Places
MANHATTAN
Centrally Located
MANHATTAN
Centrally Located
Central Park: Huge park where all Manhattan newsies are allowed to sell their papes (which leads to more than a few skirmishes). You can actually find sheep grazing here!
Blackwell's Island
This narrow island on the East River is located between Manhattan and Queens, but considered part of the borough of Manhattan. It can only be reached by boat. Besides the Refuge, its attractions include a Gothic-style lighthouse, a workhouse (basically a prison where the poor work off their debts), an almshouse for impoverished men and women, and a notorious lunatic asylum. Altogether, a rather grim place.
The New York House of Refuge: (see link for source of historical information) A juvenile detention facility with a male and female division. Anyone under twenty-one can be committed for petty crimes or simple vagrancy (a.k.a. being homeless), or even turned over by their parents for "bad behavior." They can then be held indefinitely. Boys are subjected to daily military drills and put to work making "brushes, cane chairs, brass nails, and shoes." Girls make uniforms and do laundry and other domestic work. Literacy skills are also taught, and evangelical Protestant religious instruction is provided. Badges are used to segregate children according to their behavior. Inmates are often rented out to families for farm or domestic work. The last warden, Nigel Snyder, was arrested right after the Newsies' Strike for misusing city funds. He was replaced, however, by the equally sinister Colonel Omar Van Leuven Sage, and the Refuge remains open--despite continued rumors of prisoner neglect and abuse.
The New York House of Refuge: (see link for source of historical information) A juvenile detention facility with a male and female division. Anyone under twenty-one can be committed for petty crimes or simple vagrancy (a.k.a. being homeless), or even turned over by their parents for "bad behavior." They can then be held indefinitely. Boys are subjected to daily military drills and put to work making "brushes, cane chairs, brass nails, and shoes." Girls make uniforms and do laundry and other domestic work. Literacy skills are also taught, and evangelical Protestant religious instruction is provided. Badges are used to segregate children according to their behavior. Inmates are often rented out to families for farm or domestic work. The last warden, Nigel Snyder, was arrested right after the Newsies' Strike for misusing city funds. He was replaced, however, by the equally sinister Colonel Omar Van Leuven Sage, and the Refuge remains open--despite continued rumors of prisoner neglect and abuse.
Lower East Side
Duane Park: Grassy, triangular little park on Duane Street.
New Irving Hall: Vaudeville theater on Broome Street. Owned by Medda Larkson. Friendly to newsies. Monk Eastman sometimes works here as a bouncer, however, and is said to make a notch in his day-stick for every head he bashes.
Newspaper Row: Actually called Park Row (and formerly Chatham Street). Got its nickname for all the newspapers that have their headquarters here, including the New York World. Newsies all over Manhattan buy their papers here.
Silver Dollar Smith's Saloon: Bar on Essex Street with thousands of silver dollars embedded in the floor, the walls, the counter, and even the light fixtures. A meeting place for Eastman's gang; Monk himself sometimes works here as a bouncer. Friendly to Jews and somewhat hostile to Italians.
Tibby's: Restaurant on Fulton Street. Friendly to newsies. The menu: cole slaw (5 cents), knockwurst (15 cents), sauerkraut (5 cents), peach pie (5 cents), coffee (2 cents), and borsch (10 cents).
New Irving Hall: Vaudeville theater on Broome Street. Owned by Medda Larkson. Friendly to newsies. Monk Eastman sometimes works here as a bouncer, however, and is said to make a notch in his day-stick for every head he bashes.
Newspaper Row: Actually called Park Row (and formerly Chatham Street). Got its nickname for all the newspapers that have their headquarters here, including the New York World. Newsies all over Manhattan buy their papers here.
Silver Dollar Smith's Saloon: Bar on Essex Street with thousands of silver dollars embedded in the floor, the walls, the counter, and even the light fixtures. A meeting place for Eastman's gang; Monk himself sometimes works here as a bouncer. Friendly to Jews and somewhat hostile to Italians.
Tibby's: Restaurant on Fulton Street. Friendly to newsies. The menu: cole slaw (5 cents), knockwurst (15 cents), sauerkraut (5 cents), peach pie (5 cents), coffee (2 cents), and borsch (10 cents).
Greenwich Village
The Black Cat: Whitewashed brick restaurant/nightclub on Bleecker Street. Noisy, smoky, joyful den of bohemia. Patrons dance to the tunes of the talented pianist and discuss art and radical politics.
The Black Rabbit: Club for "fairies" and "Sapphic women" (gay men and lesbians) at 183 Bleecker Street, where Greenwich Village and the Bowery overlap. Explicit sexual performances are offered.
The Golden Rule Pleasure Club: Homosexual brothel in a basement on West 3rd Street. Divided into many small rooms, each with a table and chairs and a boy or young man awaiting customers. These youths paint their faces during business hours and use feminine voices and names.
Heartwick's Saloon: "Black-and-tan" saloon on Thompson Street (where black, white, and mulatto folks mix freely). Owned and run by Arthur Heartwick, who lives right above it.
The Laughing Butler: Experimental theater on Christopher Street. Run-down but thoroughly bohemian; offers every possible kind of entertainment and often recruits lower-class performers and stagehands.
Maria's: Marietta Da Prato's Italian restaurant at 82 West 12th Street. Famous for its chicken nights and spaghetti hours. Patrons are known for spontaneously offering up music, poetry, and monologues.
Washington Square Park: At the foot of Fifth Avenue, in the heart of Greenwich Village. Known for its fountain, the giant marble Washington Arch, and its general beauty.
The Black Rabbit: Club for "fairies" and "Sapphic women" (gay men and lesbians) at 183 Bleecker Street, where Greenwich Village and the Bowery overlap. Explicit sexual performances are offered.
The Golden Rule Pleasure Club: Homosexual brothel in a basement on West 3rd Street. Divided into many small rooms, each with a table and chairs and a boy or young man awaiting customers. These youths paint their faces during business hours and use feminine voices and names.
Heartwick's Saloon: "Black-and-tan" saloon on Thompson Street (where black, white, and mulatto folks mix freely). Owned and run by Arthur Heartwick, who lives right above it.
The Laughing Butler: Experimental theater on Christopher Street. Run-down but thoroughly bohemian; offers every possible kind of entertainment and often recruits lower-class performers and stagehands.
Maria's: Marietta Da Prato's Italian restaurant at 82 West 12th Street. Famous for its chicken nights and spaghetti hours. Patrons are known for spontaneously offering up music, poetry, and monologues.
Washington Square Park: At the foot of Fifth Avenue, in the heart of Greenwich Village. Known for its fountain, the giant marble Washington Arch, and its general beauty.
The Bowery:
McGurk's Saloon: Infamous dive at at 295 Bowery, run by shady Irish immigrant John H. McGurk and better known as "Suicide Hall." Generally patronized by "sailors, pickpockets, panhandlers, waterfront thieves, gang members, morphine addicts, and prostitutes." Drinks are strengthened with liquid camphor, sometimes to the point of fatal overdoses; wealthy-looking patrons are drugged with chloral hydrate, then dragged down to the basement or into Horseshoe Alley to be robbed or worse. Best-known as the location of a staggering number of suicides by Bowery prostitutes, usually by swallowing carbolic acid.
New Brighton Athletic Club: Two-story cafe and dance hall at 57 Great Jones Street in Five Points (between Lafayette and Bowery). Owned by Paul Kelly and used as a headquarters by his gang.
New Brighton Athletic Club: Two-story cafe and dance hall at 57 Great Jones Street in Five Points (between Lafayette and Bowery). Owned by Paul Kelly and used as a headquarters by his gang.
Organizations
The Eastman Gang
A Jewish gang that controls the seedy underworld of the Lower East Side. Led by Monk Eastman. Runs various brothels, saloons, illegal gambling halls, and opium dens, and hires out its members as thieves, thugs, and assassins. Also works for Tammany Hall, going out in force to "influence" the vote on election days. Often meets at New Irving Hall or Silver Dollar Smith's Saloon. Major rival is the Five Points Gang; the two engage in occasional skirmishes over the Bowery, the no-man's-land that overlaps both their territories. Their mutual animosity grows more heated every year.
The Five Points Gang
An Italian gang that controls the neighborhood it is named for. Run by Paul Kelly. Activities are much the same as those of their major rival, the Eastman Gang, right down to their political ties to Tammany Hall. Headquarters is the New Brighton cafe and dance hall.
The Hudson Dusters
Gang that operates out of an apartment building on Hudson Street, controlling the waterfront and the criminal underworld of the Lower West Side. Led by three men named Circular Jack, Kid Yorke, and Goo Goo Knox. Often engages in skirmishes with smaller gangs, such as the Pearl Buttons, the Fashion Plates, and their major rivals, the Marginals. Largely made up of drug addicts; known for throwing wild cocaine parties. The Dusters routinely demand goods from the merchants of Greenwich Village, earning them the fear and hatred of most Villagers.
The New York Newsies Union
Formed by Jack Kelly and David Jacobs during the Newsies' Strike of summer 1899. For the first time, this event brought together newsboys and newsgirls from all over the city, uniting them around a common goal. After the strike, the Union remained intact; each lodging house established a leader among its newsies, who defined the boundaries of that house's territory. Houses that join the Union vow to sell only on their own territory, stand by their fellow members in the event of another strike, and send out messengers to report on any news that might effect the other houses, from new lodgers to local crimes and scandals to territory disputes. Finally, the Union holds regular events to bring the newsies of several houses together, such as holiday feasts, dances, and poker tournaments.
This doesn't mean all the newsies in the Union are friends, however; personal fights, territory disputes, and even all-out war may occur between Union members, with the other houses either choosing sides or electing to remain neutral.
A Jewish gang that controls the seedy underworld of the Lower East Side. Led by Monk Eastman. Runs various brothels, saloons, illegal gambling halls, and opium dens, and hires out its members as thieves, thugs, and assassins. Also works for Tammany Hall, going out in force to "influence" the vote on election days. Often meets at New Irving Hall or Silver Dollar Smith's Saloon. Major rival is the Five Points Gang; the two engage in occasional skirmishes over the Bowery, the no-man's-land that overlaps both their territories. Their mutual animosity grows more heated every year.
The Five Points Gang
An Italian gang that controls the neighborhood it is named for. Run by Paul Kelly. Activities are much the same as those of their major rival, the Eastman Gang, right down to their political ties to Tammany Hall. Headquarters is the New Brighton cafe and dance hall.
The Hudson Dusters
Gang that operates out of an apartment building on Hudson Street, controlling the waterfront and the criminal underworld of the Lower West Side. Led by three men named Circular Jack, Kid Yorke, and Goo Goo Knox. Often engages in skirmishes with smaller gangs, such as the Pearl Buttons, the Fashion Plates, and their major rivals, the Marginals. Largely made up of drug addicts; known for throwing wild cocaine parties. The Dusters routinely demand goods from the merchants of Greenwich Village, earning them the fear and hatred of most Villagers.
The New York Newsies Union
Formed by Jack Kelly and David Jacobs during the Newsies' Strike of summer 1899. For the first time, this event brought together newsboys and newsgirls from all over the city, uniting them around a common goal. After the strike, the Union remained intact; each lodging house established a leader among its newsies, who defined the boundaries of that house's territory. Houses that join the Union vow to sell only on their own territory, stand by their fellow members in the event of another strike, and send out messengers to report on any news that might effect the other houses, from new lodgers to local crimes and scandals to territory disputes. Finally, the Union holds regular events to bring the newsies of several houses together, such as holiday feasts, dances, and poker tournaments.
This doesn't mean all the newsies in the Union are friends, however; personal fights, territory disputes, and even all-out war may occur between Union members, with the other houses either choosing sides or electing to remain neutral.