Allen Street

Service Description

My mother grew up on the Lower East Side, when it was still a Jewish ghetto. Whenever anyone mentioned Allen Street, she would make a face and change the subject. Now I know why—Allen Street was the center of the Jewish red light district. As Judge Jonah J. Goldstein once said, “If a woman hailed you as you walked down Allen Street, you knew she wasn’t calling you to a minyan. ” But how did Allen Street get that way, and what became of it? What roles did anti-Semitism, sexism, capitalism, mass transit, urban renewal, and xenophobia play? On this historical walking tour, we will explore the rise and fall and rise again of one of the most notorious thoroughfares in New York City history. Along the way we will meet: - The detective who went undercover to bust the Jewish vice racket. - The anarchist who prostituted herself to support her radical lover. - The serial killer who stalked the working girls of Allen Street. - The muckraker who launched the “white slave trade” panic. - The police commissioner who blamed half of all crime in New York City on the Jews. - The mobster who was rubbed out with the complicity of the NYPD. - The Methodist who lead a violent Jewish street gang. - The dedicated doctor who tried to get working girls off the streets. - And two long-lived and industrious prostitutes who turned a prodigious 50, 000 tricks. As my mother would say, “it’s a shonda! ” Adults only.

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To cancel or reschedule, please contact us at least two days in advance.

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