Sewage, Sex, and Sickness in the Five Points
Description
This two hour walking tour is a deep dive into the dirty history of the Five Points neighborhood in NYC, once called "the foul core of New York City's slums" and an area of "moral leprosy." In a way, it's also a ghost tour, as we'll be exploring a geography (streets and natural features) erased by development and redevelopment. We will uncover the lives of the people who lived in this area (now Chinatown) from 1800 - 1900, discussing how sewage, sex, and sickness pervaded a neighborhood filled with the "poorest of the poor" until it was razed and rebuilt starting in 1897. This is not a tour for the faint of heart! Your guide for this tour is a graduate of the Sanitation Foundation's Trash Academy and has a Master's of Public Administration from Columbia University. This topic is her passion!
Tour Options
Itinerary
We will discuss how Collect Pond was transformed from a fresh water pond with a park to a reeking, polluted swamp to a foul landfill. In this spot, we will also discuss The Tombs (aka the Halls of Justice).
The tour will stop just east of Columbus Park on Worth Street. We will talk about the historic location and stories of Paradise Square, The Old Brewery, Cow Bay, and the intersection of streets that gave the Five Points neighborhood its name.
The tour will continue through the historic area of the Five Points, stopping at the former sites of Donovan's Alley, Chatham Theatre, Chatham Square, Park Street, Mulberry Bend, Bandit's Roost, and Bottle Alley. We'll visit the site of a former notorious brothel and see the oldest tenement in New York City. During the tour, we'll discuss sewage, sex, and sickness in the Five Points from 1800 - 1900.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(2)
Mrs: Suzanne is very professional guide
Thank you! I very much appreciate this kind comment!
Suzanne Reisman brought to life an undercounted era of New York City history. Her narration made the former Five Points district feel like a ghost landscape: a place whose streets, buildings, smells, and social conditions have largely been erased by redevelopment, but whose history still lingers beneath present-day Chinatown. By interpreting the neighborhood through sewage, sex, sickness, poverty, and survival, she allowed us to see what no longer visibly exists and to sense the human reality behind the notorious reputation of the old Five Points.
Thank you! I am so touched by this review, as it is so important for me to honor the people and geography of the past.