Fodor's Expert Review Museum at Eldridge Street

The exterior of this 1887 Orthodox synagogue-turned-museum (and community space), the first synagogue to be built by the many Eastern European Jews who settled in the Lower East Side in the late 19th century, is a striking mix of Romanesque, Gothic, and Moorish motifs. Inside are an exceptional hand-carved ark of mahogany and walnut (used to hold Torah scrolls), a sculptured wooden balcony, jewel-tone stained-glass windows, vibrantly painted and stenciled walls, and an enormous brass chandelier. Daily tours are included in the price of admission (check the website for times), and begin downstairs where interactive "touch tables" teach all ages about Eldridge Street, the Lower East Side, and the Jewish immigrant experience. The crowning piece of the building's decades-long restoration is a stained-glass window by artist Kiki Smith and architect Deborah Gans, which weighs 6,000 pounds and has more than 1,200 pieces of glass.