JACOB AUGUST RIIS/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES
BANDIT’S ROOST 1888
A hotspot for gang activity, this alley in the notorious Five Points neighbourhood of Lower Manhattan was considered one of the most dangerous places in 19th-century New York. Those living in the cramped slums were mostly poor immigrants forced into a life of crime as they struggled in their search of the American Dream.