The Narrows

The Narrows
Location	Gotham City
Use	District
Owner	† Cherry (south of Narrows) Sampson (north of Narrows,formerly)

"This is the Narrows. The poorest of the poor. The hardest of the hard."

—Harvey Bullock^[src]

The Narrows is a neighborhood in Gotham City located on an island in the middle of the Gotham River. Within a week of the Wayne murders, the Gotham Chronicle reported an "alarming rise in criminal activity". A rise in poverty rates has been associated with the increased violence in The Narrows.

History

Background

The Narrows are known as an extremely poor and dangerous neighborhood, similar to a slum.  Plagued by violence and crime, the district serves as a denizen for some of Gotham's most vicious criminals.  Various gangs and mobsters have claimed dominion over the Narrows, but wars for supremacy are not uncommon.

In the Series

In order to help out Theo Galavan, Oswald Cobblepot had Butch Gilzean and Selina Kyle enlist the Pike family to rob a building owned by Wayne Enterprises. It was said that the Pike Brothers were the "Firebugs of the Narrows" and were associated with Fish Mooney.

In order to raise money for an operation on his brain, Edward Nygma took Butch Gilzean (who has been transformed into Solomon Grundy) to a fight club owned by Cherry in order to sign him up for the fights. In addition, Leslie Thompkins was working at Cherry's as their doctor.

After Cherry was outed as Penguin’s mole, and stopping firefly from burning the fight club to the ground. The people of the Narrows voted lee as their new leader. Edward served as her right hand man, and Grundy and a few others as her muscle. After winning conflicts with Rival South Side king Sampson, and Lee’s former sister-in-law Sofia Falcone. Lee fully became the queen of the narrows. Wanting to help lead the people out of crime, and make the neighborhood a better place. Lee and Edward orchestrated high bank robberies. Stealing hundreds of millions of dollars, and giving them to the people of the Narrows. When Lee was arrested after the final one, Edward successfully broke her out during the cult of Jerome’s attack on the precinct.

No Man’s Land

On the day Gotham City became a no man's land, Jim Gordon was captured by Edward, who took him to the cherry’s, and tried to kill him in an effort to free Jimt from Lee’s feelings. However, Lee showed up and managed to convince Nygma that she no longer has feelings for Jim, and Gordon is released after Lee promises to leave Gotham with Nygma. With the city in chaos later that day, Lee decided to remain in the city to help the people of The Narrows, breaking up with Nygma in the process. Their meeting turns violent, and they stab each other to death. At some point during the night, Penguin's henchmen found the bodies of Ed and Lee in the Narrows and took them to the Falcone Mansion so that Hugo Strange could revive them.

No Man's Land

When General Wade initiated "Special Order 386", the Narrows island was one of the first locations in Gotham that was bombed by the military's helicopters.

Known locations

• Cherry's
• Pike apartment
• The Flea
• Narrow's Bar
• The Factory
• Krank Toys and Models
• The Riddler Factory

Residents

• † Cherry
• † Solomon Grundy
• † Leslie Thompkins 
• Edward Nygma 
• Sampson
• Pike family
  • † Evan Pike 
  • † Joe Pike
  • † Cale Pike 
  • Bridgit Pike (formerly)
• Alfred Pennyworth (formerly)
• Krank Family
  • † Griffin Krank 
  • Cosmo Krank
• † Tiffany Gale
• Gil Rooney (formerly)
• Lila
• Lars

Appearances

Season 1 "Lovecraft" "The Fearsome Dr. Crane" Season 2 "Rise of the Villains: Scarification" "Rise of the Villains: By Fire" Season 3 "Mad City: New Day Rising" "Mad City: Anything for You" "Mad City: Smile Like You Mean It" (mentioned) Season 4 "A Dark Knight: The Fear Reaper" "A Dark Knight: The Blade's Path" "A Dark Knight: Hog Day Afternoon" "A Dark Knight: A Day in the Narrows" "A Dark Knight: Stop Hitting Yourself" "A Dark Knight: Let Them Eat Pie" "A Dark Knight: Things That Go Boom" "A Dark Knight: Queen Takes Knight" "A Dark Knight: Pieces of a Broken Mirror" "A Dark Knight: A Beautiful Darkness" (mentioned) "A Dark Knight: Reunion" "A Dark Knight: The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause" "A Dark Knight: Mandatory Brunch Meeting" "A Dark Knight: To Our Deaths and Beyond" "A Dark Knight: That Old Corpse" "A Dark Knight: One Bad Day" "A Dark Knight: No Man's Land" Season 5 "Legend of the Dark Knight: 13 Stitches" (mentioned) "Legend of the Dark Knight: Ace Chemicals" "Legend of the Dark Knight: I Am Bane" "Legend of the Dark Knight: They Did What?"

Notes

• The Narrows was introduced in the 2005 Christopher Nolan film Batman Begins as an island in the middle of Gotham River situated between Midtown and Downtown Gotham, which had a decaying and downtrodden neighborhood and had Arkham Asylum there. It "was lost" in the first film and converted into Arkham Asylum grounds in "Batman: Gotham Knight." Following this, it was carried over into the comics and other media projects.

Location of the Narrows

For a majority of the show's run, the exact location of the Narrows was never clearly stated. It was also never included on any of the city maps shown over the course of the seasons. Establishing shots for the Narrows used during Season 4 revealed that the Narrows island is located on one of the Gotham River's tributaries, which would either be Sprang River (between Midtown and Uptown) or Finger River (between Midtown and Downtown).

In the season 5 episode "They Did What?", it is shown that the Narrows could be seen from the main window of the Sirens nightclub. The Sirens is established as being located in the Coventry district in Gotham Midtown. In the episode "A Dark Knight: One Bad Day", it is shown that the Gotham Clock Tower in Downtown's Old Gotham could also be seen from the Sirens' main window, thereby establishing that the window faces the southern portion of the city.

Therefore, the Narrows island can only be located on the Finger River, situated between the Downtown island with the Clock Tower, and the Midtown island with the Sirens. In "A Dark Knight: One Bad Day", it was also shown that Wayne Enterprises could be seen from a window in Cherry's in the Narrows. Wayne Enterprises is located in Old Gotham, thereby also establishing that the Narrows island must be located on the Finger River.