NYBN Overview

The city is the center of the universe.
—NYC Mayor Robert F. Wagner

2018 Archive Note
I first began playing Vampire: The Masquerade in 1993, and ended my campaign in 2002. I no longer run a Vampire campaign, and New York by Night is essentially an archive of old material. The following descriptions of New York City were written around 1996–1999, and are definitely dated! Not only are the Twin Towers prominently featured, but the profiled neighborhoods reflect a very turn-of-the-century, Silicon Alley, pre-911 zeitgeist. For instance, DUMBO and Chelsea are depicted as super-hip, and the West Village has more galleries than the Meat-Packing District. A pre-Disneyfied Coney Island is described as run-down and seedy, while Brooklyn is only on the verge of gentrification. Obviously, interested gamers are free to update this material for their own campaigns; but this was my New York by Night, and…well, I kind of miss it. Consider it an offering for a vintage-era campaign setting!

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A Million Stories in the Naked City

New York. Metropolis. The Big Apple. Gotham.

New York looms in the imagination as an almost mythical place, a vast organism of steel and glass and concrete that sprawls over several islands and sets its edges deep into the continental soil around a towering heart. And yet eight million people call this legendary monstrosity home; and each sees a different city, each functions as a different cell in the body of the Beast. There are eight million people, eight million stories, and eight million Cities.

The City that Never Sleeps
Through Kindred eyes, New York is a shimmering universe, both paradise and inferno, battlefield and haven. But this universe is hardly an open one, nor boundless or undivided. The Kindred see a Metropolis marked and subdivided into a myriad of differing zones. But unlike human divisions such as “Midtown” and “Tribeca,” the Kindred zones are less easily mapped, and just as many regions flow along lines of power, money, and control as spatial boundaries of terrain. Additionally, things are not as simple as the traditional unholy trinity of Camarilla/ Sabbat/ Anarch; the clans themselves follow less regular divisions and are often surprisingly porous.

This page will examine New York City and her Kindred from two viewpoints. First, a look at the clans and where they have staked out their territories; and second, a breakdown of the local geography to further illuminate the lines of Kindred influence.

But first, a few notes on the Big Apple itself.

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Fairytale of New York City

I have provided several maps of pre-911 New York City for easy reference.

Map of Manhattan with Kindred Domains
A map of Manhattan showing all the neighborhoods and major streets, color-coded by yours truly to indicate areas of Kindred control.

Map of Manhattan
The same map as above without the color-coding.

Map of City with Suburbs
A map of the City showing its surroundings—Long Island, New Jersey, and Westchester.

Subway Map
The official MTA Subway map.

Map of Brooklyn
A simple but slightly inaccurate map of Brooklyn.

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Overview of New York City

New York City can be a confusing place to those unfamiliar with her structure. Essentially, the designation “New York City” encompasses a landmass composed of five separate boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.

Each borough has a very different flavor. Situated below Westchester County and Yonkers, The Bronx is the only borough actually connected to the continent, and holds the Bronx Zoo and Yankee Stadium.

Brooklyn is the largest borough, and was once an independent city all to itself—one of America’s largest, and equal in importance to her neighbor Manhattan. Indeed, the creation of the Brooklyn Bridge was quite an event, linking these two titans together in 1883. But in 1898, the Five Boroughs incorporated into one “Greater New York City,” and Brooklyn lost her independent status, something that made more than a few of her residents unhappy. Even today, though, Brooklyn has a charm and uniqueness all of her own, and there is a certain feeling of independence and pride shared by Brooklynites—perhaps the most multicultural designation of people in the world. (By the way, I am proud to be a Brooklynite myself.)

Queens, nearly as culturally diverse as Brooklyn, is similar in character, with a large Greek enclave in Astoria, an expanding Chinese community in Flushing, and several pockets of old-school Irish. Sprawling and residential, Queens hosts the City’s two major airports, La Guardia to the north and JFK in the south. Queens also contains a thriving business district (confusingly) called Long Island City.

Across the East River from Brooklyn and Queens is Manhattan, unquestionably the most important borough, and often what people first imagine when they think of New York City—Manhattan is where all the skyscrapers are!

Staten Island is the most remote borough, connected to Brooklyn via the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and directly accessible to Manhattan by only a ferry. Staten Island has more of a residential feel that the other boroughs, and shares a lot of similarities to its neighbor, New Jersey.

Although often associated with the City, Long Island is not a political component of New York City; and the term generally refers to the central and eastern half of the island rather than the western end which forms Brooklyn and Queens. Nevertheless, Long Island is an important part of the City, and boasts some wonderful beaches, beautiful stretches of countryside, and some very elegant homes. The eastern part is in many ways similar in flavor to New England, and boasts numerous vineyards, bed and breakfasts, and nautical-themed restaurants and pubs.

So what about government?

New York City is governed by a Mayor and city government, and each borough is allowed to elect its own president—sort of a local mayor. But there is also a twist, as each borough is also a New York State county: The Bronx is actually Bronx County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County. There is a second level of state government here as well; and of course then you have to factor in the State Government, and Federal Senators and Representatives…sigh. Is it any wonder that the City has a reputation for corruption?

Ah, speaking of corruption….

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New York by Night: The Kindred and Where They Play

The Sects
Once the Camarilla owned most of New York City, and the Ventrue, Toreador and Primogen Council shared Manhattan from Harlem down to Battery Park. Brooklyn, Long Island, and Staten Island were firmly under Camarilla control, and the Bronx and the northeastern part of Queens were understood to be a no-man’s land between the Camarilla Metropolis and the forces of anarchy and darkness.

But of course, things have changed, and internal divisions—particularly between the Primogen Council and the Ventrue—have left what should be an unassailable edifice vulnerable to erosion and cracks, all which have been eagerly exploited by the Sabbat and the Anarchs. The Anarchs now hold most of Brooklyn, and the Sabbat have laid claims to the Bronx and most of Queens, and have been creeping their way down Manhattan itself. Even Camarilla-held Manhattan is no longer a unified power bloc, and the Ventrue and Toreador now jealously guard their domains from the Primogen’s corrupt manipulations; none of which help defend her towers from the shadows of the Black Hand. (You may read more about this on the Camarilla History page.)

Essentially, the Prince maintains a base of power in Northwest Brooklyn; the territory from Williamsburg down through the Heights and across to Park Slope is still firmly under St. James’ personal command, as is the waterfront along the East River. The Primogen council centers its sphere of influence on Midtown Manhattan, and Rockefeller Center is synonymous with the Primogen’s power. While the Upper West and Upper East Sides were once amicably shared between the Prince and the Clans, these regions are now fraught with tensions between the Primogen and the Toreador, and the northern-most areas of both sides are being engulfed by the encroaching Sabbat. The Village, Soho, and Tribeca remain, of course, Toreador haunts, and the Ventrue have all but taken over the downtown Financial District, extending the aegis of their support to the Village Toreador all the way to 14th Street. The areas between 14th Street and 34th Street are wracked with tension, engulfed in the cold war created by the Camarilla schism between the Primogen Council and the Ventrue. This tension is felt particularly between 23rd and 34th Streets, an area the Prince has recently “annexed.” Of course, the Toreador feel that Chelsea—the center of a new artistic revival and gentrification—should be theirs, and no amount of Princely pressure has stopped them from exploiting her numerous galleries.

The Clans
Of course, looking at New York City in terms of Sects only offers a partial view. The Camarilla is so divided, and the Sabbat so insidious, that a full picture may only be obtained by analyzing the way each Clan perceives their role.

The Ventrue
Although St. James has a few Ventrue under his fealty, the real Ventrue of New York are the Kindred that form the Venturi Business Association, Marius’s circle of like-minded billionaires and financial geniuses. These Ventrue firmly control the financial ley lines of New York, and their influence radiates from the World Trade Center to the rest of the City like threads of green and gold, connecting Wall Street, the Ports, and “Silicon Alley” into a vibrant web of power that vibrates northward along Madison and Fifth Avenues—two areas well inside the Prince’s domain. Indeed, Marius and his clan are thoroughly proud of the Twin Towers, taking a fierce satisfaction in the fact that the Primogen Council considers them an arrogant blight on the landscape. No vampire who sees these twin monoliths dominating the skyline can help but feel a little awe for the Ventrue, and they mark Marius’s downtown domain with a terrifying and unassailable immediacy. The Ventrue also control most of Long Island, a favored location for their personal mansions and havens. Long Island and the Hamptons are to some extent a Ventrue Elysium, and Marius’ Ventrue and the “corrupt” Ventrue of the Primogen Council coexist there in relative peace.

These other Ventrue —the cronies of the Prince—may not have their cold fingers on the pulse of the modern financial world, but they still maintain enough power to pose a serious challenge. Mostly located on the Upper East Side, Brooklyn, and Staten Island, these Ventrue are more European in nature, and tend to be steeped in Old Money and firmly plugged into the Old Boy’s Network. They are also significantly in control of the more mundane and local systems of power such as the police, the courts, and the mafia—a base of power at which Marius has been patiently chipping away.

The Toreador
The Toreador of New York are another clan divided internally by conflicting loyalties, but have yet to reach the level of open hostility that the Ventrue enjoy. Once a very unified Clan, the Toreador ruled the art world from within their secret cathedral beneath the Hudson River. Now they have split into three factions, or coteries, and although Duncan Capelthwaite still presides as Clan leader, there is very little interaction between the cliques except at formal gatherings.

The first and oldest coterie—perhaps the “true” Toreador—still reside in the Santa de Luzarches, and are personally guided by Duncan. These Kindred are more introverted in the pursuit of their Muse, and tend to create artwork with a focus specifically on the world of the Kindred. The second coterie are the Toreador most closely aligned with the Prince and Primogen Council, and they are watched by the cold eye of Sally de Angelou. (“Closely aligned” does not mean that they are in bed together, however. The de Angelou Toreador and the Primogen Council do have their share of tensions, and lately things have been escalating to near-open disagreement.) Although they exert some control in the Sabbat-ravaged Upper West Side, the Upper East Side is their true artistic ground, and the Studio Calliope serves as their haven. These Toreador are more interested in the high-profile cultural world, and nothing happens along the Museum Mile, Broadway, or at Lincoln Center that they do not know about. The final coterie is the most bohemian, and are (vaguely) led by Amadeus St. Sebastian. They prefer to haunt the Village, Soho, Chelsea, the Meat-Packing District, and parts of gentrifying Brooklyn, and have the most contact with the avant-garde of the human art world. Oddly enough, it is this coterie which gets along the most closely with the Ventrue, as they bear no love for the Prince and his domination of Upper Manhattan, and feel somewhat protected by those Twin Towers glowing on the southern horizon.

The Malkavians
Thanks to the Prince’s Lex Malkavianus, there aren’t many non-Sabbat Malkavians left in the City, and those that remain tend to fall loosely into four small groups. The first are the most scattered, those Malkavians that are blissfully unaware of any political structures at all. Although a few seem to favor the East Village and the Bowery, most are so diverse and unrelated that they can be found anywhere, from a Long Island mansion to a DUMBO loft. The second group are the Anarchs, and they tend to congregate around the faded Elysium of Coney Island. The third group is the most organized, but also the most “illegal.” Composed of a few survivors from the “Saint Crispin’s Day Massacre,” these nominal Camarilla members call themselves the Kaffee Klatsch, and they dwell in the West Village and Chelsea. The final group of Malkavians are Sabbat, and form the “Welfare coven” based on Roosevelt Island. Representing the worst the clan has to offer, this coven of murderous psychopaths is mercifully small, and generally keeps away from Camarilla territory.

The Tremere
The “official” Tremere of New York are technically rogue—members of St. James’s Primogen Council or serving as his personal cronies. But rogue as they are, they are not lacking in power or mystery, the two hallmarks of their secretive clan. Although most of the Tremere dwell in Old Brooklyn, their structures of power in Manhattan are clearly evident to anyone sensitive enough to see—there are some skyscrapers, some buildings, and some monuments that no other clans will approach. It has been surmised that some these buildings—Beaux Arts masterpieces topped with gilded pyramids—form a mystical glyph that exerts an arcane hold on the City, modern standing stones plugged into ley lines or aerial circuitry cracking with a clandestine magic. But then again, they always say that kind of things about the Tremere, don’t they?

So what about the “unofficial” Tremere? Could there be representatives of the True Tremere, agents from Boston or Philadelphia infiltrating the City, gathering information in preparation for the day they will regain New York? And if they did exist, would they perhaps set up shop in the East Village? Perhaps, perhaps….

The Nosferatu
While technically part of the Camarilla, The Nosferatu are nevertheless one of the most secretive and wily of all the clans, and under Prince Radu Ionescu they have come to rule the entire underworld beneath Manhattan and the Outer Boroughs. Nothing happens below the streets that the Nosferatu do not know about, and all sane and reasonable Kindred—whether Camarilla, Sabbat, or Anarch—do not cross lightly into their domain.

And that territory is quite large indeed. New York’s immense system of subways, sewers, and basements forms the top level of “Dis,” a subterranean city whose expanses are unknown to any but the most privileged Nosferatu. Some Kindred will not even ride the subway for fear of angering the lords of the underworld!

The Brujah
The Brujah are one of the most mercurial clans of New York, and seem to have one foot firmly in the Camarilla and the other wiggling into an Anarch’s boot. While it is true that many of the Anarchs of Brooklyn and Queens are indeed Brujah, the vast majority of the clan keeps to itself, quietly inhabiting the island of Manhattan—from the rooftops!

Faced with so many unattractive choices early in the century, a large faction of Brujah under the charismatic leadership of Lucifage made a decision to utter non serviam in a most unusual way. Not wanting to become puppets of the Camarilla or the Sabbat, and not wishing to revel in the mindless rebellion that typifies so much Anarch activities, Lucifage took his clan to the rooftops, and decided that the Brujah would become rulers of the sky. In doing so, the clan essentially passed from sight, and like a mirror image of the Nosferatu, have established a vast and secret network high above the streets of Manhattan. In doing so, the Brujah elevated themselves far above the battlefield to a loosely-run world of their own creation. To the Brujah, the real New York City is found far above the streets, a crazy-quilt of rooftops and water towers connected by thousands of unseen catwalks, bridges, ladders, chutes….

Amazingly the Brujah are left pretty much alone, and as long as they do not meddle with certain buildings (particularly those marked by the Tremere or the Tzimisce), they have remained free to create their own paradise above the mean streets of the City. It is said they have whole nightclubs up there, possessing names like “Prince of Persia” and “Spiderman’s Wharf!”

The Ravnos
The few Ravnos living in New York are quite unusual for their clan, for they are tightly allied with the Brujah. When Lucifage made his decision to leave the streets, he did so with the help of a tribe of Ravnos smugglers. Together, they discovered strength in a partnership that serves both clans very effectively. The Brujah are the rulers and the policy-makers, while the Ravnos serve as liaisons between spire and street. The Brujah offer the Ravnos strength, backing, and information; while the Ravnos comprise a secret force of smugglers and couriers, their motorcycles, motorboats and private airplanes slipping invisibly through the nets of the Primogen, Sabbat, and Ventrue alike.

The Gangrel
There are very few Gangrel in the City, but the ones who call it home fall into two distinct categories—“Rangers” and “Werewolves.” Rangers are in the employ of the Ventrue, traditionally bodyguards and servants of the Camarilla. Werewolves are the wild Gangrel, elusive and rare, and they may be found on Randall Island, on the Jamaica Wildlife Preserve, and in Central Park—indeed, they may be the only Kindred found in Central Park.

It is rumored that there is a third type of Gangrel in the City; although if it were true, this coterie may very well constitute a bloodline rather than a tribe. For the rumor claims that they dwell under the East River; that they are an aquatic tribe centering themselves on the caissons of the Brooklyn Bridge and haunting a territory ranging from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the Queens Midtown Tunnel. Although most vampires discount these stories as a Kindred “urban legend,” it is a well-known fact that the Nosferatu are very, very dodgy about their influence over the many subway tunnels that connect Manhattan to Brooklyn and Queens…and then there are those strange disappearances in the trendy DUMBO region of Brooklyn….

As a side note, there’s a secret network of Gangrel which are known to travel across the eastern seaboard in campers and RVs, situating themselves in this or that campground and feeding from itinerant campers. These “Nomads” are loosely related to certain Brujah biker gangs and Ravnos smugglers, and are said to be the only Kindred how have ever passed into the Pine Barrens and survived.

The Giovanni
The Giovanni have been in New York almost as long as the Italians, but with the ascendancy and eventual breaking away of Niccolò Montfaulcon, their clan has been locked in a spasm of internal warfare for the last century. On one side is Montfaulcon’s rogue coterie, clearly branded heretics by Rome, but nevertheless firmly holding parts of Brooklyn as well as controlling the Gambino Crime family. On the other side is the remnants of the “true” Giovanni, those who did not defect to the Prince with Niccolò. They are few in number, and each passing decade brings them closer to total defeat. Based in Little Italy, they are besieged on one side by the ever-increasing encroachment of Chinatown, and on the other side by the Niccolò and the Prince, who wage a constant clandestine war of assassination and entrapment against them. Even their control of the Teamsters Union and the Port Authority has eroded considerably under Marius’ Ventrue, and in order to survive, they have had to forge an uneasy alliance with the Ventrue through Don Spinozi. If it weren’t from the occasional support they receive from Italy and their links to the Genovese and Bonanno crime families, they would have collapsed long ago.

The Tzimisce & Lasombra
Like a black plague boiling down from Montreal and funneling through the pincers of Westchester and Jersey City, the Sabbat strike farther into Manhattan each year. They virtually own the Bronx and Queens, and having made peace with the Setites of Harlem, effectively rule over Northern Manhattan and the Upper West Side, guided by the claws of Malachi Voordebrax and centered on the nightclub of Sarnath. They are a powerful presence in New Jersey as well, where they keep Staten Island under constant attack. Like a malevolent octopus, they squirm into every crevasse and crack the Camarilla allow to appear, their tentacles writhing ever deeper to the core of the Big Apple.

The Setites
The Setites are cunning and enigmatic, and are well aware that they must maintain a delicate balance between forces which could potentially overwhelm them. Having made their peace with the Sabbat, the Setites have settled down comfortably in Harlem and Morningside Heights, where they maintain a relatively low profile and quietly work on building their small domain. Whenever it does not harm them, they assist the Sabbat, which turns a blind eye to their slow expansion into areas such as the drug trade, gun smuggling, and organized crime. Indeed, the Sabbat feel that they could wipe out the Setites if it ever came down to it; but why do that when they provide an excellent foil to the Giovanni? There is also an enclave of Setites in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant region; but whether these two coteries are in cahoots is unknown even to the Sabbat.

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New York by Night: A Closer Look at the Geography

I. Outside of New York City

Fairfield, Westchester, Yonkers & New Jersey
All ruled over by the Sabbat, who are particularly strong in Jersey City and New Brunswick. There is a small enclave of Irish Anarchs in Yonkers, but they are considered more of an amusement than a genuine threat.

Long Island & the Hamptons
For the most part, Long Island and the Hamptons are under Ventrue control, and represent the one area where the Ventrue seem content to leave each other alone. But the Sabbat domination of the Bronx and Northern Queens poses a problem that just won’t go away, and more than one skirmish has been fought on the borders of Nassau County.

II. NYC: The Five Boroughs

The Bronx
The Bronx is completely ruled by the Sabbat, and it caters to the worst side of that sect as well—gangs of Brujah antitribu, Sabbat hunting packs, ritual executions of captured Camarilla vampires; the Bronx is the one borough that no Camarilla vampire will dare enter.

Brooklyn
Brooklyn is largely under the Prince’s control, but much of the south has been surrendered to the Anarchs to gain support in his wars against the Ventrue. Sabbat influence is minimal, except along the Queens border and the neighborhoods surrounding Green-Wood Cemetery.

Northern Brooklyn: Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bushwick, Naval Yards
These neighborhoods were once under control of the Prince, but are now areas of high tension as the Sabbat moves down from Queens.

Northwest Brooklyn: Fulton Ferry, DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown, Park Slope, Prospect Park, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, etc.
These areas are still under firm control of the Prince, with the Heights providing him with his staunchest base of power outside of Manhattan—indeed, the Prince even maintains his permanent residence there, at the corners of Clinton and Joralemon Street. DUMBO, or “Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass,” has been experiencing something of a rebirth as trendy artists move into its reconverted lofts—strangely, however, this area seems to be avoided by Kindred, and tales of disappearances may lend some weight to stories of aquatic Gangrel….

Lower Northwest Brooklyn: Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Gowanus
Still under control of the Prince, the Italian flavor of these neighborhoods provides an extra base for Montfaulcon and his corrupt Giovanni. The Middle-Eastern community along Atlantic Avenue also holds a few secrets; and it is rumored that the Prince has some Assamite connections there.

Green-Wood Cemetery: South Park Slope, Green-Wood Heights, Windsor Terrace, Kensington, Sunset Park
The neighborhoods surrounding Green-Wood Cemetery are nominally under Sabbat control, with the Green-Wood Coven operating from the cemetery itself. However, the Nosferatu maintain a significant presence in this region as well, strengthening the rumors that Prince Radu has made certain “arrangements” with the Sabbat. The Asian community of Sunset Park adds a wild card into the mix—they follow their own agenda, and consider themselves aloof from either “western” sect.

Central, Southwest, and Eastern Brooklyn: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Flatbush, Crown Heights, Borough Park, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Midwood, Bensonhurst, East New York, Cyprus Hill, Canarsie, etc.
The main body of Brooklyn is an Anarch playground. Once under control of the Prince, he foolishly traded whole swaths of Brooklyn to the Anarchs for their support in his wars against the Ventrue. This crazy-quilt of cultural enclaves is now the prowling grounds of the Anarchs, particularly the Brujah, the Ravnos, and a handful of Russian Malkavians. The Setites, too, have made parts of Brooklyn their home, and have centered their Kings County activities around Bedford-Stuyvesant.

South-Central Brooklyn: Bensonhurst, Midwood, Gravesend, Sheepshead Bay, Mill Basin, Marine Park, etc.
These neighborhoods are generally residential, and Anarch presence tends to be muted. They are also surprisingly free of Sabbat and Camarilla players as well. While all sides certainly respect a good DMZ, the more likely reason for the peace stems from the local residents themselves. There is a large Sephardic community in this area—and few Kindred have entered their neighborhoods after dark and returned.

South Brooklyn: Brighton Beach
Sometimes called “Little Odessa” on account of the heavy Russian influx, Brighton Beach is under the control of a coterie of highly organized Russian Brujah with connections to the local “mafioski.” This keeps Anarch activities to a minimum, and both Camarilla and the Sabbat are satisfied to leave these rogue Kindred to their own devices.

Coney Island
Once a wonderful amusement park declared an Elysium by the Prince, Coney Island has seen its better days. And yet, despite the Anarch takeover of Central Brooklyn and the hostile neighborhoods north of the park, it is understood that Coney Island is still an Elysium. Perhaps its run-down and seedy charm captivates Kindred as much as mortals, but the home of Danny the Crack Boy and Deno’s Wonder Wheel offers a safe haven from the madness of the City, and therefore counts mostly Caitiff and Malkavians as its native Kindred—indeed, a few Malkavians actually work in the Freak Shows!

Manhattan

Harlem & Morningside Heights
Controlled by the Sabbat, but also home to the Setites under an “understanding” with the Sabbat. The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine is fully Sabbat, as is Columbia University, a minor haven for Tremere antitribu.

Upper West Side
The Sabbat controls this lucrative strip approximately down to 82nd Street. Sarnath, the Sabbat nightclub, is located on Amsterdam and 86th, where it more or less sticks out like a sore thumb in an otherwise gentrified neighborhood. The Primogen Council and the de Angelou Toreador clique control it from Midtown to 72nd Street, which includes Lincoln Center. The ten-block area between 72nd and 86th is hotly contested, but the Sabbat seem to be winning.

Central Park
Home to a small cairn of Lupines. Other than a few transient Gangrel, the only Kindred presence is an occasional stray Anarch or a Sabbat hunting pack on a suicidal bender. Although oddly, Malkavians seem able to congregate at the Alice in Wonderland statue and remain utterly unmolested.

Upper East Side
Fully Camarilla up to 90th Street, with many strong Primogen Council holdings. The de Angelou Toreador have a particularly strong influence along, naturally, Museum Mile. After 95th Street, things become progressively more contested, until the Sabbat Border at 110th Street clearly marks their turf in Harlem.

Midtown
The seat of power for the Primogen Council. Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Theater District—all these represent the Prince’s main papillon. Indeed, the Ventrue of the VBA are actually restricted from feeding north of 34th Street without direct permission! And recently, the Prince extended his personal feeding ground all the way down to 23rd Street, cutting directly into the Ventrue’s future areas of development. Ah, sweet tension!

Chelsea
This chic neighborhood, going through a period of rapid gentrification and artistic growth, recently saw a bit of undead controversy. Following the human trend northward from the West Village, a few of Amadeus’s Toreador ventured into the area and began setting up shop; but the Prince, perhaps fearing the loss of another Soho or Tribeca, declared it off-limits to any Toreador but those he personally selects. Needless to say, these won’t be Toreador from the Village clique!

Greenwich Village, Soho, Tribeca
The Toreador of Amadeus St. Sebastian’s clique fairly rule over the West Village, with the benevolence of the Ventrue providing a powerful shield from the Prince’s mendacity. Also, the city’s only organized Malkavians may be found here as well. Soho and Tribeca represent a fusion of Toreador/Ventrue interests, and several art galleries and restaurants show that cooperation between these two clans can still yield excellent results. Needless to say, the Prince is rather jealous.

East Village
A hip neighborhood for bohemian mortals, the East Village is largely a free-zone for the Kindred, and is the habitation for some independent Toreador, Malkavians, Brujah, Anarchs, Caitiff and even a few Sabbat refugees.

Chinatown
With the exception of the Giovanni, who remain quiet about what they see here, no Western Kindred dares to enter too far into Chinatown. There are many rumors about whole packs of vampires just…vanishing. The Prince fears this area, the Ventrue respect its privacy, and even the Sabbat is glad to have it far from their turf—especially with the new threat of an Asian influx in Queens. Like the Sephardic communities of Brooklyn and the areas adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge, the Kindred are content to leave some mysteries well enough alone.

Little Italy
Once the home of the Giovanni Clan, now Little Italy seems just an extension of Chinatown. After Niccolò Montfaulcon joined with the Prince and split the New York Giovanni, the remnants of the clan have been on the wane. There are perhaps four or five Giovanni remaining in Little Italy, and they are loosely allied with the Ventrue through their contacts with Don Spinozi.

Lower East Side
The rest of the Lower East side is fairly run-down, and largely prowled by Caitiff and Anarchs. There are rumors of a small coterie of Jewish Tremere that use Bialystoker Synagogue as a chantry, but most vampires dismiss this as another Kindred urban myth.

The Seaport and Civic Center
Once the hub of power for the early Primogen Council, this area has become somewhat contested despite its waning importance. The Ventrue are firmly based in the Wall Street area, and the Prince in Midtown; but the seaport and the halls of human government are still a basket of plums worth fighting for. When it comes to statistics, the Prince has the upper hand, his political ghouls and vassals far outnumbering those of Marius; but having the Teamsters in his pocket gives Marius a firmer control of the Ports.

The Financial District
Centering on the World Trade Center, Marius’s Ventrue rule the Financial District with an iron fist. It is the one area of Manhattan that the Sabbat dare not tread, and the Prince eyes it with hateful and envious eyes.

Queens
Queens is another Sabbat area, but is less closely monitored by Malachi and Lilith, and is therefore a bit more prone to Anarch tendencies than the Bronx or Northern Manhattan. While the Northwest side is fairly heavily Sabbat-controlled; the Anarchs have created something of a buffer zone between the Sabbat holdings and the Camarilla territories of Long Island and Northern Brooklyn. Indeed, if there is one area where the Anarchs give the Sabbat headaches, it is in central Queens—a fact that St. James knows quite well, hence his traditional appeasement policy regarding their activities and demands. The only area of Queens that the Prince considers inviolable Camarilla territory is JFK Airport.

Astoria, Jackson Heights, Long Island City & College Point
Across the East River from the Bronx, these areas are the most firmly under the Sabbat hand—and given that La Guardia Airport is right in the center of this sphere of influence, the Sabbat are willing to fight tooth and nail for it. (Note that the Sabbat also control Newark Airport in New Jersey.)

Flushing, Corona, Forest Hills
The ethnic character around Flushing has changed dramatically over the last few decades, with an Asian influx transforming it into a suburban Chinatown. With this change in human demographics came a shift in Kindred stability as well, and the Sabbat have had to contend with some very mysterious “disappearances” in the Flushing area. Few doubt that Flushing will become a major zone of conflict in the next few decades.

Jamaica & Little Neck
Trapped between the Sabbat, the Prince, the Anarchs, and the Ventrue’s haven of Nassau County, these areas are hotly contested and are fraught with skirmishes.

Lower Queens
The areas of Queens closer to Brooklyn are likewise a mess of warring factions; with the Anarchs providing a greater threat than the Sabbat as one moves to the East or the South. The border to Nassau County, however, is heavily patrolled by the Ventrue, and represents one area where Marius’s Ventrue and the Primogen Ventrue are in full cooperation. JFK Airport represents the keystone of this region, and given that the Sabbat control Newark and La Guardia, there is no way in hell that the Camarilla will allow it to fall into Sabbat or Anarch hands.

Staten Island (er, Pavonia….)
Poor Staten Island is one of the most besieged territories in New York. While nominally under control of the Prince—who foppishly calls it “Pavonia,” its archaic name meaning “Island of Peacocks”—it has the unfortunate position of being surrounded by Sabbat-held New Jersey. The Western side of the Island is under constant assault, and the only reason that Staten Island may still be considered Camarilla is because of the arcane powers of its ruler, Midori Satsujin. Although some of Montfaulcon’s Giovanni insure that the Royal Inquisitor is always in touch with “Pavonia,” it is the terrifying powers of Midori and her rogue Tremere that keep the Sabbat from pouring over Richmond County like a river of ink. Still, may feel that it is merely a matter of time.

III. Associated Islands

Randall Island & Wards Island
These connected islands in the East River have been reserved as large parks, and Randall’s Island is home to occasionally sporting events, concerts and festivals. Though they are both firmly in Sabbat territory, they see little Cainite activity outside of a few rogue Gangrel.

Roosevelt Island
Once called “Welfare Island,” this thin, two mile long island in the East River was once home to a workhouse, an almshouse, a prison, a smallpox hospital, and a lunatic asylum called the Octagon Tower. Now it is essentially residential, with some low-income housing projects and a small park, constructed around a lighthouse built in 1872 by an inmate at the asylum. The island is now bookended by “stabilized ruins”—the Octagon Tower stands at the north end, and the south end features the abandoned smallpox hospital and the remains of Strecker Laboratory, a former bacteriological research center built in 1892. The island is accessible by subway as well as an aerial tramway, its cable car departing from Manhattan’s East side. Roosevelt Island is home to the “Welfare coven,” a small group of Sabbat Malkavians harking back to the days of hospitals and asylums.

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Credits

This document was first uploaded to New York by Night on 4 February 1996, and had its last “contemporary” revision on 21 March 1999. The banner incorporates a picture of the Con Edison Building with an illustration by Fred Fields. For this 2018 archive edition, I expanded the neighborhoods and fleshed out a little more detail. As discussed in my introduction above, I kept the “party like it’s 1999” vibe to preserve the feel of the original setting. Have I mentioned that I miss the Freak Show at Coney Island?

And now for the original disclaimer: The World of Darkness and the Storyteller System, which includes Vampire: The Masquerade; Werewolf: the Apocalypse; Mage, the Ascension; Wraith: the Oblivion; and Changeling: the Dreaming; are all trademarks of White Wolf Games. All images taken from the game books will be marked as the property of White Wolf, which holds their copyrights. Some of my images incorporate the artwork of others; in every case I will credit the relevant artist, and I promise to remove the offending graphic if the artist makes this wish known to me. The mention of or reference to any companies or products on this website is not a challenge to the trademarks or copyrights concerned.

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Author: Great Quail
Original Upload: 4 February 1996
Last Modified: 28 June 2018
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
PDF Version: NYBN Overview