Mulberry Street (Manhattan)

Mulberry Street c. 1900

"Bandit's Alley", a Mulberry Street back alley, photographed by Jacob Riis in 1888, a target of police efforts in the 1880s and 1890s

In Manhattan, Mulberry Street, between Baxter and Mott Streets, is the north/south street along which the remains of Little Italy is centered, and where it meets Chinatown. During the Feast of San Gennaro each September, the entire street is blocked off to vehicular traffic to make way for the street fair.

The Puck Building stands near the north end of the street, at the southwest corner of Houston Street; this corner was the building's original entrance. Further south is Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral, standing in its churchyard. Below Prince Street (no, 247) is the former Ravenite Social Club, where federal wiretaps were made that sent John Gotti to prison.

Canal Street and Mulberry, where Chinatown meets Little Italy

Heading south into Chinatown, the street is lined with Chinese green grocers, butcher stores and fish mongers. Further south past Bayard Street, on the west side of the street, lies Columbus Park (created 1897), the only park in New York's Chinatown. This was the center of the infamous Five Points section of NYC. The east side of the street is now lined with Chinatown's funeral homes.

Mulberry Street is named for the mulberry trees that once lined Mulberry Bend.

It was also the subject of Billy Joel's song "Big Man on Mulberry Street". The street is often identified as the setting of Dr. Seuss' story, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, but that distinction belongs to Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss).

Some good places to eat on Mulberry Street include Grotta Azzurra on the southwest corner of Mulberry and Broome Streets as well as Benito's and Benito's II, which are on either side of Mulberry Street between Grand and Broome Streets. For desert, have a cannoli and expresso at Ferrara Bakery & Cafe on Grande Street between Mulberry and Mott Streets. I believe this is the cafe where Carlo Gambino use to "hold court" and hear problems of the people who lived in Little Italy and decide how he would help them.

External links

• New York Songlines: Mulberry Street, a virtual walking tour
• Mulberry Street Storefronts - photographs of buildings and stores along Mulberry St from Chinatown through Little Italy
• Current View of 80 Mulberry St. (Google Maps, Street View) - Same view today, as circa 1900 photo
• "The bend" of Mulberry Street as depicted in How the Other Half Lives