Doyers Street: the iconic street of Chinatown in New York

An Asian street in the heart of New York

• The Chinatown neighborhood offers a journey within a journey in New York. Chinese signs and Asian grocery stores line the streets. Walk down Canal Street and you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into Asia—right in the middle of Manhattan and the heart of New York. But there’s one quiet street you shouldn’t miss if you want to experience the soul of Chinatown: Doyers Street.
• Doyers Street connects Pell Street to Bowery. It’s one of the shortest streets in New York, measuring just 61 m (200 ft) long. The street is curved and narrow, but easy to find—just a short detour from Canal Street.

The history of Doyers Street

• Doyers Street is known for its dark past and its nickname: “the Bloody Angle.” In the 1930s, when Tong gangs controlled the neighborhood, this street became the site of ambushes and violent confrontations—often involving hatchets. The violence continued for years. In 1994, an official report identified Doyers Street as the location with the highest rate of violent crime in the United States.
• More than twenty years later, Chinatown has transformed, and you can walk Doyers Street safely today. Still, the street’s history and its distinctive curved shape give it an undeniable sense of intrigue. Welcome to New York’s most exotic neighborhood!

Map to Doyers Street