Five Points Area

YourFirstName YourLastNameInstructor's NameCourse Title22 June 2014
FIVE POINTS AREA
Five points area is a slum in Manhattan in the city of New York. This place is the first identified slum in New York. Research has established the challenges that residents of this area face through their day to day livelihoods. The name of the slum was derived from the five pointed intersection created by the orange and cross streets. This slum was famous for being disease ridden and full of all kinds of crimes. This slum has existed for over seventy years. It is probably one of the biggest slums worldwide. This research paper discusses the coexistence of the residents in the five point area. It also gives an insight of the challenges faced by both the residents and the government in trying to develop and improve the area. Lastly this paper compares the five point area in historical times and its current situation.
The reader may not see the reasons as to why the writer decided to use this title. The writer considered the following issues while choosing the above title. During the time in history residents of lower Manhattan were considered to be riffraff. This is probably because five points was the first real slum. As such everyone gets curious to know how residents survive with such harsh conditions surrounding them. Another pressing issue that led to selection of this title is the increase in media focus at the time. This increases people’s interests to ascertain what was going on in the most feared ghetto. The writer analyzed these issues and decided to choose the title ‘life in the five point neighborhood in the united states.'
There were several issues during the time in history that conflicted to today’s beliefs. They will be discussed at length below with the respect to the third question of research. Over 100 years ago the lower Manhattan had a lake known as the collect. People would gather around the lake to have some fun. They would skate and do other activities such as fishing. The lake occupied about five acres of land in the lower Manhattan. Researchers have observed that it is a trend in America that if they see trash they add more unto it. Therefore by the 1700’s slaughterhouses and other industries had set foot into the territory. Emissions from these filthy businesses went directly into the lake. It no longer was just a recreational site. It became more of an environmental hazardous site. By the 1800s, more of these businesses were established (Mauck pp13). More settlements had occurred. Therefore, the five points area was formed. It was the first slum in the United States to be realized. This area became the first urban ghetto. It fixes the idea of the poor people being associated with criminals. As discussed above the name, five points was formed from the five intersections surrounding the Manhattan. According to Tyler Anbinder through his published works in the 1990s, he identified the five intersect...