The Real Five Points, The Neighborhood That Inspired 'Gangs of New York'

Comments · 1.3K

• BE

  @beatle1956 · 3 years ago

  Daniel Day-Lewis deserved an Oscar for his portrayal of Bill the Butcher.

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• JU

  @justinhackstadt6677 · 3 years ago (edited)

  Absolutely amazing movie. My maternal grandmother, while she was still alive, told me she came off the boat and lived around the 5 Points in 1910 and lived through Prohibition. All her old stories from that area is what drew me to watch that movie in the first place. Times were so different back then.

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• WI

  @williamwalter4992 · 3 years ago

  Davy Crockett visited the Five Points and later wrote " Black and white, white and black, all hug-em-snug together, happy as lords and ladies, sitting round in a ring, with a jug of liquor between them, and I do think I saw more drunk folks, men and women, that day, than I ever saw before... I thought I would rather risk myself in an Indian fight than venture among these creatures after night. I said to [my friend]...these are worse than savages; they are too mean to swab hell's kitchen."

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• TH

  @theconqueringram5295 · 3 years ago

  You know something, it's fascinating to study the history of a city's urban geography. So much can change in 100 or so years.

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• MI

  @MikeOnTheHomestead · 3 years ago (edited)

  As a former New Yorker, I can say most of NYC it is still a smelly fart jar...

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• MI

  @michaeloshea3090 · 3 years ago

  My family came  from Ireland to the five points in the 1860s, a lot of stories have been passed down about that time. My family worked hard and dragged themselves out of that  hell hole, nothing  was given  to them but misery.

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• RE

  @Reyd_01 · 2 years ago

  I cant remember entirely, but in the Making of the movie mini-doc, they said The Dead Rabbits name came from something like "ded rabeed", an Irish nickname for a tough guy at the time.

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• GI

  @giantWario · 1 year ago

  I wish you would have talked about Hellcat Maggie. She seemed so over-the-top even in the context of this movie so learning that she's actually one of the characters that's based on a real person was crazy to me. And yeah, the real one was also known for ripping off ears with her sharpened teeth.

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• CA

  @captainrawnBR-549 · 3 years ago

  I recommend reading "The Gangs of New York " book by Herbert Asbury written in 1927, of which the movie is based on

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• RO

  @rob6850 · 3 years ago

  Wow, it's so crazy how the powerful gangs still control the same area!

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• ST

  @stevebaker6711 · 2 years ago

  Gangs of New York is one of my favourite films and the book is even better.

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• KE

  @kellysong2256 · 3 years ago

  Daniel Day Lewis can be quite terrifying! 😮 His performances in this film as well as "There Will Be Blood" gave me chills. I can barely look at him now

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