 ment, and Castle Clinton National Monument to en19 hance the story of the historic site and these Na20 tional Monuments.

21 (3) COMPLETION.—The plan shall be completed

22 not later than 2 years after the date of enactment

23 of this Act.

24 (d) LIMITED ROLE OF SECRETARY.—Nothing in this

25 Act authorizes the Secretary to acquire the property at
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1 97 Orchard Street or to assume overall financial respon2 sibility for the operation, maintenance, or management of

3 the historic site.

4 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

6 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

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