The Seventh Ward

THE SEVENTH WARD

The place where sight and sound defies all logic. Teeming with success and despair it's inhabitants roam through their daily routines in a never ending struggle to survive. People are compelled to remain in the ward as there is seldom a vehicle to escape this life.The days are cool with brisk onshore breezes that blow through the docks into a city filled with the strong odors of the unspeakable. Teams of laborers fight a battle to unload cargo and sell their wares on filthy streets crowded with scoundrels of every sort. The ships never stop, arriving around the clock from ports all over the world. Children play in narrow alleys dreaming of bright futures. However there are harsh realities in 1859, and the Seventh Ward of New York City is the end of the line for most who dwell there.

The night can be brutal. The city morgue testifies to many who lost the will to continue life. Suicide is a common occurrence. Added with depression, domestic abuse and outright murder. Low wage and long term poverty the norm. The ward is a mixing pot of many immigrants but mostly split between the hard drinking Irish and the stubborn Italians. In the neighborhoods they seldom mix socially at all. To add to the disarray the shared language is broken English at best. But all the demons come out at night, The New York City Police Department being a relatively new organization struggles to control the situation and just manage to contain the violence. Young officers cope with harsh and extreme social diversity, absolute hate and poverty every shift they work. Corruption thrives in the Seventh Ward.

There are strong men. They have made a commitment to fight this battle. They are young and inexperienced as Police Officers, but willing. Some will rise to the very top of the department, others die in the street.This is the beginning of their story.