Leslie Martinez
History 1305
Depicting different aspects of why East Harlem’s underground economy really exist and demonstrates how residents tend to survive. However, East Harlem is an impoverished community where crime rates and unemployment…
The summer of 1977 was a time period of struggle and despair for the city of New York that would leave one to question if the city would ever rebound. However, through the growth of the city, the expansion of the government, and the emergence of consumption and leisure throughout the economy, the city was able to recover to make the city stronger than ever. The book, “The Bronx is Burning” by Jonathan Mahler, clearly exemplifies and goes into much detail about the trials and tribulations that the New York City people were going through at the time. It delves into politics, the economy, sports, health and public safety in a time of great peril.…
The Movie Gangs of New York, released in 2002, gives insight into the violence, corruption, and disarray that occurred in The Five Points of Manhattan during the 19th century, and reveals one of the biggest skeletons in New York’s closet. Martin Scorsese’s translation of the events in the film proves to be very intriguing, and for the most part accurate. However, there are a few aspects of the film he did not correctly portray: the timing of events, and the scale of the events that occurred.…
Amsterdam is then led into an orphanage where he grows to be a man, all while Bill Cutting runs the Five Points, and most of New York. The Five Points is a district of New York City and obviously the most corrupt. Crime is all to common, and sickness runs rampant in the area.…
In the 2002 Film “Gangs of New York” by Martin Scorsese we see New York City reshaped and changed through cultural influence of feuding individuals and groups with different ideas. On the surface the movie seems to have a straight forward theme but in the back ground we see a cultural shift as immigrants come into America and New York City. In the movie we see the political influence during that time in history, and we see social status and classes defined by material possessions such as clothing and other belongings. The movie shows the feud between two gangs who fight for dominance of the five points based off who was born in the country…
Say your family and you are struggling to meet your basic needs such as food during a harsh famine. Your basic instinct is to acquire food by any means necessary. One way you could get food is by stealing it from your neighbor. In this essay I will examine whether this issue is morally right. I will argue that by using Kant’s End in itself theory, stealing food from your neighbor in time of famine is morally wrong.…
3-part radio series explains the interesting original plan for the show, the use of cinematic movements, and the illusion of tough talk. The producers originally devised a plan that involved parties, Catholics, and Jews on the east side of New York City. However, the papers filled with juvenile delinquents and gangs inspired them to change the plot to the gangs of the west side. I find their inspiration for the plot change captivating, and feel it was an extremely critical decision that largely benefited the production. Besides the change of location, the use of cinematic movement also interests me, and I am fascinated by the continuous movement of the…
In Timothy J. Gilfoyle’s book, The Urban Underworld in Late Nineteenth-Century New York: The Autobiography of George Appo, we learn that life was hard being a 19th century immigrant and choosing a life of crime was sometimes, but not always, the easy way out although it came with many consequences. George Appo was one who chose the life of crime.…
For those who frightened much to abandon their life, goals, projects and interests in order to save one’s life, say goodbye to righteousness. In “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”, also in “ the life you can save”, Peter Singer tries to show that we human beings have a moral obligation to give far more than we actually do for excessive and tragic situations such as famine and disaster relief. According to singer, Giving, sharing and helping the needy is more than moral happiness and inner satisfaction, it is a moral duty. As he state his argument in three premises, “1, suffering and death from the lack of food, shelter and medical care are bad, (2), if it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening,…
Klein, Malcom. The American Street Gang: Its Nature, Prevalence, and Control. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.…
When the economic structure brought in these “leaders” to the people of the city’s there were the immigrants who really liked the political machines because of all the help they were provided with. But then their were the ones that ended up figuring out that the help they were receiving came from self-interest and they despised being controlled that led to the bosses personal use. It was really easy for these “leaders” to gain what they wanted too especially knowing that many people in this society were ignorant to understand the value of…
The residents of lower Manhattan, New York were native-born American and Protestants. The fate of New York changed with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. Among the immigrants, poor and Catholic, were the first urban ethnic group. The Irish opened up a cheap green-grocery store throughout the “ghetto neighborhood” also known as “The Five Points”. It was called that because there were five streets (Cross, Anthony, Little Water, Orange and Mulberry) once converged. The stores were no more than a front for their illegal activities (Delaney, 2006). Gang can mean different things. The group must have more than two members. It could be people you work with, a group of youths that are up to no good. It could also mean group or band. But for this report I believe that the gang meaning is people that are certain age, must share some sense of identity.…
McLean, George N. The Rise and Fall of Anarchy in America... New York: Haskell House,…
By the 1850’s and the growing feeling of being second class citizens other gangs such as the Chichesters, the Dead Rabbits and the Bowery Boys were also formed in the streets of New York; by this time gangs became more notorious for wreaking havoc, having gang wars with public displays of violence (Gang Story). The Chichesters and the Dead Rabbits banned together against their rival gang the Bowery Boys; both the Dead Rabbits and the Bowery Boys were political clubs that met to promote their own which often resulted in fighting (Chamberlain, 2003).…
Johnson, Marilynn S. Street Justice: A History of Police Violence in New York City. New York, NY: Beacon Press, 2004. Print.…