Educational Alliance’s Manny Cantor Center (MCC) is a community center for all ages and backgrounds on the Lower East Side. Offering award-winning programs, essential services, and exciting events, MCC is a welcoming and inclusive hub designed to help our community thrive.

Manny Cantor was an industrious Eastern European Jewish immigrant who came to this country in 1921 to make a better life for himself and his family. Manny’s first job was stocking shelves in a small retail store. He worked tirelessly to rise through the ranks while simultaneously studying English and completing his education. Eventually, he started his own wholesale dry-goods shop. As his business grew, he was able to employ dozens of new arrivals and provided his wife, children, and whole extended family with a prosperous life in their new country.  

Manny Cantor regarded this country as the land of opportunity, and upon achieving great personal success, he dedicated himself to giving back to his community. Today, we honor his legacy by creating space for all New Yorkers to learn, grow, and flourish.   

Manny Cantor passed away in 1952 at the age of 47, but his legacy and values lived on in his two sons – both of whom had successful professional careers – as well as seven grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren. Manny’s son Richard (Dick) Cantor, along with his beloved wife Pam, named MCC in his honor when this newly restored space reopened in 2014. Pam Cantor, a leading expert in Early Childhood psychology, remains an active supporter and ally for MCC.  

As the flagship site of Educational Alliance, we seek to bring our constituents together over shared goals for our vibrant neighborhood. 

Through programs including our award-winning Early Childhood initiative, historic EA community art school, state-of-the-art fitness center, newly renovated Teen Center, and dynamic older adult centers, we are committed to empowering people so that they can flourish. 

At Manny Cantor Center, we are guided by a strength-based model; we recognize the value of community engagement and believe that everyone is called upon — and everyone is able — to contribute substantively to their community.

The Manny Cantor Center is part of Educational Alliance (EA), which brings together and partners with our neighborhood communities in Lower Manhattan. Learn more about Educational Alliance by visiting edalliance.org.