There's always request for more graffiti on this blog. As a result, we will do the opposite and start featuring bits of history of NYC street names from A-Z. To kick off the series, we will start with a little history about Allen Street in lower Manhattan.



Allen Street runs north-south and currently stretches from Houston Street on the North to Division Street on the South. It was originally named Chester Street prior to 1799 and then renamed "Asylum Street" in 1806. In 1833, it was renamed yet again to Third Street and then finally to Allen Street which it remains today. The street name's origin comes from William Henry Allen (from Providence, RI) who was the the youngest person to command a Navy ship in the War of 1812. He died in action at the age of 29.

The address 70 Allen Street is believed to be the birthplace of Billy the Kid in 1859. The original location no longer exists because the east side of Allen Street was demolished due to slum clearance in the 1930's. If you look at the map above, you will notice that the blocks between Allen Street and Orchard Street are about half the size of other blocks in the neighborhood as a result of the clearance.


This ELMO (smart) throw-up would have been located in the once-backyard of Billy the Kid

Looking at Allen Street today, you would never guess that there used to be an elevated IRT Second Avenue Line running its full length. “This line was constructed in 1878 and blocked out most light from this narrow street at the time. Partly because of the El, Allen Street became one of the poorest and least desirable parts of the Lower East Side. The street was noted for its houses of prostitution, which were the shame of the Jewish community that dominated the neighborhood.”


This public bathroom on Allen/Delancey is one of the few remnants of the El.  (Photo: 2011)
Many public bathrooms were built on or under transit lines at the time.


Looking North at Allen St. x Delancey St.– July 5, 1907


Looking east at Allen St. on Delancey St. c.1907


Same location as above photo 104 years later less the El structure with the Subway running underneath on Delancey these days. (Photo: 2011)


Canal St. station on the Second Avenue El above Allen St. (pre-slum clearance) c.1928

Allen Street was known as a red light district plagued with crime and overpopulation. As its peak, there were over 2,000 residents living there in crowded tenements. "On September 17, 1903, a gun battle was fought beneath the El tracks at Allen and Rivington Streets between followers of Paul Kelly, leader of the Five Points Gang, and the rival gang of Monk Eastman. At one point a hundred men joined the fray, with police driven off by gunfire. Three men were killed and numerous innocent civilians were injured."


Fire destroyed an overcrowded tenement on Allen Street in March 1905, claiming the lives of twenty people. The five-story building at 105 Allen Street (above) housed 200 people. (Photo: 2011)

As a form of urban renewal, the entire east side of Allen Street was cleared out which resulted in wider streets split by a pedestrian walkway which still exists today.


The buildings on the West side of Allen St were shaved off as part of the slum clearance program as seen here looking North on Allen St showing the 2nd Ave El structure at Stanton St c.1928."


The same photo 83 years later less the El structure with addition of disgusting hipster aura. (Photo: 2011)


View from the tracks of the El turning onto Allen St. from Division St. The "Manhattan Railway Co. Station 5" sign and building you see on the left still exists today. c.1931 (Check out the feature that Forgotten NY did on Division St.)

 
The view of Allen St. x Division St. from the street level c.1931


Same view as photo above about 80 years later. Note that the building was shaped that way to accommodate the El train making the turn. (Photo: 2011)


A little graffiti throwback c. 2005 at the same spot VYELS (smart), GOAL (smart), JUST (Photo: stolen)

The 90’s serial killer Joel Rifkin picked up his final victim on Allen Street in 1993. The victim, Tiffany Bresciani, 22, was the girlfriend of Dave Rubinstein (a.k.a. Dave Insurgent, a member of the 1980s punk band Reagan Youth.) She was a prostitute who worked on Allen street. A New York Times article from 1993 noted that "The women who work as prostitutes along a park-like strip of Allen Street said yesterday that they recognized police photographs of Joel Rifkin and remembered him as a man who frequented the Lower East Side looking for sex."


Prostitution still existed along this strip until the Giuliani era.


The Allen St. creep himself, Joel Rifkin


"Allen Boys" mural painted by Lee Quinones c. 1982


Remnants of the mural 29 years later. (Photo: 2011)

There's tons of history all around us in New York City.  If you're interested in learning more about this area, you should definitely check out the Tenement Museum  that's located at 108 Orchard St.  You can get some insight into the living conditions of a LES tenement back in the day.

 

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Street_(Manhattan)
http://picasaweb.google.com/MercuryWW/NYC2ndAveEl#5442243714413324322
http://www.justenladda.com/pages/pages%20public%20art/pages%20Allen%20Street/Allen%20Street%20History.html
http://www.nychinatown.org/allen.html