First Arab-American Neighborhood In Grave Danger
Lower Manhattan Was Once The Center of Arab Life in U.S.
Most Americans, and even many Arab-Americans, are unaware that Lower Manhattan -- along Washington Street from Battery Park through the 9/11 Memorial to Chambers Street -- was once the center of Arab-American life in the United States, then called "Little Syria" or the "Mother Colony." Obscured from history as the result of the construction of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and the World Trade Center, its physical destruction was compounded by vanishing memory within the Arab-American community, reinforced by an atmosphere unprepared to acknowledge that the Arab-American story of hard-work and community -- both Christian and Muslim -- began at the very location the violent tragedy occurred. Fortunately, by a kind of miracle, three buildings remain and are physically connected: 103 Washington Street, an Arab church that served as a Irish bar for many years; 105-107 Washington Street, a community house inaugurated by the governor of New York to serve the Little Syria neighborhood; and 109 Washington Street, a tenement building still containing apartments. Tens of millions of tourists every year will walk between Battery Park and the Statue of Liberty and the 9/11 Memorial and Museum -- all through historical Arab New York! -- and these three buildings deserve to be preserved as landmarks to leave some general trace of an ethnic neighborhood that has been devastated like no other in the city.
Save the Community House
The most urgent priority is to send letters to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission encouraging them to preserve the "Little Syria" Community House at 105-107 Washington Street. Community Board One in Lower Manhattan passed a resolution encouraging this action, but the Commission needs to hear from more Americans that this disappearing heritage and this building are valued. There is a danger that this building could be demolished in the coming months, and we need to act quickly.
Lobby for Recognition
Unlike nearly every other ethnic neighborhood in New York City, Little Syria has no signs, no memorials, and no statues to recall the tens of thousands of immigrants who passed through. We believe that the 9/11 Museum should acknowledge the long Arab history at the location in order to dispel stereotypes, and that the city should erect an informational sign communicating this heritage to the millions of tourists who shall walk within this neighborhood.
Latest News
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As-Sameer A Semi Monthly Arab Magazine
May 6, 2012
As-Sameer (Al Samir) was a monthly Arabic magazine that eventually became published five times per week by Elia Abu Madi. In either 1889 or 1890, Elia Abu Madi was born in the village of Al-Muhaydithah in what is now modern-day Lebanon. In 1911, Abu Madi relocated to Alexandria, Egypt to assist his uncle’s business. That [...]
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The Arab-American Business Sector: Advertisments And Established Businesses in Little Syria
April 26, 2012
The business sector of Little Syria comprised numerous types of establishments that evolved and varied from the 1880s to the late 1940s. The types of businesses played a vital role in the assimilation process of the Lebanese and Syrian community in America. In the early day, the most popular business for these new immigrants was [...]
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The Dream And Then The Nightmare – The Syrians Who Boarded The Titanic
April 22, 2012
The Dream And Then The Nightmare: The Syrians Who Boarded The Titanic is a book written by Leila Salloum Elias. Leila, a Canadian Syrian, wrote this book with the desire to educate the world about the subject of the early Arabic-speaking immigrants who were aboard the Titanic. This work contains numerous personal stories and first-hand [...]
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Little Syria’s Press From The Past
April 18, 2012
During our research to learn as much as we can about Little Syria in this preservation struggle, we have located several English-language articles about the neighborhood from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These articles highlight the living conditions as well as the business practices that the Arabic speaking population took part in. Most [...]
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New Galleries of Little Syria and Preserved Artifacts
April 18, 2012
Save Washington Street has now added new galleries to the “Photographs” section of this website. The more photographs that we collect, the better we can understand the history of the neighborhood through visualizations of what the neighborhood looked like and how life was like, whether for a store owner, a tenant in one of the [...]
