Orchard Street

Orchard Street is a street in Manhattan which covers the eight city blocks between Division Street in Chinatown and East Houston Street on the Lower East Side. Vehicular traffic runs north on this one-way street. Orchard Street starts from Division Street in the south and ends at East Houston Street in the north..HistoryThe orchard in question belonged to James Delancey, who returned to England in 1775, and his farm was declared forfeit.Orchard Street is often considered the center of the Lower East Side and is lined end to end almost entirely with low-rise tenement building with the iconic brick face and fire escapes. First known as Kleindeutschland, or "Little Germany," later a Jewish enclave, the neighborhood has been home to immigrants from the mid 19th Century to the present day. The street's past as the heart of the immigrant experience is captured at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum's centerpiece, the restored 97 Orchard Street tenement.The street is known for its discount shopping - Orchard Street was long the Lower East Side's main marketing thoroughfare. There are several lingerie shops and Orthodox Jewish-owned men's suit stores below Delancey Street, while discount clothing and luggage stores dominate the block between Delancey and Rivington Streets. More recently, upscale boutiques and designer shops have begun to line the street. Every Sunday, Orchard Street from Delancey to East Houston Street closes to vehicular traffic turning the street into a pedestrian mall with stores setting up tables and racks advertising their wares to passersby.