Editing Hudson Dusters (section)

==Crime, leadership and rivalries==
The gang's name is documented by July 1912, when police identified William Jenks and James Redmond as Hudson Dusters after fighting and gunfire around Horatio and Washington streets.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030272/1912-07-30/ed-1/?sp=14 “Gang Fight After a Picnic”], ''The Sun'', July 30, 1912, p. 14.</ref> In 1913, the ''Evening World'' reported that Joseph Rooney and Thomas Harris were arrested after merchants sought protection from theft and assaults at the West Washington and Gansevoort markets.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030193/1913-08-29/ed-1/?sp=2 “War on Gang Robbing Market Wagons”], ''The Evening World'', August 29, 1913, p. 2.</ref>

''The Sun'' identified Red Farrell as a longtime leader and described Big Jim Redmond as another leading figure. In December 1914, the ''Evening World'' called Redmond the gang's “president” while reporting his arrest and recent fighting with the Marginals, Owney Madden's followers and police.<ref name="Sun1914" /><ref>[https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030193/1914-12-09/ed-1/?sp=11 “Big Jim, Gang Boss, is Arrested for Spite”], ''The Evening World'', December 9, 1914, p. 11.</ref> “President” was newspaper terminology and does not establish a formal hierarchy.

The gang's relationship with the neighboring Gophers was situational rather than a fixed alliance. A September 1913 report said police believed Hudson Dusters and Gophers cooperated as armed repeaters during a West Side primary fight against Jack Sirocco's men.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030272/1913-09-17/ed-1/?sp=1 “Repeaters in Gun Fight on Broadway”], ''The Sun'', September 17, 1913, p. 1.</ref> Asbury later called them allies, while other period reporting placed Dusters and Madden's faction on opposing sides in 1914.<ref name="Asbury" /> No permanent ally is therefore assigned in the infobox.