New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-06-08


nearly as crowded Three blocks Of tenement
houses ara 10 be torn down TO make room for the
new mark One OF them Is bounded by DIVISION
jefferson and Canal SITS; another by DIVISION NOT
folk Suffolk and Hester sts and the th'ru oy DIVE
zion. Norfolk Hester and Essex SITS All three OF
them irregular blocks
II IS intended TO open Jeferson-st.. which now
INNS from Divsion-st. TO the East RIVER through
from Division 10 Hester-st.. on line dlagonaHy
across from Norfok-st. This VIII still leave some
snace IN the block marked CO. in the cut ana IN
this space the public bath which was proposed LOT
erection IN Tompk,ns Square. will be bult Inc
res. OF the condemned territory will be utilized for
park.
And 10 Judge from the looks Of the neighborhood.
both the park and the bath are sorely needed Inc
tenement houses squalid dirty. poverty-strcken
affairs and most CT the Inhabitants look worse than
the houses in which they live. The neishoorhood
in which these houses has seen many changes,
and all OF them have been steadily for the worse.
some years ago It was one of the favorite neigh
borhoods In the metropolis Not far away were
the homes Of Boss" Tweed and Judge Stanley, ana
q host Of others at that time prominent Rutgers
Place the name OF block in Monroe St. was lined
with handsome homes. set far back from the street
with bright gardens and lawns before them. and the
ve,y land that will soon become park was cccu-
pied by the houses OF a colony Of Quakers honest
veaceful, GCi-fearing men and women. to whom the
quiet Of the neighborhood appealed. In Rutgers
Place, in those days, was the Rutgers Female IN
etitute where tho fair daughters Of the houses
around were sent to receive instruction in things
that were then considered necessary for young
woman 10 know. East Broadway was one OF the
broadest and handsomest thoroughfares in New
York. and at stated intervals the pavement ratified
and rang as tho stage flew by on its way between
Grand-st ferry and the Battery.
GOOD OLD DAYS.
Those were good old days for the region and for
its frhab itants too but now all IS different. The
first change when families of Irish people came
. into the blocks in Division-st, and the Quakers
moved away. The change was noticeable one. but
the tenants were clearly and the neighborhood
eth its aspect OF respectability The last and
harshest change Of all took place about ten years
ago. when the Russians and Poles began 10 show
themselves in the region. Nearly all Of them were
Hebrews. They were dirty and sloveny and il-kept
generally and IL not long before the irish fami-
lies had followed the example Of the Quakers and
sought more congenial ne!ghbors. and the Russians
and Poles were left IN undisputed possession.
They are there to-day, any number Of them. The
handsome houses In Rutgers Place arc now used
for sweatshops. and the gardens built UP with
tall tenement-houses, shutting out the light and
cir. The comfortable. cosey brick homes OF the
Quakers in Divtsion-st., with their dormer win
dows. are many Of them torn down. and others
rapidly falling 20 decay. their bricks looking
battered and fororn amid the general dilapidation
Their doorways are filed UP with sloveny looking
Russians and Poles, and from occasional win
dow q dirty woman leans out. eager to what
Is going on. The Rutgers Female Institute is no
more. but in its place stands Grammar School No
81. The change has been sad one, but the new
park will brighten things up little.
Yesterday afternoon Dlvision-st. and the cross
streets running out OF 1t fairly alive with
these Hebrews, Of all sizes and ages from the tiny
little one. just able to pick his way along TO the