Chinatown

Pell Street, Chinatown, New York City

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Looking down Pell Street in Chinatown, around 1900-1910.  Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The same scene in 2014:

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Taken from the intersection of Doyers Street, this scene on Pell Street in New York’s Chinatown, this scene is taken from almost the same spot as the photos in this post, just turned about 90 degrees to the right. Several of the buildings are the same, including the ones on either side of the photo, and Pell Street remains at the center of Chinatown.

Mulberry Bend, New York City

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Mulberry Bend, around 1896. Photo from Out of Mulberry Street: Stories of Tenement Life in New York City by Jacob Riis.

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The same view in 2014:

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Throughout much of the 19th century, the Five Points neighborhood of Manhattan was one of the worst slums in the United States.  At the heart of it was Mulberry Bend, named after the curve in Mulberry Street which is visible in the two photos.  In part because of the work of social reformers like Jacob Riis, efforts began at the end of the century to clear out the worst of the slums and tenements.  Shortly after the first photo was taken, the tenements on the left were demolished, and replaced by Columbus Park.  Several of the buildings on the left survive, though, and are now a part of Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood.

This photo was taken just south of the intersection of Mulberry and modern-day Mosco Streets, just north of where this photo was taken a few years later.  If the photographer in that photo had turned left, this is approximately the view that he would have looking up Mulberry.

Mott Street, New York City

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Mott Street in Chinatown, around 1905. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The street in 2014:

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From this angle, not much has changed on Mott Street, looking north from Chatham Square.  Almost all of the buildings on the left (west) side are still there, including probably the oldest building in the photo, the Church of the Transfiguration, which was built in 1801 and has served as the building for a variety of different denominations for a variety of immigrant groups.  Today, it is a Roman Catholic church with a predominantly Chinese congregation.

Corner of Mulberry & Mosco Streets, New York City

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Clam sellers at the corner of Mulberry & Mosco Streets, New York City, around 1900:

The location in 2014:

This scene, looking up Mosco Street, is at the heart of what was once the Five Points neighborhood.  Mosco Street was originally named Cross Street, and was one of the streets that formed the Five Points intersection, which was located a block in the opposite direction.  This area became an infamous slum in the 19th century, and was the setting for the movie “Gangs of New York.” Today, the renamed Cross Street has been truncated to just one block; it ends at Mulberry Street, and all of the buildings on the west side of Mulberry (including the building on the far right of the first photo) were demolished to create Columbus Park. The building across the street is still there, although the corner entrance has been remodeled. Aside from that, the rest of the facade is still recognizable. Another difference is the makeup of the neighborhood; in 1900 this was a part of Little Italy, but today it has been absorbed into Chinatown.

Mulberry Street, Chinatown, New York City

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The view looking north on Mulberry Street, about half a block above Bayard Street, around 1900. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The view in 2014:

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In 1900, this part of Mulberry Street was a part of Little Italy, and as evidenced by the picture was a bustling commercial center.  Today, however, Little Italy has shrunk, and this block is now a part of Chinatown.  Little Italy is still there – the “Little Italy” sign over the street is barely visible in the distance of the 2014 photo, across Canal Street, but it now occupies only a few blocks along Mulberry Street.  This section of Mulberry Street is just a block away from the infamous Mulberry Bend, which was at the heart of the Five Points slum in the 19th century, and which author/muckraking journalist Jacob Riis described in 1896 as being “the foul core of New York’s slums.”  All seems well on the outside of the 1900 photo, although I’m sure it was a different story inside many of the tenement buildings.  Many of the buildings are still there – it’s tough to tell on the left side, but most of them seem to bet the same, and the first four buildings on the right all appear to be the same, although with some changes along the way.

Corner of Doyers & Pell, Chinatown, New York City

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The view looking down Doyers Street from Pell Street, around 1900. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The view in 2014:

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These photos show the other end of Doyers Street, 200 feet from this photo, along the narrow, winding street.  Over a century later, it is still at the heart of Chinatown, and even many of the buildings are still there, including the two on the right-hand side of the photo.  The building on the left of the 1900 photo, though, is gone, along with most other wood-frame buildings in Manhattan.