District X
| Location: District X | |
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| First Seen: | January 2009 |
The 11th Precinct is an area covering approximately 3 by 4 blocks of the middle east side, bordering the lower east side. The area, also called District X, Middle East Side, and Mutant Town, has historically been a safe haven for mutants (and their allies) facing discrimination within New York City. Once decimated by the events of M-Day, the remaining community has banded together to rebuild, encourage, and foster mutant culture, despite being the target of anti-mutant attacks and rhetoric on a regular basis.
Contents
First Appearance
Details
Current Day
In the wake of M-Day, anti-mutant feeling in New York increased and District X became even more of a mutant ghetto than before, cut off from the rest of the city. Very few human residents and businesses remained, and a strong "them vs us" feeling pervaded the area. Additionally, there were a number of casualties during the incident, and damage to homes and businesses, which brought down property values and resulted in many of the law-abiding residents to seek a safer area to live. Those who remained in District X did so either because their mutations make them vulnerable to anti-mutant attacks and "safety in numbers", or because they couldn't afford to leave.
Many human-owned businesses closed down, while the mutant-owned ones went underground, literally in some cases.
X-Factor remained in the area, which provided an increased sense of security, and a number of New York's masked vigilantes made the region part of their usual beats. Trouble still occurred, such as the police assault of a visibly-mutant man in July 2015 during a street art festival. The incident was witnessed by several Xavier's mutants and was the source of much debate.
The mutant population continued to rebuild in the following years, and the community began to expand with the growth and renovation of new businesses much like the “Mutant Town” of old.
In December 2021 X-Force relocated their offices to the area, setting up shop in the Fabian Building, a brownstone not unlike the old living space. X-Force's offices occupy the top floors, while at the ground level is a bodega and a restaurant.
April 2022 saw the opening of District X Community Centre, a central community hub meant to provide supportive services for and by mutants, as well as their friends and families. This is managed by members of the community and its staff includes several visible mutants and a female director.
The latter half of 2023 was especially hard for the citizens of District X, as rogue storms battered the eastern seaboard and caused significant property damage. Seeing an opening, mutant hostile forces swarmed the community in following riots during the machinations of Radha Dastoor in A Haven to Call Home.
Recovery and rebuilding was further complicated in January 2024 with a second wave of armed invasion by the Friends of Humanity, spurned by Clan Akkaba in Behold A Pale Horse. Tompkins Square Park was destroyed, with notable collateral damage to property and infrastructure (not helped by coincidental space debris hitting near the city center).
Known Residents
Morlocks - living in the sewers beneath District X.
Known Businesses
- Book End - Tiny, dusty bookstore with bookshelves up to the ceilings. Owned by an elderly couple, Marjorie and Mark Mulrooney. Marjorie has owlish eyes, incredible night vision and has a perfect memory (she literally never forgets anything). Mark has very minor aerokinesis and mostly uses it to dust the shop.
- Ben's Bygone Belongings - A vintage/thrift store stacked high with odds and ends donated or traded in.
- eVolution- Clothing store centering on fashions and alterations for mutants, with a front as an indie/alternative clothing store. Owned by Adrienne Frost/Meridian Enterprises. Megan Gwynn works the store and acts as a model for the clothing lines.
- X-Factor Investigations - PI agency
- Music store owned by Opal Tanaka, pro-mutant human, specialising in vinyl and CDs. Introduced in Case File: A Better Mole Trap.
- Roman Catholic Church - A Roman Catholic Church owned by Father Michael Bowen. The basement had been converted into a homeless shelter/soup kitchen years ago. Recently it has taken another role of being part of the Mutant Underground and helping stray mutants. The church is located just outside of the District, but close enough to have a presence.
- District X Community Centre: Founded in April 2022 with the support of the Xavier Institute and its residents, the centre provides a number of resources to locals, including a legal clinic and food bank.
- The Fabian Building: A brownstone-turned-office space which now houses the Snow Valley Research Center.
- Betty's: A small restaurant on the ground floor of the Fabian Building, which caters for breakfast and lunch. It is a pay-what-you-will arrangement and has several mutants working there. The owners are Joe and Lee, two older gentlemen.
- The Loisaida Deli and Grocery: The bodega on the ground floor of the Fabian Building. It is considered a five-star example of its kind by "real" New Yorkers, and despite its shabbiness it makes amazing sandwiches and has a good stock of local needs on its shelves. It is run by Valentina and Tomas, an older Puerto Rican couple.
- Sol's: A traditional New York style deli specialising in smoked meats. Another mutant-friendly location, with several mutant staff and a photograph memorial to the regular patrons who disappeared during M-Day.
- The Original Kirby's: Not far from the Fabian Building, Kirby's is a bar with a surprisingly extensive cocktail menu and a number of local brewery beers on tap.
Plots
Phase 2
Phase 1
X-Factor Investigation: Cathouse
Meta
Created by Cross
Phase 1 History
The 11th Precinct (also called District X, Middle East Side, and Mutant Town) maintained a population between 600 to 1,000; 743 is the only official count. Residents include mutants, their families, sympathizers, and prior residents who returned after the invasion lead by Apocalypse. The mutant population was estimated to be about half of the residents at any given time. The southern border is formed by Angels Clinic and the aid stations the X-Men established during Day Zero. The street the clinic is on, however, sees a higher percentage of drug abusing homeless than the rest of the area. That part of the area is riddled with drug deals and street prostitution.
Since Apocalypse was taken down the neighborhood had grown up and created an identity for itself. Businesses - mostly mutant owned - came up to populate the area which became a refuge of sorts for mutants, particularly visible mutants. The cops assigned to District X didn't care too much what goes on there. Apocalypse did more than just structural damage to the city and as a result many of the street and beat cops who work District X weren't quite as concerned with crimes against mutants as they likely should have been. In light of this, the investigators at X-Factor Investigations were referred to as the "mutant cops" and were often the ones residents go to for help rather than the police.
Petty crime was a problem in the neighborhood as a whole. Small break ins or burglaries were considered common, as was anti-mutant graffiti. These things were rarely reported to the cops and even when they see evidence of the anti-mutant crimes they largely do nothing. Business owners and residents learned to simply deal with it. Inside the neighborhood, however, many residents became rather tight knit. They knew one another and tried to look out for one another. This isn't to say that everyone in District X was a law abiding citizen, but those who were tried to band together in the spirit that things get easier if they all have one another's back.
There was a small population within District X of radicals who were pro-mutant to the point of being anti-human. While their ideology wasn't widely accepted among the inhabitants of the neighborhood, it was still very present and sometimes the non-mutant residents had trouble with these individuals.
Businesses in District X often carried the free, homemade newsletter concerning mutant issues called SOME GUY WITH A PRINTER'S MUTANT NEWS FOR MUTANTS.
Business owners and other interested parties also formed a community council. The council met to discuss various projects around District X, and were successful in beginning a program to start cleaning up some of the buildings destroyed by the events of Day Zero that had not yet been developed. Their ultimate goal was to buy one of these buildings to establish a community center, but had been struggling to find enough funding for it. Jean-Paul and Warren attended meetings, which happen Friday evenings, the location rotating between various businesses and private residences.
Former (Phase 1) Known Businesses
Angels Clinic - non-profit free clinic, the southern border of the neighborhood.
Book End - Tiny, dusty bookstore with bookshelves up to the ceilings. Owned by an elderly couple, Marjorie and Mark Mulrooney. Marjorie has owlish eyes, incredible night vision and has a perfect memory (she literally never forgets anything). Mark has very minor aerokinesis and mostly uses it to dust the shop.
District X Hostel - Typical hostel
Empire MMA - Mixed martial arts dojo offering Brazilian Jujitsu, Krav Maga, Kickboxing, Self-Defense and MMA instruction. Fairly run down but the owner won a lot of respect when he refused to leave the neighborhood after it was mostly destroyed. Located next door to Empire Boxing which is owned by the brother of Empire MMA's owner, Alfonso Cabrera. It's been around in one incarnation or another for about 25 years.
Empire Boxing - Run down, old school boxing gym. The owner, Ignacio Cabrera, is the brother of the man who owns Empire MMA next door and like his brother he refused to shut down or relocate when the city was taken over by Apocalypse a few years back. It's been around for about 30 years.
eVolution- Clothing store centering on fashions and alterations for mutants. Co-owned by Warren Worthington and Adrienne Frost. Tangerine and Megan Gwynn work the store and act as models for the clothing lines.
Golden China - owned by Madame Wong, who has a propensity for remembering the orders and corresponding voices/names of her regulars. Chinese food, Mandarin and Szechuan style.
Puccini Cafe - Italian style cafe, serves pastries, limited lunch menu, coffee drinks, wine and beer.
Shady Ray's - Pool hall. Pretty dim and dingy. They serve burgers, hot dogs, fries (normal, chili, cheese), soda and beer as well. There's a jukebox and approximately seven pool tables.
Silver - Mutant-friendly nightclub.
The Trailer Park - Greasy spoon 24-hour diner. The owners are human but very mutant-friendly.
Walters and Worthington - law firm started by criminal defense lawyer Jennifer Walters and anti-discrimination/business lawyer Warren Worthington.
X-Factor Investigations - PI agency associated with the Xavier Institute
Zeitgeist - Bar that attracts a lot of counter culture sorts. Goths, rivetheads, metalheads, the tattooed, the pierced, fetish enthusiasts and bikers all frequent the place.
Former (Phase 1) Known Residents
Sergeant Ismael "Izzy" Ortega, "Filthy" Frankie Zapruder, Daniel "Shaky" Kaufman, Tangerine, Gene Nation members, Apocalypse loyalists, Vanessa Carlysle, John Allerdyce, Angelo Espinosa
