Jesus Christ, your Lord and Saviour wrote:
> Rita wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 20:02:02 -0800, "Carmen L. Abruzzi"
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Pan wrote:
>>>
>>>>On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 11:05:03 -0500, Shawn Hearn
>>>>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>In article , "Brett"
>
>
>>>>>wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>Are there any parts of Manhattan some one might want to stay away
>
> from in
>
>>>>>>regards to criminal activity? I'm planning to stay for a few
>
> nights but
>
>>>>>>don't want to wind up in the wrong part of town.
>>>>>
>>>I saw in some movie that the Five Points area could be a bit
>
> dangerous.
>
>>You are saying this tongue in cheek, surely.
>
>
> Don't call me "Shirley".
>
>
>
>> Five Points was
>>a name given to a part of lower Manhattan in early New York
>>City history. It was the area around what is now Chinatown,
>>Little Italy and the Federal Courthouse, I believe. You are
>>only about 150 years out of date:)
>>
>>Five Points is New York City's mythic slum.
>>Named for the points created by the intersection of Park, Worth, and
>
> Baxter
>
>>streets, the neighborhood was known as a center of vice and
>
> debauchery
>
>>throughout the nineteenth century. Outsiders found Five Points
>
> threatening and
>
>>fodder for lurid prose. Describing a visit in 1842, Charles Dickens
>
> wrote: "This
>
>>is the place: these narrow ways diverging to the right and left, and
>
> reeking
>
>>every where with dirt and filth. Such lives as are led here, bear the
>
> same fruit
>
>>here as elsewhere. The coarse and bloated faces at the doors have
>
> counterparts
>
>>at home and all the wide world over. Debauchery has made the very
>
> houses
>
>>prematurely old. See how the rotten beams are tumbling down, and how
>
> the patched
>
>>and broken windows seem to scowl dimly, like eyes that have been hurt
>
> in drunken
>
>>frays. Many of these pigs live here. Do they ever wonder why their
>
> masters walk
>
>>upright in lieu of going on all-fours? and why they talk instead of
>
> grunting?"
>
>>The archaeological excavation of the Foley Square courthouse block
>
> provided the
>
>>opportunity to examine the physical remains of life in this infamous
>
> place. This
>
>>virtual exhibit begins to tell the story of what was found.
>>
>>http://r2.gsa.gov/fivept/wifp.htm
>>
>>Today you can choose a walking tour of what was the Five
>>Points area:
>>
>>We will walk through Little Italy and Nolita and the area that was
>
> the infamous
>
>>"Five Points" Neighborhood portrayed in the movie "Gangs of New
>
> York". We will
>
>>see a remaining landmark survivor (1 family, 2 story, Federal styled
>
> home) of a
>
>>middle income artisan community that was here before Little Italy or
>
> the Five
>
>>Points neighborhoods came into being. We will also see surviving
>
> landmark
>
>>institutional buildings along with interesting pictures and stories
>
> that will
>
>>give us an insight into both neighborhoods past
>>
>>I guess you saw the movie "Gangs of New York"?
>
>
> Sounds vaguely familiar. Good response my dear!
>
Dear Lord, how did this blasphemous author name get connected to my post?
I apologize to all those who might be offended by it. My post about the
"Five Points" area was of course tongue in cheek, based on the movie
_Gangs of New York_, and Rita gave a very very good and informative
response to my mere frivolity.
I did not intend anything more than a recognition of her contribution
and I am, if not mortified, at least mystified as to how my authorship
is attributed to a divinity worshipped and admired by millions. It was
not my intention, I wish to assure you all.
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