
The Tenement Museum on Manhattan's Lower East Side has long been known not only for its meticulously restored apartments that once housed immigrants, but also for its very strict 'no photo' policy.

All that changed earlier this month when the venerable institution at 97 Orchard Street lifted the photography ban for one day only, allowing visitors to capture every nook and cranny of the space on film.

Among the lucky few who arrived at the museum on December 6 armed with their cameras was professional photographer Tod Seelie, who returned from the visit with a treasure trove of fascinating images from inside the secretive museum.

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Snapshot: The Tenement Museum on Manhattan's Lower East Side has long been known for its very strict 'no photo' policy, but all that changed earlier this month

Ready for its closeup: The venerable institution at 97 Orchard Street lifted the photography ban for one day only, allowing visitors to capture every nook and cranny of the space on film

Shutterbug: Professional photographer Todd Seelie returned from the visit with a treasure trove of fascinating images from inside the secretive museum

Beehive: Built in 1863, the tenement apartment building on Orchard Street was home to nearly 7,000 working-class immigrants

Labor of love: The Tenement Museum was the brainchild of historian and social activist Ruth Abram, whose goal was to celebrate the legacy of America's immigrants

Built in 1863, the tenement apartment building on Orchard Street was home to nearly 7,000 working-class immigrants struggling to eke out a meager living and build a new, better life for their families in the New World.

The Tenement Museum was the brainchild of historian and social activist Ruth Abram, whose goal was to celebrate the legacy of America's immigrants.

In 1988, Abrams and co-founder Anita Jacobson were scouring the Lower East Side for a suitable venue for their endeavor when they stumbled upon the former multi-family tenement house at 97 Orchard Street.

Entering a darkened hallway in search of a bathroom, Jacobsen discovered a turn-of-the century living space frozen in time.

‘It was as though people had just picked up and left,’ Jacobson recalled.

By that time, the tenement had stood shuttered for a half-century and all of the units inside the building were in shambles.

Determined to transform the building into a museum, its co-founders would spend the next four years researching tenement life and painstakingly restoring units once occupied by German, Irish and Jewish families.

In 1992, the museum unveiled its first exhibit: the 1878 apartment of the German-Jewish Gumpertz family.

Photos from inside the carefully reconstructed housing units depict a time capsule of immigrant life, as if the inhabitants had just stepped out and will be back any minute.

Ghost slum: The tenement had stood shuttered for a half-century and all of the units inside the building were in shambles by the time the museum's founders discovered it in 1988

Attention to details: The founders of the museum spent next four years researching tenement life and painstakingly restoring units once occupied by German, Irish and Jewish families

Grand opening: In 1992, the museum unveiled its first exhibit: the 1878 apartment of the German-Jewish Gumpertz family

Photos from inside the carefully restored housing units depict a time capsule of immigrant life

The oil lamps inside the tiny rooms are aglow, there are plates piled with food on the table, a stack on folded laundry rests on a desk and a dressing gown is carelessly hung on a hook in a cramped bedroom.

In some units, there are shirts and undergarments hung out to dry on a laundry line stretched between two walls.

Inside the old apartment of a Jewish family, there are clippings from a Yiddish-language newspaper and a pair of challahs laid out on a platter for Shabbos.

More than any other museum in the city, the Tenement Museum feels intimate and deeply personal, allowing the visitor a rare glimpse into long-forgotten immigrant stories.

The very cramped quarters, shabby furniture and plain working-class clothes provide clear evidence that life was a daily struggle for most newcomers to New York - a far cry from the streets-paved-with-gold myth.

But even under these harsh conditions, tenement inhabitants hungered for beauty, as reflected in faded murals on the wall of a darkened hallway, in a dog-eared calendar from 1894 decorated with a charming drawing, in flowery wall hangings and modest paintings and embroidered cushions.

The tenements - low-rise, narrow buildings - were New York's answer to a dire housing shortage sparked by an influx of immigrants between 1800 and 1880.

Frozen in time: The units appear as if the inhabitants had just stepped out and will be back any minute.

Unique: More than any other museum in the city, the Tenement Museum feels intimate and deeply personal, allowing the viewer a rare glimpse into long-forgotten immigrant lives

Warm and inviting: The oil lamps inside the tiny rooms are aglow, there are plates filled with food on the table

By 1900, more than 2.3million people – two thirds of the city's population - were living in tenements, according to History.com.

A typical tenement, like the one housing the Orchard Street museum, had five to seven stories and measured at 25 feet in width and 100 feet in length, each room 13 feet across housing a dozen people, with more than 20 people to a toilet.

The units inside the buildings were usually poorly constructed out of the cheapest materials, were terribly overcrowded, vermin-infested, with little light and air, and often with no indoor plumbing.

Slum living: The tenements - low-rise, narrow buildings - were New York's answer to a dire housing shortage sparked by an influx of immigrants between 1800 and 1880.

The units inside the buildings were usually poorly constructed out of the cheapest materials

Cramped: A typical tenement, like the one housing the Orchard Street museum, had five to seven stories and measured at 25 feet in width and 100 feet in length

Hodgepodge of humanity: By 1900, more than 2.3million people – two thirds of the city's population - were living in tenements, among them Irish Catholics and Jews from Eastern Europe

Unhealthy environment: Occupied by some of New York's poorest residents living in close quarters with poor ventilation, tenement housing was a hotbed of disease

Terrible conditions: Each room measured 13 feet across was housed a dozen people, with more than 20 people sharing a toilet

Facilities: Entering a darkened hallway in search of a bathroom, museum co-founder Jacobsen discovered a turn-of-the century living space frozen in time

Occupied by some of New York's poorest residents living in close quarters with poor ventilation, tenement housing was a hotbed of disease.

By 1889, there was little improvement in the living conditions of tenement occupants despite the passage of the Tenement House Act 20 years earlier.

Determined to expose the horrors of urban slum living and spurn social change, writer and photographer Jacob Riis published in 1890 his seminal work How the Other Half Lives, which shocked the nation, ultimately leading to the phasing out of tenement housing.

By 1889, there was little improvement in the living conditions of tenement occupants despite the passage of the Tenement House Act 20 years earlier

Expose: Writer and photographer Jacob Riis published in 1890 his seminal work How the Other Half Lives exposing the truth about tenement living

A typical room inside the Orchard Street address, with a narrow metal bed and a tiny table

This unit boasts a kitchen with running water - a luxury compared to other tenements that had no indoor plumbing

Farewell to tenements: The Orchard Street slum closed its doors in mid 1930s

Participants of the draft riots in 1867 were protesting not only the Civil War draft, but also the terrible conditions inside the tenements

Making due: In some units, there are shirts and undergarments hung out to dry on a laundry line stretched between two walls

Slice of immigrant life: Visitors to the museum are offered guided tours focusing on life in a turn-of-the-century New York City slum

Life's no picnic: The very cramped quarters, shabby furniture and plain working-class clothes provide clear evidence that life was a daily struggle for newcomers to New York

Small pleasures: Tenement inhabitants hungered for beauty, as reflected in faded murals on the wall of a darkened hallway, or in a dog-eared calendar from 1894 decorated with a charming drawing (left)

Hardscrabble neighborhood: The Lower East Side was a notorious part of town ridden with crime and vice

The Tenement Museum has a strict 'no photo' policy, as they believe it takes away from the visitor experience