Monday, April 21, 2008

Announcing!

As development threatens to displace Chinatown,
LES Residents for Responsible Development
Historical Walking Tours of the LES presents


Five Points Historical Walking Tour:
CITY HALL TO CHINATOWN

The Five Points tour tells the story of immigrant unrest, riot, rebellion and reform leading from multi-racial New Amsterdam to melting-pot New Deal. It's the story of a city socially and politically unprepared for its own diversity emerging finally as a progressive vanguard for the nation; a story of Africans, Germans, Irish, Italians, Jews and Chinese; from the 17th century African burial ground and the early slave reprisals to the spectacular structures of the Civic Center and their decadent scandals; the street of Irish Gold just a few short steps from the oldest and most notorious slum in America, the Five Points of Irish Despair; from gangs of New York and Chinatown tongs, their gang headquarters still in use around the corner from winding Blood Alley where countless gang members were murdered in half a century of turf warfare, to the single oldest relic of civilization on the island of Manhattan and abiding emblem of diversity and tolerance. It's a story of bigotry and rivalry; ribaldry, racism and radicalism; oppression, defiance, perseverance, progress and reform.

Every Sunday, 2-4pm. Meet at the southwest corner of Chambers and Centre Streets, corner of the plaza. $15. Guide: Rob

Presented in association with East Village Community Media
Visit their website for more historical tours of the EV and LES:
http://www.east-village.com

including

Gangsters, Murderers and Weirdos, Tuesdays and Saturdays, 1-3pm, meets 2nd Ave & Houston, $15
The dark underbelly of the East Village wild side. Guide: Eric

The East Village, Fridays and Saturdays, 11am-1pm, meets Astor Place Cube, $15
Culture and progress in the slum ... and their unraveling. Guide: Rob

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