Five Points: The 19th-Century New York City Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum [Paperback]

Tyler Anbinder (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 24, 2002

All but forgotten today, the Five Points neighborhood in lower Manhattan was once renowned the world over. It housed America's most impoverished immigrants-the Irish, Jews, Germans, Italians, and African-Americans. Located in today's Chinatown and Little Italy, Five Points played host to more riots, scams, prostitution, and drunkenness than any other neighborhood in America. But it was also crammed full of cheap theaters, dance halls, prizefighting venues, and political arenas that would one day dominate the national scene. From Jacob Riis to Abraham Lincoln, Davy Crockett to Charles Dickens, Five Points horrified and enthralled everyone who saw it.

Drawing from letters, diaries, newspapers, bank records, police reports, and archeological digs, award-winning historian Tyler Anbinder has written the first history of this remarkable neighborhood. Beginning with the Irish potato famine influx in 1840 and ending with the rise of Chinatown in the early 20th century, the story of Five Points serves as a microcosm of the American immigrant experience.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...spares no gritty detail in this recreation of this immigrants' hell on earth... -- The Washington Post Book World, January 5, 2003

Tyler Anbinder has so thoroughly re-created Five Points that the stench of life there all but rises from its pages. -- New York Daily News

About the Author

Tyler Anbinder is an Associate Professor of History at The George Washington University. His first book, Nativisim and Slavery, was also a New York Times Notable Book and the winner of the Avery Craven Prize of the Organization of American Historians.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Plume; Reprint edition (September 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452283612
• ISBN-13: 978-0452283619
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

149 of 161 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tough But Rewarding Read November 27, 2002

By Erik J. Fortmeyer

Format:Paperback

First off, I must point out that I work about eight blocks away from the infamous Five Points intersection in New York City. Also, I am very familiar with American history. With these two points mentioned, I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed and learned alot from this book. If you are considering reading "Five Points", it is very important that you assess beforehand what you hope to get out of this book. It has the potential to be either VERY rewarding and informative to you OR, to bore the life out of you and make you want to fling it in the trash! This book is certainly NOT for the casual reader. It is remarkably detailed and meticulous in research chock full of 66 pages of footnotes and a small font, select bibliography of five pages. I had the great advantage of being able to walk over on my lunch hour and follow the included maps around the neighborhood to see where these locations were and, in some cases, see the still standing buildings mentioned in the text. If you are not from New York City or familiar with it's history, this book can be painfully tedious. If this book was a college course, I would estimate it to be either of the 300 or 400 level.

Some may take issue with the way the material is arranged. Trying to write about a whole neighborhood with so many layers of diverse history is no easy task. I personally enjoyed the format once I got used to it. Anbinder starts each chapter with a prologue vignette of a few pages describing an event or person who well exemplifies the topic following in the main chapter. I found myself going back at the end of each chapter and re-reading the prologue with the new information just gleaned in mind. The chapters cover the historical making of the Five Points neighborhood, why the neighborhood inhabitants originally (mostly the Irish before the Civil War) came there, how and where the residents lived there, how they worked and what they did, the politics the neighborhood was involved in over the years, the diversions and entertainment found in the neighborhood, types of vice and crime seen there, religion and reform issues (including extensive accounts of the activities of the Five Points Mission and the House of Industry), the infamous riots the neighborhood was a part or cause of (mostly in the 1850s), the neighborhood changes underway during the Civil War and the rise of Tammany Hall, the remaking of Five Points after the Civil War as Italians became more prevalent, the life and activities of the Italian majority in the 1870s and 1880s, the influx of Chinese to the neighborhood and the making of Chinatown, and the activities of Jacob Riis and other reformers towards the eventual demolition of much of Five Points in the 1890s. The author fills in some background information on discussed topics, but it helps greatly to be already familiar with the era's history. Examples would be needing to know the basics of Andrew Jackson and his "Democrats" before fully understanding the causes and issues relating to the rioting so common in Five Points before the Civil War or, familiarity with what Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall was. Some may also quarrel with the need for extensive statistics about the nationality makeup of individual Five Points tenements or the amount of money in residents bank accounts over the years, but extreme details such as those give insights to how New York City has become what it is today. Causes of the rise of the modern fire and police departments, some unions, gangs, and building code details are just some of the contemporary NYC realities that can trace a significant portion of their origins to Five Points.

With the previously mentioned warnings in mind, I highly recommend "Five Points" to the ravenous history student. This is no beach read or intro to Five Points. It is thick and heavy like cheesecake, but make sure you know that you love cheesecake before trying this supreme example!

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars As meticulous as it gets.. January 5, 2004

By J. Carnes

Format:Paperback

Although I am an avid NYC history fan, I must admit that I knew next to nothing about the Five Points prior to the release of the movie 'Gangs of New York'. That movie sparked an intrest in me for that area, that has yet to cease...This book takes you into that exact setting, and separates the truths from the myths. The cronological timeline of maps is one of the things I found to be quite interesting as well. I also thought it was quite amazing that the author dedicated entire chapters to some of the more imfamous sites such as The Old Brewery and Paradise Park.

Sometimes I wish more of these things were preserved and still viewable today; but I guess the Five Points was an area the city simply wanted to rid itself of...And they did a good job. The five-pointed intersection has been reduced to two 'points', and the site contains no plaques or historical landmark signs whatsoever (Unless you want to count the plaques at nearby Foley Square).

Hundreds of people casually stroll through the area every week, without a clue about the historical significance of the ground they walk on...However; if they were to go back in time 150 years, I'm quite sure that wouldn't be the case. The corner of Baxter and Worth will always be a special place for me...One of the few ghostly remains of a bygone era of poverty and corruption in the city, and a silent reminder to anyone who cares, of just how far the city has progressed and evolved since then.

This book is definately worth your time.

48 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read December 27, 2002

By L. Strasberg

Format:Paperback

I am also a native New Yorker like the first reviewer. And I am also a history buff. This book is not tedious, and does not read like a text book. It's a page turner, it's addictive... and packed with every detail about this era in New York. You will come away with knowledge that such difficult times did exist, and be greatful that you did not have to endure them.