In the late 80s and early 1990s, inner-city youth from Flatbush Brooklyn, Harlem, and the Bronx would take the New York City subway to Chinatown. People spent large sums of money in Chinatown for purposes ranging from purchasing Chinese, Japanese, and Korean food from real Oriental kitchens on Canal St. or nearby canal street, and riding the subway train home. Other inner-city youth took the train to Chinatown, because they knew they could purchase illegal fireworks from Oriental people selling them out of garbage bags on canal street or nearby canal street for pennies on the dollar, stuffed illegally purchased fireworks in their Jansport bookbags, and head over the bridge on the NYC subway back to Brooklyn.
Chinatown paved the way for many businesses coming into existence. Some native New Yorkers and people traveling through Chinatown had no clue of Chinatown's historical past. The dark side, that is.
Did you know Chinatown had a small part known as murder alley? According to the YouTube video above provided by AOL.com, Chinatown not only helped many businesses legitimately come into existence and earn a fortune, but, there was illegal gambling and lots of opium smoked. Additionally, prostitution rings were notorious in Chinatown in the late 1800s and early 1900s. New York cities Chinatown back then was controlled by a notorious gang. Who were they and how long did they prevail before crumbling?
New York City continues to be a state rich in history, as well as among the top states with record numbers of immigration. Today, though the gangs and murder alley are no longer in existence, memories remain.