October 2008 - Desires Hotel, a boutique chain of small hotels announces their plans to open the Hotel Ludlow next to the Darkroom bar on Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side in 2010. Its address will be approximately 167 Ludlow Street.

September 2008 - The NYC Landmarks & Preservation Committee has now designated two additional buildings East Village buildings as official landmarks of New York City. The buildings are north of the lower east side in Alphabet city in the east village. The buildings are the Wheatsworth Bakery and the Public National Bank. This brings to six the total number of Lower East Side buildings that have been designated as landmarks during 2008. Located at 444 E. 10th St. between avenues C and D, the Wheatsworth Bakery, completed in 1928, served as a cracker and flour manufacturer. The Milk Bone dog biscuit was invented and produced there. The seven-story brick building was designed by J. Edwin Hopkins and closed in 1957. It now serves as a public storage warehouse. The Public National Bank is situated at 106 Avenue C, at 7th Street.

August 2008 - Did you know that the Broadway musical, "West Side Story" was originally set on the Lower East Side. Yes, it's true. The composers intended to write a musical based on the themes of Romeo and Juliet but featuring tensions in this New York City neighborhood between Catholics and Jews. It was to take place between Passover and Easter. The composers felt no inspiration from this setting and the project went nowhere. Arthur Laurents stepped in and suggested the setting change from religious to racial tension and a move to the upper west side and 'West Side Story' took shape.