Buried deep beneath today's Chinatown lies New York City's legendary Five Points -- one-time godforsaken heart of the immigrant, impoverished and working-poor ghetto. A hallowed ground where days-long battles were fought over turf, culture, class and religion during one of the most corrupt and tumultuous eras in the history of this city.

19th century New York: bigotry and rivalry, ribaldry and racism, oppression, defiance, perseverance, progress and reform. This is the story of the Irish, Africans, Germans, Jews, Italians and Chinese who faced unbelievable obstacles to gain a foothold in America during its infancy.

On this tour, we go way beyond the now-familiar "Gangs of New York" narrative and explore the conditions which led to the devolution of the Five Points district. How did a Post-Revolutionary War upper-class enclave become a slum by the mid-19th century? Why did the Irish settle in the Five Points? How did the Italians and Chinese end up displacing most of the Irish, Africans, Germans and Jews by the end of the century? What were the political and social conditions that led to so much fluctuation and turmoil?

Topics discussed:
-How accurate is Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York?
-Origins of class division in NYC
-19th century immigration
-Ethnic and class rivalry
-Redevelopment of the district
-Recent excavation findings

Visit on tour:
-Former Dead Rabit's headquarters
-Former Bowery Boys headquarters
-Site of the North American Hotel and Butts & Shaw stables, where the careers of politicians like Boss Tweed were molded by a shadowy cabal of businessmen
-Site of Bandit's Roost
-Site of Paradise Alley
-Site of Bowery Theater
-Site of "The Tombs" prison
-Intact underground passages
-Much, much more

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