author
Chuck Connors
1852–1913
A colorful New York storyteller and self-styled "Mayor of Chinatown," this turn-of-the-century writer turned streetwise local lore into lively sketches of Bowery and Chinatown life. His work offers a vivid, slangy glimpse of the city as he saw it.
1 Audiobook
Bowery Life
by Chuck Connors
About the author
Known as Chuck Connors, George Washington Connors was a New York character as much as an author. Sources describe him as the self-proclaimed "Mayor of Chinatown," a neighborhood guide, performer, and raconteur who became well known around lower Manhattan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
He is best remembered today for Bowery Life, a book that gathers his stories and observations about old New York. The writing is full of humor, local color, and the rough-edged voice that made him memorable to readers and reporters of his day.
Accounts of his early life vary, but modern historical sources note that although he claimed deep roots on Mott Street, he was likely born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1852. He died in 1913, leaving behind a portrait of city life that is as performative as it is historical.