Lower East Side Tenement National Historic Site Improvement Act of 2013

the Lower East Side Tenement Museum (referred to in this section as the Museum) was founded in 1988 and has, for the past 25 years, preserved and interpreted the history of immigration through the personal experiences of generations of newcomers who settled in and built lives on Manhattan's Lower East Side, the iconic immigrant neighborhood of the United States;

the Director of the National Park Service found the Lower East Side Tenement at 97 Orchard Street to be nationally significant;

the Secretary of the Interior designated the Lower East Side Tenement a National Historic Landmark on April 19, 1994;

the Director of the National Park Service, through a special resource study, found the Lower East Side Tenement suitable and feasible for inclusion in the National Park System;

Congress designated the Lower East Side Tenement at 97 Orchard Street as a national historic site and as an affiliated site of the National Park System in title I of Public Law 105–378 (112 Stat. 3395);

the National Park Service prepared a General Management Plan (referred to in this section as the Plan) for the site in 2006;

the Plan recognized the need for space for administrative functions, collections storage, and visitor services, including orientation and additional exhibits;

the Museum obtained a neighboring 1888 tenement, 103 Orchard Street, which was restored and renovated to serve as a visitor and education center; and

103 Orchard was declared a contributing property in the Lower East Side National Historic District listed on both the National and New York State Registers of Historic Places.

to include 103 Orchard Street in New York City as part of the Lower East Side Tenement National Historic Site;

to ensure the preservation, maintenance, and interpretation of the expanded site;

to interpret at the site the stories of Holocaust survivors, Puerto Rican migrants, and post-1965 Chinese immigrants;

to enhance appreciation for the profound role immigration has played and continues to play in shaping the evolving national identity of the United States; and

to ensure continued interpretation of the nationally significant immigrant phenomenon associated with the Lower East Side of New York City and the role of the Lower East Side in the history of immigration to the United States, and to enhance the interpretation of the Castle Clinton, Ellis Island, and Statue of Liberty National Monuments.

in paragraph (1), by striking “Lower East Side Tenement found at 97 Orchard Street” and inserting “Lower East Side Tenements found at 97 and 103 Orchard Street”; and

in paragraph (2), by striking “which owns and operates the tenement building at 97 Orchard Street” and inserting “which owns and operates the tenement buildings at 97 and 103 Orchard Street”.