Mott Street
Encyclopedia
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in New York City in the United States. It is best known as Chinatown's
Chinatown, Manhattan
Manhattan's Chinatown , home to one of the highest concentrations of Chinese people in the Western hemisphere, is located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
unofficial "Main Street". Mott Street runs from Chatham Square
Chatham Square, Manhattan
Chatham Square is a major intersection in Manhattan's Chinatown. The square lies at the confluence of seven streets: Bowery, East Broadway, St. James Place, Mott Street, Oliver Street, Worth Street and Park Row. The postal ZIP Code is 10038.-History:...
in the south to Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is a street in New York City's Manhattan borough. It is perhaps most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street is a spine that connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was once a major center for American bohemia.Bleecker...
in the north. It is a one-way street, southbound.
History
Mott Street existed in its current configuration by the mid-18th century. At that time, Mott Street passed just to the east of the Collect PondCollect Pond (Manhattan)
The Collect Pond or Fresh Water Pond was a body of fresh water near the southern end of Manhattan Island in New York City, occupying approximately and as deep as . For the first two hundred years of European settlement of Manhattan Collect Pond was the main water supply...
. Like many streets that predated Manhattan's grid, Mott Street meandered around natural features of the landscape rather than running through or over them. It was the need to avoid the now long since paved over Collect Pond that gave Mott Street its characteristic "bend" to the northeast at Pell Street.
Having been previously known as Old Street, as well as Winne Street (also spelled Wynne) for the section between Pell and Bleecker, Mott Street was renamed in the late 18th century to honor the prominent local family of the same name, likely in particular businessman Joseph Mott, a butcher and tavern owner who provided support to the rebel forces in the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
.
During the 19th century the lower portion of Mott Street south of Canal Street was part of the Five Points
Five Points, Manhattan
Five Points was a neighborhood in central lower Manhattan in New York City. The neighborhood was generally defined as being bound by Centre Street in the west, The Bowery in the east, Canal Street in the north and Park Row in the south...
, a notorious slum neighborhood in New York City. In 1872 Wo Kee, a Chinese merchant opened a general store on Mott Street near Pell Street. In the years to follow, Chinese immigrants would eke out an enclave around the intersection of Mott, Doyer and Pell Streets. At the time, it was the Cantonese immigrants migrating and it first began as a very small Bachelor's Society since it was mostly Chinese males migrating over at the time. It was mostly Cantonese immigrants coming from Taishan, China so as a result it was first a Taishanese community. That all changed during the 1960s when an influx of other Cantonese immigrants from Hong Kong began to arrive over with some Taiwanese immigrants as well. As a result, Chinatown began expanding quickly and Standard Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
, which is spoken in Guangzhou, China and in Hong Kong became the dominant language of the Chinatown neighborhood. At the time, Chinatown was emerging and growing as a Little Hong Kong, but the growth slowed down later on. Manhattan's Chinatown
Chinatown, Manhattan
Manhattan's Chinatown , home to one of the highest concentrations of Chinese people in the Western hemisphere, is located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
has grown into the largest Chinatown in the United States, engulfing a large swath of the Lower East Side
Lower East Side, Manhattan
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
. But the historic heart of Chinatown, as well as the primary destination for tourists is still Mott Street between Canal Street and Chatham Square. This is center of what is known as the Old Chinatown of Manhattan.
Cantonese Gangs In The Past
For more than twenty years Cantonese gangs based on Mott street terrorized Chinatown. The Ghost ShadowsGhost Shadows
The Ghost Shadows are a Chinese American gang that was prominent in New York City's Chinatown from the 1980s through the early 1990s.Formed in 1971 by immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia, the gang is believed to be under control of the On Leong Tong...
made this street their territory once the On Leong Tong Gang gave their approval that had dominance on this street. The approval was not very easy since it involved a bloody battle over the territory. Nicky Louie, who immigrated from Hong Kong in the late 60s to Manhattan's Chinatown ran the Ghost Shadows gang with 50 or more members also originating from Hong Kong. With the Ghost Shadows controlling Mott Street during the 70s, they affiliated with the On Leong Tong Gang. The On Leong Tong were the wealthiest and most influential gang organization in Chinatown. Working with the On Leong benefited the Ghost Shadows a portion of money earned by the Tong's activities. The gangs were the guards of the gambling houses in the On Leong territory that operated in the poor conditions of lofts and basements along Mott Street. The gangs also ran a protection racket
Protection racket
A protection racket is an extortion scheme whereby a criminal group or individual coerces a victim to pay money, supposedly for protection services against violence or property damage. Racketeers coerce reticent potential victims into buying "protection" by demonstrating what will happen if they...
whereby shopkeepers paid the gangs a negotiated cash fee for protection during the period of the 80s and 90s, which often involved tea during the negotiation and it was often very peaceful.
The gangs also acted as runners in the Chinatown Connection heroin trade between the Canadian border and spreading it throughout New York. On Leong Gang was like most Chinatown gangs in the past running a legitimate enterprise, serving as a business collective, a crutch for immigrants, even a loan company. The Ghost Shadows were very seriously territorial of Mott Street and one example was a situation where The Ghost Shadows had spotted a White Eagle member walking alone and then kidnapped him into a car and threw him in the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
attempting to drown him. In the 70s, the street was the most violent gang-related period in Chinatown. Gunshots often happened and sometimes tourists would be unintentionally injured. Other gangs that existed were Chung Yee, Liang Shan, the Flying Dragons, the White Eagles and the Black Eagles
Little Hong Kong(小香港)/Little Guang Dong(小广东)
Today this stretch of Mott Street is lined with souvenir shops, tea houses and restaurants,including Wo Hop restaurant at 17 Mott Street and 15 Mott Street, all catering largely to tourists. In 2003, the 32 Mott Street General Store closed due to the effects of the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on the Chinatown economy. The proximity of the attack along with street closures in lower Manhattan (especially the ongoing closure of Park Row under One Police Plaza
One Police Plaza
1 Police Plaza is the headquarters of the New York City Police Department . 1 Police Plaza is located on Park Row in downtown Manhattan near City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge. Its block borders Park Row, Pearl Street, and Police Plaza...
) had cut off much business to Chinatown. 32 Mott had been the longest continuously operating store in Chinatown, established in 1891.
Mott Street north of Canal Street
Canal Street (Manhattan)
Canal Street is a major street in New York City, crossing lower Manhattan to join New Jersey in the west to Brooklyn in the east . It forms the main spine of Chinatown, and separates it from Little Italy...
was historically part of Little Italy
Little Italy, Manhattan
Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants.-Historical area:...
. Today it is predominantly Chinese. This section of Mott Street between roughly Canal and Broome Streets has a number of Chinese-owned fish and vegetable markets. The commercial establishments here cater more to the day to day needs of Chinatown residents than tourists. There are also shops that sell baby jackets, bamboo hats, and miniature buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
s.
This portion of Chinatown along with the rest of the western portion of Chinatown still continues to be the main center of the Cantonese community since the beginning of Chinatown and the main Chinese business commercial district for the whole Chinatown neighborhood or known as the unofficial center of Chinatown. The western portion of Chinatown is also what was the original size and historic part of Manhattan's Chinatown or known as the Old Chinatown of Manhattan until the eastern part of Chinatown just east of The Bowery became more fully developed due to the influx of Fuzhou immigrants primarily on the East Broadway and Eldridge Street portion, which became the new Chinatown. The Bowery, which once served as the borderline of Chinatown is now the divider between the Cantonese and Fuzhou communities. It continues to be a business district catering to not only the Cantonese customers of the Lower East Side, but also to Cantonese people that reside in more affluent places that are also important customers to Chinatown's businesses. The western portion of Chinatown is also a Little Hong Kong, which was a name that was used at one point to describe Manhattan's Chinatown when the Hong Kong immigrants were pouring into the Chinatown neighborhood and even though not all the Cantonese immigrants are from Hong Kong, this portion of Chinatown has strong Cantonese characteristics, especially with Standard Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
language, which is spoken in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China being used widely. Little GuangDong would be the more appropriate term since Cantonese immigrants do come from different parts of Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
province of China. Most of the Chinatown Chinese-businesses still continue to be Cantonese-owned combining with still significant numbers of Cantonese residents of the Lower East Side and Cantonese from other areas contributing to the Chinatown businesses has allow Cantonese to continue to be Chinatown's lingua franca even though Mandarin as Chinatown's other lingua franca is increasing. Despite the large Fuzhou population to the eastern section of Chinatown, Mott Street with the rest of the western portion of Chinatown and with Cantonese still being an important Lingua Franca has allowed Cantonese to still dominate the Chinese cultural standards and economic resources of Chinatown. The long time established Cantonese community stretches onto Pell, Doyer, Bayard, Elizabeth, Mulberry, Canal Streets and The Bowery portion of Manhattan's Chinatown.
Supermarkets
A new branch of New York Mart opened up on August 2011 within this street. It happens to be located in the specific section of Mott Street, which is the center district of grocery and food shopping of Manhattan's Chinatown. Just a block away from New York Mart, is a Hong Kong SupermarketHong Kong Supermarket
Hong Kong Supermarket is a growing supermarket chain in the Los Angeles region of Southern California. It operates mainly in the newer suburban overseas Chinese communities, particularly in the Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and New York City areas....
located on the corner of Elizabeth and Hester Streets. These two supermarkets are the largest Chinese supermarkets carrying all different food varieties within this long time established Cantonese community. Parallel to this Cantonese community, the newly emerged Fuzhou community on the other side of Manhattan's Chinatown on East Broadway also carries another branch of New York Supermarket and a Hong Kong Supermarket did exist there as well, which burned down in 2009 and now the East Broadway branch of New York Supermarket remains as the largest Chinese supermarket for the Fuzhou community.
New York Chinese School
The New York Chinese SchoolNew York Chinese School
The New York Chinese School is a non-profit 501 school located in Chinatown, New York City, that was established in 1909 for overseas Chinese children. The school is housed in the same building as the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association...
is at 64 Mott Street. It is the largest Chinese school in North America and was established in 1909 during the Ching Dynasty of China as an overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
school. It is Chinatown's center of academic learning on Chinese culture, and history. Cantonese and Mandarin classes are also offered at this school, however the Mandarin programs have challenged the long time traditional dominance of Cantonese programs within the school.
Nolita
Though the boundary is fuzzy, the character of Mott Street changes significantly north of about Broome Street. Crossing Broome you leave Chinatown behind and enter "NoLItaNoLIta, Manhattan
Nolita, sometimes written as NoLIta, and deriving from "NOrth of Little ITAly"., is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Nolita is bounded on the north by Houston Street, on the east by the Bowery, on the south roughly by Broome Street, and on the west by Lafayette Street...
" or "North of Little Italy". Fashionable boutiques and restaurants and cafes cater mostly to high income young people. There are still a few remnants of the old Italian neighborhood, most notably Lombardi's Pizzeria, purportedly the first pizzeria established in the United States.
Also in this area is Old St. Patrick's Cathedral
St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, New York
The Basilica of Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral, or Old St. Patrick's, is located at 260-264 Mulberry Street between Prince and Houston Streets in the Nolita neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, with the primary entrance currently located on Mott Street...
, the first Catholic cathedral built in New York (consecrated 1815). The high walls surrounding the church along Mott Street attest to the tension between Protestants and Catholics in New York during the 19th century. The Church of the Transfiguration
Church of the Transfiguration (New York City)
The Church of the Tranfiguration is a Roman Catholic parish located at 25 Mott Street on the northwest corner of Mosco Street in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
was also built here, making it the oldest Roman Catholic church in Manhattan.
Mott Street terminates at Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is a street in New York City's Manhattan borough. It is perhaps most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street is a spine that connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was once a major center for American bohemia.Bleecker...
in Manhattan's NoHo
NoHo
NoHo, for North of Houston Street is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, roughly bounded by Houston Street on the south, The Bowery on the east, Astor Place on the north, and Broadway on the west. NoHo is wedged between Greenwich Village, west of Broadway, and the East Village...
(North of Houston Street) neighborhood.
In popular culture
- In the well-known song "ManhattanManhattan (song)"Manhattan" is a popular song and part of the Great American Songbook. It has been performed by Lee Wiley, Oscar Peterson, Blossom Dearie, Tony Martin, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme, among many others....
" by Rodgers and HartRodgers and HartRodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Lorenz Hart...
, ..."And tell me what street / compares with Mott Street in July; / sweet push carts gently gliding by." - Mott Street is in the lyrics of Rodgers and HartRodgers and HartRodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Lorenz Hart...
's "Manhattan" – "And tell me what street compares with Mott Street in July?" - Mott Street is also mentioned in the song "Lost Boys Calling" by Roger WatersRoger WatersGeorge Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
as part of the movie The Legend of 1900 (soundtrack)The Legend of 1900 (soundtrack)The Legend of 1900 is the soundtrack to the movie of the same name. All of the tracks except for two are by Ennio Morricone. The other songs are "Lost Boys Calling" by Roger Waters and Morricone and Magic Waltz, that has been written by Amedeo Tommasi. There have been two versions of the album...
– "And in Mott street in July / When I hear those seabirds cry" - In a series of short stories by pulp-writer Arthur J. BurksArthur J. BurksArthur J. Burks was an American writer and a Marine colonel.- Biography :Burks was born to a farming family in Waterville, Washington. He married Blanche Fidelia Lane on March 23, 1918 in Sacramento, California and was the father of four children: Phillip Charles, Wasle Carmen, Arline Mary and...
(All Detective Magazine, 1933–34), undercover detective Dorus Noel maintains an apartment near the intersection of Pell and Mott Streets. Burks' Chinatown is riddled with underground passages (which he describes as "rabbit warrens"), and populated by sinister villains and an inexhaustible supply of self-sacrificing Chinese hatchetmen. - In an episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, a BTKDennis RaderDennis Lynn Rader is an American serial killer who murdered ten people in Sedgwick County , between 1974 and 1991....
-esque killer hid a clue on top of a pay phone on the corners of Mott Street and Grand StreetGrand Street (Manhattan)Grand Street is a street in Manhattan, New York City. It runs east-west parallel to and south of Delancey Street, from SoHo through Chinatown, Little Italy, the Lower East Side to the East River....
. - Revy, one of the main characters of the manga/anime Black LagoonBlack Lagoonis a manga series written and illustrated by Rei Hiroe, and published in Shogakukan's Sunday GX since 2002. An animated television series based on the manga aired in Japan from April 8, 2006, to June 24, 2006, totaling twelve episodes. A second season, subtitled "The Second Barrage", ran for twelve...
, is implied to have grown up on Mott Street. - In Garth EnnisGarth EnnisGarth Ennis is a Northern Irish comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series Preacher with artist Steve Dillon and his successful nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise...
' initial run on The PunisherPunisherThe Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
, Frank Castle's apartment is located off of Mott Street. - In The Godfather Part IIThe Godfather Part IIThe Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
, the Genco Olive Oil company was located on Mott Street. - In David MametDavid MametDavid Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
's The Spanish PrisonerThe Spanish PrisonerThe Spanish Prisoner is a 1997 American suspense film, written and directed by David Mamet and starring Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ben Gazzara and Ricky Jay...
, Susan Ricci lives at 110 Mott Street, "above the Sunshine Bakery." - The Beastie Boys' "Three MCs and One DJ" music video was shot in a Mott Street building, which, according to the commentary on the Beastie Boys Video Anthology DVD, was also formerly home to Sonic YouthSonic YouthSonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
. - Mott Street was where "Ragged Dick" from the Horatio, Alger jr. story of the same name found his first "lodgings".
- In AMC-TV series RubiconRubicon (tv series)Rubicon is an American television series created by Jason Horwitch and produced by Henry Bromell that was broadcast on the AMC television network...
, a safe house address is listed as 701 Mott Street, Apt 2D. - In MobstersMobstersMobsters is a 1991 crime-drama film detailing the creation of the The Commission. Set in New York City, taking place from 1917 to 1931, it is a semi-fictitious account of the rise of Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.-Plot:This highly dramatized...
, Mott Street was referred to as the street where Lucky Luciano grew up and eventually rose to power.
External links
- Mott Street storefronts (photos of stores and properties on Mott Street)
- New York Songlines: Mott Street, a virtual walking tour