:: Doyers Street : NYC ::
I stumbled onto Doyers Street during my most recent visit to NYC & this hidden, tucked away area of Chinatown struck me as one with years of interesting history: with its snaking, twisting alleys, to the buzz of the neon lights. I was not to be disappointed.
Doyers Street was once known as the Bloody Angle which was the site of many battles between Chinese Tong gang’s during the late 1800′s and early 20th century. There were opium dens, fan tan parlors, trapdoors, secret openings, and hidden passages. It’s last opium den closed in 1958; when it was raided, police walked away with 10 pounds of heroin. Legend had it that one of the early Doyers (who the street was named after) hid $35,000 in gold in one of the walls of his house.
Doyers Street for many years during its heyday was a great place to get shanghaied by a con, or kidnapped into sexual slavery.
This was once the Chinatown hustle. A nerve center. Now it has a slice of gentrification since mixologist-wet-hole-bring-on-the-glam moved in.
