In the early 1900s there was a thriving part of lower Manhattan known as Little Syria, with restaurants, textile businesses, churches, newspapers and gathering places like the Aleppo Social Club and the Beyrouth (Beirut) Young Men’s Society. Now photographs from that time are on display at the New York City Department of Records and Information Services at 31 Chambers St.
“Little Syria, NY: An Immigrant Community’s Life and Legacy,” was produced by the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, using photographs, artifacts, maps, a video, musical recordings and numerous other everyday items.
A 1916 map, from promotional materials for the show, indicated (in yellow) the boundaries of”Little Syria.” (Image via Tribeca Trib)
April Koral in Tribeca Trib writes about the community that the exhibit depicts, which was centered mostly along Washington Street near the current Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.
Like other immigrant groups, the newcomers brought with them their entrepreneurial talents.
Many had worked in Lebanon’s silk industry and by 1908, there were more than 70 textile businesses in Little Syria, making or selling silk dresses, table linens, handkerchiefs, napkins and lingerie. Twenty years later, the number doubled. (Bardwil Bros., the country’s largest linen company, opened in Little Syria in 1900.)
A knack for the food business soon emerged. Two families from Aleppo, known for its pistachios, became the biggest importers of nuts. Kalil’s Restaurant began at 61 Cortlandt St. in Little Syria, but expanded to Park Place, near City Hall, with room for 1,000 diners. And the popular Sahadi’s, now on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, opened its doors in 1898 on Washington Street.
Go to Tribeca Trib to learn more about the area once known as Little Syria, and to learn about the few landmarks that remain from that time.