![thumb.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYt5DjNZFsLGjkPA2KVTkzf7yEQptHPacqsXuSBD3mZTs/thumb.jpg)

The Lower East Side of Manhattan was a sprawling and chaotic place to live in 1883, even more so when it came to grabbing a drink. The Saloons were many, the lager and liquor aplenty.  In this 32-block section (below, to the left) from Bowery to Norfolk Street there were once 242 lager-beer saloons and 61 liquor saloons. Here's an incredible map to articulate just how dense the booze was in this unique part of town.  You could practically reach from one bar counter across to the next. Can you imagine the bar crawls? ([Image source.](https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/20bcbf10-f3b2-0130-c1bc-58d385a7b928))

![map_edited.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVuZQBmeWYnkJTQmzZRaGoU5ji8tKWZDpw6FBTeFgX8U4/map_edited.jpg)

## <center>"Where Lager Reigns"</center>

I was curious, so I superimposed the existing google map of the area. The Lower East Side is a popular bar crawl spot still today, although definitely not to the extent that it used to be. This neighborhood is one of the most expensive places to live in Manhattan, having been deeply gentrified over the last couple decades. Much of it's appeal today is due to the energetic character it has carried for over a century. A lot of the original brick building stock has been replaced, but LES remains a unique place to experience in New York City. If you ever visit the area, make sure to check out the Tenement Museum at the corner of Allen and Delancey Street for a fascinating history of the neighborhood. 

![les-1.gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUSKEb3DWSA2qYPXV2BtANwQMk8ycvB7LHEW4HuQaiVmA/les-1.gif)

## <center>Why so many saloons?</center>

Immigration is the big story behind the Lower East Side. Layers of immigrants filtered through this neighborhood throughout the 18 and 1900s. Germans arrived in large numbers in the 1840s, so much so that this area was once known as "Kleindeutschland" or Little Germany. With these new arrivals came the beloved craft of beer. This map makes a point to highlight "lager" as a statistic, which is perhaps a cue to the scale of Deutsch influence. While the number of saloons may appear surprising, it is important to also note that the housing in this map was also incredibly dense. 

Here is a diagram illustrating the extreme density of the Lower East Side in 1910. This neighborhood was approximately four times more populated (a century ago) than what exists today. So as a comparison, imagine all of those saloons effectively spread across four times the footprint we know now... With this in mind, perhaps New Yorkers *have* held onto their booze slinging legacy? ([Source.](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/03/01/realestate/manhattans-population-density-past-and-present.html?_r=0))

![diagram_les.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQma3hsPAcWKUY7adA1xWJKKE7WXeyPPVRwSG8KgQhCYyaC/diagram_les.png)

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## <center>follow me @voronoi  |  design collective @hitheryon</center>

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