Allison Wu
Response 3 of 5
Five Points: The 19th Century New York City Neighborhood that Invented up Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World’s Most Notorious Slum by Tyler Anbinder
In Five Points: The 19th Century New York City Neighborhood that Invented up Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World’s Most Notorious Slum by Tyler Anbinder, Anbinder introduces the area of Five Points in the Lower East Side of New York City. Although Five Points no longer exists, it is a five-point intersection of Orange Street (now Baxter St), Cross St, Anthony St (now Worth St), Mulberry St and Little Water Street. Originally, this land was a nice lake full of greenery, called The Collect, but it transformed into a slum over time. Many immigrants, prostitutes and brothels lived at Five Points. Because of the increased population, tenements, where multiple families lived in small apartments, all in one large building, were built to accommodate. However, it was extremely crowded. There was drinking, fighting and sex both in the homes and on the streets from both genders and from both blacks and whites. This area declined so much that many people petitioned for the Common Council to tear the area down due to how dangerous it was. Anbinder writes, “Citizens who might venture from the easy side to shop on Broadway were disinclined to do so because they feared having to pass through five points, while businesses on pearl street to the south and east of five points suffered similarly” (22). Many people made the effort to avoid Five Points to avoid the vice that constantly goes on there.
Continue reading “Five Points”