This sprawling chunk of Manhattan along the East River is in the middle of everything. From the Duane Street house, it will take you just about ten minutes to reach the Bowery Lodging House on foot, twenty minutes to the newsgirls' home in Greenwich Village, and half an hour to the Brooklyn Heights house across the bridge, home of Spot Conlon. But there's plenty to do right here on the Lower East Side, which has attracted immigrants of many different stripes, starting with a large wave of Germans during its early development; in fact, it was once known as Kleindeutschland, or Little Germany. It has since diversified, becoming home to a significant number of Irish and dozens of other ethnicities. According to the famous reformer Jacob Riis, "One may find for the asking an Italian, a German, a French, African, Spanish, Bohemian, Russian, Scandinavian, Jewish, and Chinese colony." There is even a lively Arab community known as Little Syria, centered on Washington Street.

This is currently one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the world, with much of the area housing over a quarter of a million people per square mile. Poor families, most with a minimum of three or four children, crowd into dingy brick tenements. Horsedrawn carriages rattle through the streets, and electric streetcars zoom to and fro. Peddlers with pushcarts dodge out of the way, hawking all manner of wares, from buttons to lace to fruits and vegetables. Bootblacks offer to shine your shoes, children gather rags and bottles to sell to the junk man, newsies improve the headlines on every corner, and pickpockets lurk in dark alleys, occasionally scurrying off to make way for even less savory characters.

Here are a few local spots that a Duane Street newsie would do well to remember.

Duane Park - Central Park might be gorgeous (and open as a selling spot to all Manhattan newsies), but it's a good forty-five-minute walk from the lodging house. Unless you want to try and hitch a trolley, little old Duane Park--a grassy triangle right in the middle of our own street--is your best bet for a picnic or a romantic stroll with your sweetheart.

Newspaper Row - Actually called Park Row (and formerly Chatham Street). Got its nickname for all the newspapers that have their headquarters here, including our own New York World. If a morning passes when you don't show up here to buy your papes, you better be at death's door.

Tibby's - This restaurant on nearby Fulton Street is friendly to newsies and serves such tasty treats as knockwurst, roast beef, borsch, and peach pie. Don't indulge too often, though; street vendors are much cheaper.

New Irving Hall - This charming vaudeville theater on Broome Street is owned by Medda Larkson, the Swedish Meadowlark, a good friend to Jack and his boys. Come by for a cheap and delightful song-and-dance show on any night but Sunday. Just watch out for the bouncer, Monk Eastman--he's a big-time gang leader who runs practically all the criminal enterprises on the Lower East Side! They say he makes a notch in his day-stick for every head he bashes, so don't you make trouble at Medda's.

Silver Dollar Smith's Saloon - Found on Essex Street, this place is a wonder: thousands of silver dollars embedded in the floor, the walls, the counter, and even the light fixtures. The whole place shines like a starry night, but don't let it fool you; it's a rough joint, favoring the Jewish crowd and outright frowning on Italians. Eastman and his gang meet here practically every night, so if you must have a drink or two, watch your back!