Five Points and Beyond

Gothamist has been sucked in to the History Channel's documentaries about the gangs of New York recently. Being history buffs, we want to learn more, but how do we do that without having to watch the Scorsese film again (which omitted a lot of facts)? With the Big Onion Walking Tours!

The "Official" Gangs of New York Tour

A tour exploring the legends and lore of Five Points and Herbert Asbury’s 1928 classic The Gangs of New York – the inspiration for Martin Scorsese’s film. Stops include: Paradise Square, “Murderers Alley”, the African Burial Ground, the lost intersection of Five Points, and sites associated with Bill “The Butcher” Poole, William M. Tweed, Master Juba, and the 1857 Police and 1863 Draft Riots. Full Schedule Here

The Five Points site is also pretty interesting, where you can check out what urban archaeologists are discovering today about the area. This site has a complete history of the 1863 draft riots. There's also the Ric Burns's (Ken Burns's brother) documentary on New York, the box set covers the above, and just about everything else that has to do with this city and it's history.