The streets’ names have changed over the years according to Sante, but the fascination with this infamous neighborhood in Manhattan has remained the same. In LOW LIFE, Sante tells us that,
The Old Brewery [which is a major set in Scorsese's Gangs of New York, if you remember, where Leonardo Dicaprio's character Amsterdam recovers from near-death, and before which many a battle was fought] was the magnetic center of the area called the Five Points, the intersection of Orange (now Baxter), Cross (now Park), and Anthony (also known as Cat Hollow, no Worth) Streets, the immediate area also bounded by Ryndert (now Mulberry) and Little Water (also known as Dandy Lane and since built over). pg. 28
In his review of the Gangs of New York film Gregory J. Christiano expands on the area: “This was the Sixth Ward and became notorious for its crime-ridden streets, colorful gangs, prostitutes, petty thieves and gamblers. There was all manner of vice, debauchery and corruption. Even the police and fire brigades were part of this lawless environment not to mention the politicians. (para.1)”
The Sixth Ward
I’m borrowing the above images from Mr. Christiano’s excellent essay on Urbanography called “The Five Points,” in which he comments on the Sixth Ward/Five Points area, then goes on to show us some fabulous news articles from the time (you can read it here). He begins his essay by explaining that
The name Five Points evokes images of poverty, rampant crime, decadence and despair. That’s true. The Five Points was a lurid geographical cancer filled with dilapidated and unlivable tenement houses, gang extortion, corrupt politicians, houses of ill-repute and drunkenness and gambling. This was a place where all manner of crime flourished, the residents terrorized and squalor prevailed. para. 1
On thing that Scorsese does in Gangs of New York is to depict the myriad tales of the New York low life. His city is filled brimful with tiny micro-stories, each played out on the streets, sometimes taking place a block off in the background of the main action. We feel the woeful living of these people as we watch them limping about, or staring out at us from their windows. Why is Scorsese fascinated with it? Why did Sante write about it?
This is open to discussion. I, for one, think it fascinating to see such a different America, yet so much like our own. I find it easy to relate to the goings on of this time period, as if it were happening only yesterday, and yet I’m removed from it enough to look at it from a critical perspective. And this goes especially for things related to New York, a city that may have changed vastly in some ways, but has remained the same in so many others.
As students, studying a place like the Five Points can show us numerous things- but I’ll start by quoting Ms. Vargas, who quoted Jacob Riis when she wrote: “The slum is the measure of civilization.” And perhaps we measure ourselves when we experience the narratives of those who lived in the Five Points. This is all just the start of such a discussion, of course. The question, again: Why do we find the Five Points so fascinating?
