Russek & Scheinbaum. Remnants: Photographs of the Lower East Side. Photographs by Janet Russek and David Scheinbaum.

Radius Books, 2017. SIGNED by Russek and Scheinbaum.  Hardcover, near fine with fine protected dust jacket. 136 pages, profusely illustrated with color and black and white photographs of Jewish synagogues, restaurants, bakeries, and other businesses on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City.  Small ink smudge on title page, otherwise mint. “Born and raised in Brooklyn, New Mexico based photographers David Scheinbaum (born 1951) and Janet Russek (born 1947) started photographing New York’s Lower East Side in 1999, and have chronicled a time of extraordinary transformation. Undergoing rapid gentrification into a hipster neighborhood, the future of the Lower East Side is now unclear. In 2008, the National Trust for Historic Preservation added the neighborhood to its list of America’s Most Endangered Places, and many believe the cultural institutions and ideologies that established the Lower East Side are disappearing forever. Throughout its history, New York’s Lower East Side has reflected the cultural demographics of the city and fostered a rich cultural environment for immigrant life, becoming the home to many ethnic groups.  With this volume, Scheinbaum and Russek capture remnants of history through their intimate portraits of iconic places such as Katz's Deli….”  Essays by Amy Stein-Milford and Sean Corcoran.  Summary:

Remnants: Photographs of the Lower East Side is a photographic book (136 pages with about 120 images) published by Radius Books in 2017, documenting the changing character and fading cultural heritage of Manhattan’s historic Lower East Side through the collaborative lenses of photographers Janet Russek and David Scheinbaum.

Purpose and Focus

The project grew out of the artists’ personal connection to the neighborhood—both grew up in Brooklyn and regularly visited the Lower East Side—and their recognition that the Jewish cultural landscape they remembered was rapidly disappearing due to gentrification and demographic shifts. They began photographing the area in 1999and continued for many years, creating a visual chronicle of the community’s architectural, commercial, and social remnants before they vanished.

Visual Content

• Dual photographic approaches: In the book, Scheinbaum’s images appear in black and white while Russek’s are in color, offering complementary perspectives that together convey both historical depth and contemporary presence.

• Subjects: The photographs portray traditional businesses, places of worship, street scenes, and local characters that once defined the Jewish Lower East Side. These include kosher bakeries, delis, candy shops, Judaica stores, old synagogues, and other cultural landmarks—some still operating when photographed, others already closed or endangered.

• Historic and everyday life: Images capture not only storefronts and signage but also intimate details like the making of smoked fish, interior views of historic synagogues, and vibrant street fairs that celebrate cultural diversity, documenting how life in the neighborhood has persisted even amid dramatic transformation.

Cultural and Historical Context

The book situates these contemporary photographs within the broader history of the Lower East Side as a major immigrant enclave, particularly for Jewish immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Russek and Scheinbaum’s work resonates with earlier photographers (like Jacob Riis) who documented the neighborhood’s past, but while those earlier images often depicted crowded tenements and bustling markets, Remnants focuses on what remains today—the vestiges of a once‑thriving cultural world now threatened by redevelopment.