156 Second Avenue, June 25, 1934. Second Avenue showing the old five-story Stuyvesant and the new buildings occupying the site of the Baptist Mission Society, the Second Avenue Baptist Church, and the New York Historical Society. Cemented into the pavement at No. 156 Second Avenue is a Hollywood Walk of Fame–style memorial. The memorial is a tribute to Yiddish theater stars of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was put here in 1984 by the Second Avenue Deli to commemorate the Lower East Side's glorious past as the "Jewish Rialto." In the early decades of the 20th century, a vibrant Yiddish theatre scene blossomed on the Lower East Side. Centered at Second Avenue and the Bowery, New York’s “Yiddish Broadway” offered dramas, comedies, and musicals that entertained and inspired thousands. In 1984, Second Avenue Deli owner Abe Lebewohl installed, in the sidewalk outside his beloved restaurant, a memorial to honor the stars of this once-thriving Jewish theater scene. In the style of Hollywood Boulevard, Lebewohl embedded two rows of granite stars bearing the names of the best and brightest Jewish performers. Over 30 Jewish artists were memorialized in this way. There is one plaque of Abraham Goldfaden. According to his 1908 obituary in the New York Times, Goldfaden was the founder of Yiddish theater. Luckily, the Walk of Fame remained despite the Deli's closure in 2006. But now this civic tribute is deteriorating. Friends of the Abe Lebewohl Yiddish Walk of Fame is working to promote the history and culture of Yiddish Theatre and the neighborhood inspired by the granite stars first embedded in the sidewalk of Second Avenue by restauranteur Abe Lebewohl.

April 17th kicks off NYC's Immigrant Heritage Week as the day when Ellis Island set its record for processing immigrants. In celebration of this day and the many different ethnic immigrant groups that have come to the Lower East Side / East Village over the years we will walk in their footsteps and see what they saw with the Urban Archive app as our guide. On this walk, we will explore the sites together and meet with some of the local business owners whose paths brought them to the Village, creating the landscape we see today.