As early as 1903, a year after The Forward's fifth anniversary, and a mere two days after Emma Lazarus's pedestal poem "The New Colossus" was affixed to the Statue of Liberty in New York's harbor, The Forward reported as front-page news, the suicide of a Jewish immigrant who had been turned away and forced back to Europe. For over a century now, immigration reporting and amplifying immigrant voices and concerns remain important to the paper. In the 1930s, with the passage of the restrictive Johnson-Reed immigration restriction act, that severely restricted 'undesirables' from Eastern Europe, coupled with the rise of fascism in Europe, the Forward devoted column inches to an advice column on being immigration called: The American Citizen. Union activist Henry Fruchter, of the Naturalization Aid League, located in the Forward Building answered terrified Yiddish readers' queries on their nascent citizenship rights. A reader wrote and asked: I plan on traveling to Canada on vacation. Will they let me back in here when I return? The Forward answered: You must first get re-entry papers. If you don't, you'll be considered a new immigrant and have to fit quota requirements. Come to our office, we'll help you.

While you turn around and head north, with your back to Ellis Island, thinking about restrictions and quotas, make your way to Foley Square, seen here, where so many citizens, newly arrived as well as American born residents, celebrated their liberty by demanding equal rights as working Americans. In the Forward's image above working folks take to the heart of city governance where the courts are located in downtown New York City, to celebrate labor's progress in 1938 with a Union Label Parade. Foley Square is a frequent locale for protest, demonstration, and pride. In 2020, NYC's Queer Liberation March For Black Lives Against Police Brutality stepped out from here towards Washington Square for a Pride rally. Shortly thereafter, they, like so many in history, were met by police violence.

Head a few blocks further east and a bit south from Foley Square, to Broadway and Duane streets where the original downtown synagogue was founded. Known as the Wall Street Synagogue, it's still around but is located further south now, on Beekman Street. While it's handy of course, to have a house of worship available near your work, if that's your style, nowadays many Jewish workers in the Financial District (FiDi) seeking to pray during their workaday tend to organize in-office Jewish prayer qorums or 'minyans' with co-religionist co-workers, if available. There's even an app for that!

A brief northward jaunt leads from the original Wall Street Synagogue site on Broadway, to New York's City Hall. In the image above, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, mayor from 1934-1945, known as 'the little flower' for his Italian name and stature, was considered warm and energetic and a uniter of a diverse city. Here he's seen welcoming the Maccabi team Maccabiah Jewish athletic team to city hall when they played in New York City. An independent group created when Jews weren't welcomed in sports leagues, with the creep of fascist inclined Europe and of course the 1936 Berlin Olympics under Hitler's auspices as Chancellor, Jews responded by forming athletic associations such as Maccabi. It's still in existence today.

Head due north up and out of the city's Financial District, and watch the way the downtown neighborhood morphs into the more familiar downtown one as Broadway crosses East Houston and you take a slight jog right until you find 301 Bowery, shown in our image above from the depression era. In the 1930s it wasn't uncommon for desperate and hungry city folks to gather on the Bowery seeking jobs and relief from the poverty of the Depression era. The other common feature of early 20th century Bowery is the Barber College seen on the far right. A favorite passageway of sailors looking for a cut and a shave, Bowery became home to haircutting schools and tattoo parlors. You can still find some there today. Despite recent gentrification, Bowery Street still features a historic Mission for those in need of food and shelter.

And now that you're located somewhat more uptown, though still downtown below 14th Street, you're welcome to one of the most activist neighborhoods in the city. The Loisaida, Lower East Side and East Village, home to city's famed poetry marathon at St. Mark's Poetry Project you'll find a diverse neighborhood that's still home to activism and what remains of the city's affordability. As you stroll further up Bowery towards 2nd Avenue head over to 9th street where the one time Stuyvesant Casino housed some gamblers sure, but also, local pols letting folks know the issues of the day. Here, in this photo, Hemione Panken, daughter of Jewish socialist Judge Jacob Panken, campaigns for her dad as he ran for congress. A longtime member of the Forward's advisory board, Panken was also an immigrant to America.

Finally, head southeast again and climb up the Williamsburg Bridge to take in how far you and America have come, and like the folks you've walked beside in spirit, imagine a more just society. Imagine the Lazarus poem in Yiddish: ikh hoyb oyf mayn lomp iber der goldener tir. "I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Ruminate while listening to the Yiddish harmonies of Forward favorites The Barry Sisters pictured above on the same bridge overlooking Delancey Street. Hear their rendition of a classic Yiddish immigrant anthem called: Di Grine Kuzine about a newly arrived immigrant, a 'greenhorn' who in time, discovers they're not entirely at peace here despite their earlier enthusiasm.