Doyers Street

Early in the 1900s, Doyers Street’s bend became known as the “Bloody Angle” for the violent Tong gang wars that raged into the 1930s. Hatchets were often used, giving rise to the term “hatchet man.” Law enforcement later called it the deadliest intersection in the U.S. A 1905 shootout at the Chinese Theater killed three people before a crowd of 400, and further killings, like the 1909 attack tied to rival tongs, cemented its reputation. In 1994, law enforcement officials said that more people died violently at the "Bloody Angle" than at any other street intersection in the United States.

Several old tenements once lined Doyers Street, often plagued by fires. In 1910, four people died at 15–17 Doyers, and in 1939 another blaze at the same building killed seven and injured sixteen. The narrow street hampered firefighting, prompting Mayor La Guardia to remark that Chinatown might someday need to be torn down and rebuilt.