What is the origin of the phrase 23-Skiddoo?

It was coined by New York’s Finest along Twenty-third Street in the years before World War I.

At the corner of Twenty-third Street and Broadway, traditionally the windiest corner of the city, men used to stand outside the famous Flatiron Building for free looks at ladies’ well-turned ankles.

The police dutifully moved the audience along, thus giving rise to the phrase.

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