Crime Alley

Crime Alley
General Information
Official name:	Park Row
Created by:	Bob Kane
First Appearance:	Detective Comics #33
Galaxy:	Milky Way
Star System:	Sol
Planet:	Earth
Country:	United States
State:	New Jersey
Locale:	Gotham City

Park Row, later called Crime Alley, was a historical landmark in Gotham City.

History

Past

Originally an upscale street in downtown Gotham, Park Row lost its glory after thirty years. The glamour of its heyday was changed to poverty, and the street was commonly referred to as Crime Alley. One of the first residents was Leslie Thompkins, who had been living there from start.

Park Row tragedy

The Park Row tragedy, as the newspapers called it, was a pivotal point in the life of Bruce Wayne. A burglar named Joe Chill murdered Thomas and Martha Wayne in front of their eight year old son Bruce after the family had watched a movie. Chill was first arrested the very same night he murdered them after fleeing the scene. While police investigated, Leslie Thompkins looked after young Bruce, and the two remained friends after.

Planned demolition

Roland Daggett, director of the Daggett Development Corporation, considered Crime Alley a breeding ground for crime, and tried endlessly to get it demolished and replaced with a mini-mall. As the legal roads proved unsuccessful, Daggett sent his goons to evict the residents, and hired Nitro to place explosives on an old gas pipe. The plan was, however, thwarted by Batman. Only several already condemned buildings were destroyed, while the SRO Hotel, where there were still people, remained undamaged.

Preservation

Bruce Wayne used his influence to keep the street preserved during the rebuilding of Gotham, making it the only part of the present-day Gotham City to remain. Bruce visited Crime Alley and placed flowers on the ground where his parents were shot.

Background Information

Crime Alley is the location where Batman first met Jason Todd, when the youth attempted to steal the tires from the Batmobile. This is also where Doctor Leslie Thompkins maintains her clinic, and where Batman battles Superman in Frank Miller's graphic novel, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Park Row is also part of Arkham City, and the memory flashdrive that Catwoman steals before being captured by Two-Face contained information on Crime Alley, or rather, Park Row.

Appearances and References

Batman: The Animated Series

• "Appointment in Crime Alley"
• "Dreams in Darkness" (dream sequence)
• "I Am the Night"

Justice League Unlimited

• "For the Man Who Has Everything" (dream sequence)

Batman Beyond

• "Ace in the Hole"

Batman: Arkham Asylum

While Crime Alley physically doesn't appear in Arkham Asylum (due in part to the game's setting) it does make an appearence (in Batman's second encouter with the Scarecrow in a Fear Gas induced nightmare realm). Batman comes under the effects of Scarecrow's Fear Gas after destroying Dr. Young's notes on the Titan formula, which causes Batman to relive his parents' deaths, walking down a long, never-ending hall that turned into a city street in the pouring rain. As Batman walked down the 'street', he heard his parents and a younger version of himself talking in the background, before they were met and attacked by Joe Chill (with his voice monstrously distorted). Batman then briefly takes the appearance of his eight-year-old self, hearing a younger Jim Gordon and another officer (who show little concern for what the young Bruce has just gone through do to the fortune the boy will inherit) discussing the murder in the background, before Gordon himself asked the young Bruce about the criminal at which point the voices begin to stop and Batman is restored to his normal appearence. Outside of the main story, their is a Crime Alley challenge map availible via DLC.

Batman: Arkham City

Crime Alley is among the various slums in Gotham City that makeup Arkham City (indicating the possibility it will be a potential location in the game). It's inclusion as part of the Arkham City's landscape could possibly play into Hugo Strange's plan to destroy Batman (due to it's status as the place where he lost his parents).