“On my challenge, by the ancient laws of combat, we have met at this chosen ground, to settle for good and all, who holds the sway over the Five Points!”
Its the Dead Rabbits gang against the natives. As Bill roars, wielding his butcher’s heavy knife, I would already be there next to him in his gang of natives. With McGloin and Hellcat Maggie to my right.
This is Martin Scorsese’s movie – “Gangs of New York"
New York in the 1800s, was not a city but rather a furnace where a city someday might be forged. It was absolute mayhem and chaos everywhere. Everyone is fighting against every one else - immigrants with the natives, corrupt politicians with themselves, people against a pervasive poverty, 2 opposing police departments, hordes of looting fire brigades, cholera and a catastrophic civil war. “The Five Points” – a slum at the cross junction of 5 streets (Mulberry, worth, cross, orange and little water) is the axis of all the evil. The root of all the rival gangs - Dead Rabbits, The O'connel guards, the plug uglies, the short tails, chichesters, forty thieves, day break boys, swamp angels, slaughter housers, broadway twisters and many more. Charles Dickens visits the place and gets totally appalled - “People live besides animals, practicing extreme vice and debauchery”. Even in that hell, new forms of music, dance and art are beginning to appear.
1846 - Bill the Butcher, the native lord takes on the most prominent of the Irish gangs – The Dead Rabbits in the Five Points. That’s how the movie (Gangs of New York) starts. In my opinion, this is the greatest movie made ever. An accurate representation of history, culture, costumes, music, language and sentiments. The characters existed in reality, old sketches inspired recreating the environment exactly and a fascinated Scorsese went through loads of archives of documents for years before making this movie.
I watched it like 36 times. And every time, if transforms me into a native of the Five Points. Apart from my passion for history, I am able to relate to it so much because I once lived in a slum which was a microcosm of the Five Points. I still have the memories of watching men chasing and slaying each other. Those terrified, at the same time, thrilled moments! And I developed this long cherished wish. That, when I get to see New York, I would want to trace to where Five Points was 160 years back, see how it transformed, sit there, feel the soil and absorb the vibes.
I landed in the midtown Manhattan last week and to me, every road lead to the Five Points.
Ok, not that easy. I had to read a lot of documents and maps to triangulate the exact area. Wikipedia only gives it rough. Two of the streets had vanished and one renamed. The mayors of the late 1800s totally demolished and rebuilt the place with an aim of erasing its identity. I could only trace it approximately. On the first day, I was closer but it was darker. So I retreated back.
It was very hot when I reached there the next day. The locality had no semblance of the old world. I reached the cross section of Baxter-Mulberry and Worth streets. There stands a park now, Columbus Park and a federal court to its right. As I trod slowly through the park, my intuitions were telling me that it indeed was the Paradise Square, where Bill fought his war. Broken skulls, shattered knees, chopped up ears, looted treasures, megalomania of the gang lords, the birth place of order, culture, freedom, tap dance, jazz and pop… it all lay beneath this concreted floor. I sat there long shaking with incomprehensible emotions and a fulfilled desire.
Life, probably has no meaning. Just some passions and a lot of history.
Its the Dead Rabbits gang against the natives. As Bill roars, wielding his butcher’s heavy knife, I would already be there next to him in his gang of natives. With McGloin and Hellcat Maggie to my right.
This is Martin Scorsese’s movie – “Gangs of New York"
New York in the 1800s, was not a city but rather a furnace where a city someday might be forged. It was absolute mayhem and chaos everywhere. Everyone is fighting against every one else - immigrants with the natives, corrupt politicians with themselves, people against a pervasive poverty, 2 opposing police departments, hordes of looting fire brigades, cholera and a catastrophic civil war. “The Five Points” – a slum at the cross junction of 5 streets (Mulberry, worth, cross, orange and little water) is the axis of all the evil. The root of all the rival gangs - Dead Rabbits, The O'connel guards, the plug uglies, the short tails, chichesters, forty thieves, day break boys, swamp angels, slaughter housers, broadway twisters and many more. Charles Dickens visits the place and gets totally appalled - “People live besides animals, practicing extreme vice and debauchery”. Even in that hell, new forms of music, dance and art are beginning to appear.
1846 - Bill the Butcher, the native lord takes on the most prominent of the Irish gangs – The Dead Rabbits in the Five Points. That’s how the movie (Gangs of New York) starts. In my opinion, this is the greatest movie made ever. An accurate representation of history, culture, costumes, music, language and sentiments. The characters existed in reality, old sketches inspired recreating the environment exactly and a fascinated Scorsese went through loads of archives of documents for years before making this movie.
I watched it like 36 times. And every time, if transforms me into a native of the Five Points. Apart from my passion for history, I am able to relate to it so much because I once lived in a slum which was a microcosm of the Five Points. I still have the memories of watching men chasing and slaying each other. Those terrified, at the same time, thrilled moments! And I developed this long cherished wish. That, when I get to see New York, I would want to trace to where Five Points was 160 years back, see how it transformed, sit there, feel the soil and absorb the vibes.
I landed in the midtown Manhattan last week and to me, every road lead to the Five Points.
Ok, not that easy. I had to read a lot of documents and maps to triangulate the exact area. Wikipedia only gives it rough. Two of the streets had vanished and one renamed. The mayors of the late 1800s totally demolished and rebuilt the place with an aim of erasing its identity. I could only trace it approximately. On the first day, I was closer but it was darker. So I retreated back.
It was very hot when I reached there the next day. The locality had no semblance of the old world. I reached the cross section of Baxter-Mulberry and Worth streets. There stands a park now, Columbus Park and a federal court to its right. As I trod slowly through the park, my intuitions were telling me that it indeed was the Paradise Square, where Bill fought his war. Broken skulls, shattered knees, chopped up ears, looted treasures, megalomania of the gang lords, the birth place of order, culture, freedom, tap dance, jazz and pop… it all lay beneath this concreted floor. I sat there long shaking with incomprehensible emotions and a fulfilled desire.
Life, probably has no meaning. Just some passions and a lot of history.
Interesting! You've obviously changed a lot since 21.
ReplyDelete@Kitcha : Thanks for reading. Is the change any better? :))
ReplyDeletehey!!! where are you?!! You have changed your number?
ReplyDelete@Tari : In and Out - biz trips...
ReplyDeleteSame number still. Hows your plans?