The Plug Uglies: 19th century

They got their name because of the Hugh plug hats they wore, which stuffed with wool and leather scraps, was pulled down over the ears to serve as a most effective helmet. They were feared in 1825, as they carried bricks and heavy bludgeon, a pistol in their belt and hobnailed boots, with which they trampled their victims or enemies. They took part in the Civil War Draft Riots of 1863

Big Mike Abrams (?-1898)

The most notorious of the while killers of the Chinatown Alleys was Big Mike Adams, who performed beatings and killings for pay. If work was slow, Abrams would take to street killings. Sometimes he operated opium-smoking dens on Pell Street and in Coney Island. One of his big time most-celebrated murders were the knife decapitations of three Chinese before the horrified eyes of onlookers on Pell Street. Police found Big Mike dead in bed, his room filled with gas. Foul play suspected.

Joe Adonis (1902-1972) Syndicate gangster

He was born in Montemarano, Italy, on November 22, 1902 Joseph Doto entered the country illegally and adopted the name Adonis to pay tribute to what he regarded to be his handsome looks. He formed a friendship with Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese and Lucky Luciano. In 1920 he became head of the Broadway Mob, controlling the flow of bootleg liquor in mid-Manhattan. He became a trusted member of the board of national syndicate. At the end of prohibition, Adonis extended his domain not only to Manhattan but to Brooklyn and New Jersey also. In 1956 was deported, after his true birthplace was discovered.

Albert Anastasia (1903-1957)

Immediately upon his arrival in the United States in 1920, Anastasia and his brother, Tough Tony Anastasia, became active on the crime-ridden Brooklyn docks and gained a position of power in the longshoremen's union. He and Louis "Lepke" Buchalter were installed as the executive heads of the enforcement arm of Murder, Inc. The disappearance of witnesses was a regular occurrence in the Anastasia story, as were killings to advance his career. In 1951 Anastasia took over the Mangano family, one of New York's five crime families, by murdering Phil Mangano. He became known as the Mad Hatter. He was a devoted follower of Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello. Anastasia's killer instincts could be contained as long as Luciano and Costello were around to control him but Luciano was deported in 1946. Early on the morning of October 2, 1957, Anastasia was gunned down in a barber's chair at the Park Sheraton Hotel.

Bowery Boys: Early New York Gang

One of the toughest gangs in New York during the early 1800s was the famed Bowery Boys, who, as native Americans, did battle with the dreaded Irish gangs, especially the Dead Rabbits and their satellites. The average Bowery Boy was a burly ruffian who worked as a butcher or apprentice mechanic or perhaps a bouncer in a Bowery saloon or dance cellar. The Bowery Boys' hatred of Irish gangs and of foreigners in general was implacable, and they campaigned for candidates who ran against naturalization laws and favored their repeal so that Irish voters could be stripped of their citizenship. During the Draft Riots the Bowery Boys took part in much of the criminality loosed on the city.

Cherry Hill Gang: Gay Nineties criminals

A vicious bunch of thieves and killers, the Cherry Hill Gang were the "dandies" of the New York underworld in the 1890s. They were always seen in dress suits and found it easy to get within striking range of a well-heeled gentleman and attack before their victim had a chance to be alarmed.

Daybreak Boys: New York Criminal Gang

Although no member was much over the age of 20, the Daybreak Boys were among the most desperate New York gangs in the 1850s. It was said that no one could join the gang until he had killed at least one man, but this was an exaggeration since some members were as young as 12 or even 10 and hadn't yet advanced to homicide. Once in the gang, they were initiated into the practice. By the end of 1859 the gang broke up.

Dead Rabbits: Early New York Gang

From the 1820's until their final decline in the 1870's, the Dead Rabbits were a huge gang of criminals who controlled much of the Lower East Side, excluding the Bowery, and were famous as thieves and thugs. When they went to battle with other gangs, or do their crime they would carry a dead rabbit on a pike. They were also political sluggers, supporting pro-Irish candidates. The main foes of the Dead Rabbits were the Bowery Boys, who were aligned with the anti-Irish Native American Party. The Dead Rabbits resented descriptions of themselves as criminals.

Dutch Mob: 19th Century Pickpocket Gang

One of the largest gangs of pickpockets and muggers ever to operate in an American city, the Dutch Mob, under the leadership of Little Freddie, Sheeney Mike and Johnny Irving, controlled the area just east of New York's Bowery from Houston Street to Fifth Street for about a decade beginning in 1867. The area between Houston to Fifth was known as "pickpocket paradise".

Eastman, Monk (1873-1920)

He was known as the "prince of gangsters". The boss of a Jewish street gang in New York City. His home was in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, where his father owned a restaurant. Eastman and his men took over much of the crime on the Lower East Side, involved in robberies, burglaries, assault, muggings and murder for pay. In December 1920, He was shot dead by a corrupt Prohibition agent.

Five Points District

The gangs of New York terrorized the city, waged hundreds of street battles, and won the community the reputation of the most wicked city in the world. The first gangs consisted almost entirely of Irishmen. The Irish were met with contempt by native New Yorkers. Because they lacked money and education and skills, they were only welcomed in the city's worst slum-The Five Points district, which became the core of the largest Irish community. . What was considered the Five Points district? It was a squalid area lying northeast of the present New York County Courthouse, Five Points was formed by the intersection of five streets-Anthony, Orange, Cross, Little Water, and Mulberry. 

Today Anthony is Worth Street, Orange is Baxter Street, Cross is Park Street. Vanished altogether is Little Water Street. Only Mulberry Street has kept its original name. The Five Points opened onto a small triangular park with the cynical name of Paradise Square. Today this is the southwestern corner of Columbus Park. About 1820 the Five Points began to deteriorate. It stood on the site of the old Collect, or Fresh Water Pond, and the landfill hadn't been packed solidly enough. Respectable families fled from the decay to better parts of the city, and the Irish moved in. The Irish clustered by the thousands in the wretched rookeries, with their dank cellars and fetid garrets. Lacking other means of earning a living, the Irish carved out criminal careers.

Forty Thieves: 19th Century New York Gang

The first criminal gang in New York City , a group of Lower East Side Irish immigrants who served as political sluggers as well as muggers and holdup men. The gang was formed in the early 1820's. Each man was expected to bring in a certain amount of loot , and if they didn't they would be replaced by someone else. They had a disciplined membership. It was led by Edward Coleman. All day long and half the night he would dispatch henchmen to the nearby slum area to slug, steal, rob and kill.

Gophers:

They were one of the last of the all-Irish gangs of New York. They controlled the territory between Seventh and Eleventh avenues from 42nd Street to 14th Street. Brawlers, muggers and thieves, they gained their name because they like to hide out in basements and cellars. Some of the Gophers were Newburg Gallagher, Stumpy Malarkey, One-Lung Curran, and Marty Brennan.

Honeymoon Gang:

They were one of the most brutal New York gangs in the mid-1800s, By 1853 the Honeymooners had so terrorized the East Side's 18th Ward that it became unsafe to walk there. Every night the gang would place their men at each corner of Madison Avenue and 29th Street and attack a well-dressed citizen who would come along. The Honeymooners were not molested by the police until George W. Walling was appointed Captain of the district in late 1853. He organized the city's first Strong Arm Squad, and began beating on the members of the gang, which afterwards, they disappeared from the area.

The Kerryonians

Its members were born in County Kerry, Ireland. They were less ferocious than the Forty Thieves. They did little fighting devoting themselves mainly to hating the British. They were organized about 1825. Eventually absorbed into other gangs, the aging Kerryonians had their last hurrah during the infamous Astor Place Riots of 1849 protesting an appearance by the eminent British actor William C. Macready.

The Roach Guards

Originally formed in the 1820s as a street gang that protected certain New York liquor sellers in the Five Points section, The Roach Guards were Irish thugs who would often rampage through the city committing robberies and murders. When not working as murderers and thieves, the Roach Guards fought pitched battles with other gangs, especially the hated Bowery Boys and the Dead Rabbits. The Roach Guards started to decline in importance in the
1850s .

Tenderloin: New York Vice area

Every major American city had or has a tenderloin district where crime and vice thrive, but the original term applied to an area in New York City. The Tenderloin was the worst section of Manhattan Island, comprising just a part of what was the 29th Police Precinct, covering the area between 24th Street and 40th Street from Fifth Avenue to Seventh Avenue. By the 1890s the Tenderloin extended north to 48th Street and as far west as Ninth Avenue. Twenty straight blocks of Sixth Avenue, were lined on both sides with nothing but gin mills, dance halls, brothels and other low resorts. Day and night the streets were jammed with streetwalkers and crooks of all sort. Preachers called it "Satan's Circus".