The Invisible City
March 21, 2018, by Bryce
It was interesting to read about an “invisible” side of the city. I especially was intrigued by Sante’s account of an early form of gentrification of the city in Low Life. Sante discusses gentrification in the way we know it today, with a well-known drama critic moving onto Bank Street in Greenwich Village, a street still partially inhabited by the low class. But, he also discusses a form of almost fetishization of the poor during the 1800s by the higher classes, especially Europeans. It was so odd, but yet familiar, that the rich would come down for a day and take tours of lower class neighborhoods. They were fascinated by the “exoticism” of Chinatown and the mixing of races that happened in Downtown Manhattan at this time. At first when I read this it seemed very voyeuristic and something that would never happen today, but then when I started to think about it, it seemed less alien. Today, the rich are still fascinated by the poor and what they see to be exotic. It reminds me of when Kim Kardashian and her family went to Thailand. While she was there, she tried to adopt a little girl without any paperwork, or even the little girl wanting to be adopted by her. The rich today still go on philanthropy trips abroad, or even to shelters in their own cities, under the guise of helping but it tends to end up being a fetishization of the poor. The high class is constantly curious about the lower class, they want to experience their own version of the Prince and the Pauper, without it being permanent. It was the case in Downtown Manhattan in the 1800s and it is still the case today.
I also found it disturbing to read about the “orphans” of Lower Manhattan, may of whom weren’t even necessarily orphans. Many families during this time were unable to care for their children, and this resulted in children being forced out of their homes basically after the nursing stage. This led to children having to grow up quickly, a common trope used when discussing children of Manhattan even today. But, the children Sante discusses had to quickly turn to a life of crime on the streets as a means to survive. Children often didn’t live to adulthood, but they experienced basically all of what adults in Manhattan were at this time. There were gangs comprised only of children, complete with the lifestyle that often accompanied gangs. What shocked me was when Sante discussed the presence of “ boy’s saloons, with three-cent whiskies, and little girls in the back rooms”, these children had sex, drank, and gambled all before reaching their teen years. It’s disturbing to read this chapter, imagining the children I see on the streets coming home from school being thrust into this world of depravity and debauchery. Children were living on docks, underground, and having to scrape by on whatever they could steal or find. If that wasn’t the case, then they were taking part in the criminal underworld that became so synonymous with Lower Manhattan during this time period.
These chapters of Sante illuminated aspects of Lower Manhattan that many people would like to gloss over when discussing the history of New York City.