Upcoming Events

Stay tuned for announcements of new LESPI events, including live talks, webinars, and walking tours.

Selected Past Events

For past Zoom webinars and meetings, see LESPI’s YouTube Channel and/or the list of videos below.

Past Live Events: Below is a sampling of our more recent events.

LESPI’s tour Saturday May 30, 2026 of the former Jarmulowsky Bank Building, now the Nine Orchard Hotel, was truly spectacular. LESPI Director Gagandeep Singh, who was the architect in charge of this landmarked building’s restoration and adaptive re-use, guided us through the hotel, providing us with fascinating information about the building’s
history and the project’s many challenges and accomplishments. Following the tour we were treated to a delicious reception at a very long table in the hotel’s historic Swan Room, formerly the Jarmulowsky banking hall.
The restored building is magnificent, and we recommend that if you’re in the area you stop by to take a look for yourself.
What a great celebration we had Wednesday evening, May 20, 2026 at the Church of St. Mary on Grand Street, when we raised a glass for the parish’s 200th anniversary, as well as the church’s landmark designation which happened just last month.

The event included a tour of the church by parishioner Charlie Schleck,
Council Member Christopher Marte and Assemblymember Grace Lee presenting the church with official proclamations, and LESPI’s Richard Moses giving a slideshow history of the church. Meanwhile the crowd noshed, sipped and chatted throughout the course of the evening. Excellent!
On Saturday, May 2, we had a wonderful opening ceremony for LESPI’s outdoor photography exhibit, “Brick and Stone: Landmarking our Lower East Side Heritage.” Speakers included Council Member Christopher Marte, Assemblymember Grace Lee, photographer Ari Burling, and representatives from LESPI, The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center, and Fourth Arts Block. 
People stopped by to check out the huge exhibit banners mounted to The Clemente’s fence, chat and sign our petition for landmarking, voted for their favorite potential landmarks in a special poll, and received LESPI gift bags, courtesy of Economy Candy, just for attending (like the Oscars!). The exhibit, at the corner of Suffolk and Rivington Streets, ran May 1 to June 30, 2026.
It was a great night Wednesday November 19, 2025 at LESPI’s book talk, “The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum,” presented by author Margalit Fox at PT Knitwear on Orchard Street. The audience learned how “America’s first great mob boss was a nice Jewish mother” — including the tricks of the trade for 19th century thieves and fences — then stayed afterward for a lively book signing and reception.
At our book talk May 21, 2024, author Tyler Anbinder presented his revelations, based on the latest research, on how mid-19th century NY Irish immigrants actually lived their lives — different from the usual stereotypes — from his newly released “Plentiful Country: The Great Potato Famine & the Making of Irish New York”. The event was held at the historic Church of St. Mary on Grand Street, and we were very happy that Councilmember Christopher Marte attended and spoke on current efforts to preserve this important LES house of worship.
On May 7, 2024, authors H. Arthur Bankoff and Amanda Sutphin presented the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission’s book, “Buried Beneath the City: An Archaeological History of New York,” that retells the history of New York from the deeper layers of the past to the topsoil of recent events. The audience engaged in a lively Q&A session followed by a reception — an excellent evening!
LESPI’s Photographers’ Talk on October 28, 2023 at The Loisaida Center was quite an event. Having braved a dumping of rain to join us, the crowd was treated to 8 professional photographers discussing the stories, inspirations, and techniques behind their work in LESPI’s “Lens on the Lower East Side” photo journal books. We wrapped up the evening chatting over light refreshments – fantastic!
LESPI sponsored a wonderful book talk on September 6 , 2023, “Spotlight on the East Village” featuring author Ada Calhoun, at P&T Knitwear Bookstore on Orchard Street.
On September 5, 2023 LESPI cosponsored the panel discussion “A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: A Conversation on the Future of Vulnerable Historic Buildings in New York City,” where various experts discussed how best to save historic buildings in danger of demolition.

Watch videos of these past LESPI webinar events at LESPI’s YouTube Channel, below is a sampling: