Diamond Street: The Story of the Little Town With the Big Red Light District

by Bruce Edward Hall

Diamond Street chronicles the history of vice and crime in the city of Hudson, NY, from its founding in 1783 to a major crackdown by the NYS State Police in 1950. The little city of Hudson, New York (pop.8,000), was for many years the unlikely setting for a world of prostitution, gambling, murder, and government corruption with more than a touch of the Keystone Kops thrown in. In the century or so before 1950, dozens of madams, bootleggers, and gamblers held sway there, making Hudson famous as a mini sin city. There were at least two major illegal horse rooms, a big-stakes floating dice game, and as many as fifteen houses of ill repute. Meanwhile, the church suppers took place and the parades marched up and down as Hudson's respectable citizenry convinced themselves that there was nothing out of the ordinary in this town described as ten streets wide and ten streets deep ... a Norman Rockwell painting in motion.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1994

Reviews

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really odd little book about the history of two of the core industries in Hudson, NY -- the sex trade and gambling. The book is more a biography of the town than any sort of typical true crime story. The anecdotes are written very tongue-in-cheek, which is apparently how most of Hudson saw the houses of ill repute lining Diamond Street and the auxiliary businesses that sprang up around them, like restaurants, bars and bookmakers. And imagine my surprise when I discovered that the author was an actor who appeared in "Romper Room" and "The Muppets Take Manhattan." Hall gets an A for versatility. My only quibble with the writing was Hall's serial subject-verb disagreement. This was entertaining and informative. A good choice if you are looking for true crime without a lot of gore and massacree.

[Russell Bittner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not an easy book to read and review—not, mind you, because the prose is particularly troublesome, but rather because we just moved here (from Brooklyn), and I’ve now read about this city’s past. Yes, Diamond Street is a kind of biography—but of a city, viz., Hudson, New York. Diamond Street itself is the former name of present-day Columbia Street, which runs parallel and just three blocks north of the street we now live on. It was originally named not after any claim to the jewelry trade, but rather as a tribute to Hudson’s biggest gangster at the time, “Legs” Diamond.

Reading Diamond Street a month after arriving here and setting up shop is tantamount to falling in love and proposing marriage, then finding out that your bride-to-be has slept with nearly everyone in town … for a fee. Hudson is as pretty, architecturally speaking, as any town or city I’ve ever lived in or even just visited. But like most things ornamental, you have to look beneath the surface to discover the real substance (or lack thereof).

I will say this much before I turn my review over to direct quotes from the author … Hudson (and specifically, Promenade Hill Park) is home to one of the most beautiful pieces of sculpture I’ve ever laid eyes on: St. Winifred, by George E. Bissell. That piece, standing high and overlooking the Hudson River, has elicited from me a daily ritual of only minor accord: a hike down from home and a respectful visit. When I find other people sitting in the park (rather seldom), my ritual requires me to suggest to them that they, too, pay their respects to St. Winifred if they haven’t already. Such a practice has likely garnered me a reputation as a somewhat loony old white man (as the park is situated right next to some predominantly black housing projects), but that’s fine. For those few who are then curious enough to investigate for themselves, I suspect my suggestion does not seem outlandish.

In any case, now to some quotes, most of which will give you just a taste of what’s in store (or at least in print!) in Diamond Street. On p. 59, we find “Hudson remained a criminal’s playground, partially because the constables couldn’t stop them, and partially because the streets were so dark, no one could see them anyway.”

For another aspect of dear domestic Hudson, we find this on p. 128: “(o)ne afternoon, when groping around in a dark bedroom for his toolbox, he found something other than his wire cutters. He had stumbled upon his sleeping beauty, and she just happened to be in the mood to offer free samples. All that vocational training had paid off after all.”

Perhaps it would help to provide some context here, as these citations are not meant to suggest a current date. On p. 166, we read: “(j)une 23, 1950, and the big story in the local papers is the upcoming Soap Box Derby. Young Craig Thorn has been chosen to organize the race down the hill on upper Columbia Street by the hospital, and local merchants are busily sponsoring area youngsters in the construction of their cars. Out near Chicago, over 50 people have been killed in the nation’s worst airline disaster ever. The ultra-modern New Jersey Turnpike is nearing completion, and the start of the Korean War is two short days away—an editorial in the Daily Star has called for bomb shelters to be built in the city’s schools, with atomic-proof buildings to be erected later. But all this seems distant as the weekend gets under way.”

And finally this, on p. 185: “Hudson is a small town where everyone knows everyone else. The mayor went to school with the cop who married the sister of the lawyer whose wife is the accountant to the businessman. It is a place full of Mom and Pop stores, even if those stores happened to be a whore house and a floating crap game. As in any other small town, the people have grown up accommodating one another, looking after each other’s children, helping with household chores, and keeping the state troopers from raiding the neighborhood house of ill fame.”

What more is there to say about Hudson, New York—other, that is, than to conjure up those famous few words from The Wizard of Oz: “There’s no place like home … There’s no place like home.”

RRB
Hudson, NY
24 May 2020

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely book about the long history of prostitution in Hudson, NY. Interesting, but dragged a bit in spots.

[Ava Teague · Rating 5 out of 5]

How proud I am to have been born in Hudson! A great deal of the joy of this book for me came from being able to gleefully stroll down the old Diamond Street (now Columbia) and think about what used to go on there. Glee aside, there was something intensely poignant about the experience of reading this. Looking at the old pictures of women long gone and reading stories that are all but forgotten had me in tears more than once. Hall is not the strongest writer I've ever read but has a solid knack for narrative. You can easily read this in a day, and you should, especially if you are from the area.

[Gigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the town that I live in so it was so fascinating to see where all the prostitutes use to live and all the illegal activites going on!

[Mary cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Facinating history of a town just 10 miles away from me. Now I want to stroll around and see the town from a new point of view.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A interesting read on Hudson, NY's sordid past! (Well, for the time period it wasn't that sordid, I suppose).