Mott Street

Mott Street is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north-south direction in downtown Manhattan. It is best known as Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Street runs from Chatham Square in the south to Bleecker Street in the north.

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Mott Street was laid out in the late 1700's. When it was originally laid out, Mott Street passed just to the east of the Collect or Fresh Water Pond. Like many streets that predated Manhattan's grid, Mott Street meandered around natural features of the landscape rather than running through or over them. It was the need to avoid the now long since paved over Collect Pond that gave Mott Street its characteristic "bend" to the northeast at Pell Street.

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During the first half of the 19th Century lower portion of Mott Street was part of the Five Points neighborhood, a notorious Irish slum. In 1872 Wo Kee, a Chinese merchant opened a general store on Mott Street near Pell Street. In the years to follow, Chinese immigrants would eke out an enclave around the intersection of Mott and Pell. Manhattan's Chinatown has grown into the largest Chinatown in the United States, encompassing a large swath of the Lower East Side. But the historic heart of Chinatown, as well as the primary destination for tourists is still Mott Street between Canal Street and Chatham Square. Today this stretch of Mott Street is lined with souvenir shops, tea houses and restaurants, all catering mostly to tourists.

Related Topics:
Five Points - Chinatown

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Mott Street north of Canal Street was historically part of Little Italy. Today it is predominantly Chinese. This section of Mott Street between roughly Canal and Broome Streets has a number of Chinese owned fish and vegetable markets. The commercial establishments here cater more to the day to day needs of Chinatown residents than tourists.

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Though the boundary is fuzzy, north of about Broome Street, the character of Mott Street changes significantly. Crossing Broome Street you leave Chinatown behind and enter "Nolita" or "North of Little Italy". Fashionable boutiques and restaurants and cafes cater mostly to high income young people. There are still a few remnants of the old Italian neighborhood, most notably Lombardi's Pizzeria, purportedly the first Pizzeria established in the United States. Also in this area is Old St. Patricks Cathedral, the first Catholic Cathedral built in New York (consecrated 1815). The high walls surrounding the church along Mott Street attest to the tension between Protestants and Catholics in New York during the 19th Century.

Related Topics:
Old St. Patricks Cathedral - Cathedral

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Mott Street dead-ends at Bleecker Street in Manhattan's NoHo (North of Houston Street) neighborhood.

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