Informer: Correct Five Points organizational identity using contemporary reporting and stronger biographies

2026-08-19T01:13:30Z

Correct Five Points organizational identity using contemporary reporting and stronger biographies

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:13, 19 August 2026
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	In a 1909 investigation, George Kibbe Turner described the Five Points and Cherry Hill underworld of the 1880s as predominantly Irish but comparatively unorganized. He contrasted it with the more structured political gangs that emerged around the turn of the century.<ref name="Turner">George Kibbe Turner, [https://archive.org/details/McCluresMagazineV33n02190906/page/n31/mode/2up “Tammany's Control of New York by Professional Criminals”], ''McClure's Magazine'', vol. 33, no. 2, June 1909, pp. 117–126.</ref>		In a 1909 investigation, George Kibbe Turner described the Five Points and Cherry Hill underworld of the 1880s as predominantly Irish but comparatively unorganized. He contrasted it with the more structured political gangs that emerged around the turn of the century.<ref name="Turner">George Kibbe Turner, [https://archive.org/details/McCluresMagazineV33n02190906/page/n31/mode/2up “Tammany's Control of New York by Professional Criminals”], ''McClure's Magazine'', vol. 33, no. 2, June 1909, pp. 117–126.</ref>

	==~~Ethnic and organizational transition~~==		==Turn-of-the-century use==
	By the ~~late nineteenth century~~, ~~Italian and Eastern European Jewish immigration had changed Lower Manhattan~~'~~s population and underworld~~. ~~Sociologist James M~~. ~~O'Kane writes that Jewish and~~ Italian ~~gangsters eventually took over or transformed older Irish gangs. He identifies~~ Paul ~~Kelly—born Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli—as~~ the Italian ~~leader who assumed control of~~ the ~~old~~ Five Points gang~~, while noting that the major gangs continued to contain members from different ethnic groups~~.<ref ~~name="OKane"~~>~~James M. O'Kane,~~ [https://~~books~~.~~google~~.~~com~~/~~books~~?id=~~6tszDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT62~~ ''~~The Crooked Ladder: Gangsters, Ethnicity and the American Dream~~''~~] (Routledge~~, ~~2017)~~, pp. ~~64–66~~.</ref>		The singular name did not describe a settled Irish-to-Italian corporate succession. In September 1902, ''The Evening World'' described a “Five Points Italian gang” while listing the Paul Kelly Club as a separate allied organization.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030193/1902-09-30/ed-1/?sp=6 “Gangsters Battle in City Streets”], ''The Evening World'', September 30, 1902, p. 6.</ref> In April 1903, it again differentiated the Italian Paul Kelly Association from the Italian Five Pointers.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030193/1903-04-18/ed-1/?sp=8 “Gang Men to Fight Eastman”], ''The Evening World'', April 18, 1903, p. 8.</ref> The ''New-York Tribune'' later referred to a Paradise Social Club as the “new Five Points Gang” operating on the battleground of an “old” gang.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030214/1903-07-06/ed-1/?sp=4 “Reserves Beaten Off: Five Points Gang Ends Celebration by Rioting and Assaulting”], ''New-York Tribune'', July 6, 1903, p. 4.</ref>

	~~The name itself was reused~~. ~~In July 1903, the~~ '~~'New-York Tribune'' called the Paradise Social Club the “new Five Points Gang”~~ and ~~said its riot occurred on~~ the ~~battleground~~ of the ~~“old~~ Five Points ~~Gang~~.”<ref>[https://~~www~~.~~loc~~.~~gov/resource/sn83030214/1903-07-06/ed-1~~/?sp=~~4 “Reserves Beaten Off~~: ~~Five Points Gang Ends Celebration by Rioting~~ and ~~Assaulting”], ''New-York Tribune~~'', ~~July 6~~, ~~1903, p~~. 4.</ref> ~~This contemporary distinction~~ is one ~~reason later sources cannot safely be reduced to a single uninterrupted~~ organization.		Later sources compressed these changing organizations into a lineage. Sociologist James M. O'Kane describes Irish gang dominance giving way to Jewish and Italian control and identifies Francesco Paolo Vaccarelli, known as Paul Kelly, with the takeover of the old Five Points gang. O'Kane also notes that major gangs could include members from more than one ethnic group.<ref>James M. O'Kane, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6tszDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT62 ''The Crooked Ladder: Gangsters, Ethnicity and the American Dream''] (Routledge, 2017), pp. 64–66.</ref> That later synthesis is historical interpretation rather than proof that one organization survived intact.

	==~~Paul Kelly period~~==		==Related organizations==
	The ~~later singular~~ [[Five Points Gang]] ~~was associated with~~ Paul Kelly ~~and an Italian-led but multiethnic network of~~ social ~~clubs~~ and ~~neighborhood crews. Contemporary~~ and later sources ~~disagree over whether~~ the ~~name covered Kelly's entire association or a faction that separated from him in 1905~~. ~~Its history is therefore treated in a dedicated article rather than projected backward onto every earlier gang in the neighborhood.<ref name="Turner" />~~		The [[Five Points Gang]] article covers the ambiguous turn-of-the-century name and coalition. The [[Paul Kelly Association]] article covers Kelly's distinct social and criminal organization, which contemporary newspapers initially reported separately and later sources frequently called the Five Points Gang.

	==See also==		==See also==
	* [[Five Points Gang]]		* [[Five Points Gang]]
			* [[Paul Kelly Association]]
	* [[Dead Rabbits]]		* [[Dead Rabbits]]
	* [[Dead Rabbits riot]]		* [[Dead Rabbits riot]]

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{{SHORTDESC:Street gangs historically associated with Five Points, Manhattan}}
[[File:Leslie five points new york 1885 3c22660v.jpg|thumb|A slum tour through the Five Points in an 1885 illustration. The image provides neighborhood context and does not identify members of a particular gang.]]

The term '''Five Points gangs''' refers collectively to the many street gangs that operated in and around Five Points, Manhattan, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It should not be read as the name of one continuously governed Irish organization that later became Italian.

==Nineteenth-century gangs==
Five Points was initially associated with gangs drawn largely from Irish immigrant and Irish-American neighborhoods. They included the Forty Thieves, Kerryonians, Chichesters, Roach Guards, [[Dead Rabbits]], Plug Uglies and [[Whyos]]. These were separate organizations that sometimes cooperated or fought under broader neighborhood labels.

In a 1909 investigation, George Kibbe Turner described the Five Points and Cherry Hill underworld of the 1880s as predominantly Irish but comparatively unorganized. He contrasted it with the more structured political gangs that emerged around the turn of the century.<ref name="Turner">George Kibbe Turner, [https://archive.org/details/McCluresMagazineV33n02190906/page/n31/mode/2up “Tammany's Control of New York by Professional Criminals”], ''McClure's Magazine'', vol. 33, no. 2, June 1909, pp. 117–126.</ref>

==Ethnic and organizational transition==
By the late nineteenth century, Italian and Eastern European Jewish immigration had changed Lower Manhattan's population and underworld. Sociologist James M. O'Kane writes that Jewish and Italian gangsters eventually took over or transformed older Irish gangs. He identifies Paul Kelly—born Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli—as the Italian leader who assumed control of the old Five Points gang, while noting that the major gangs continued to contain members from different ethnic groups.<ref name="OKane">James M. O'Kane, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6tszDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT62 ''The Crooked Ladder: Gangsters, Ethnicity and the American Dream''] (Routledge, 2017), pp. 64–66.</ref>

The name itself was reused. In July 1903, the ''New-York Tribune'' called the Paradise Social Club the “new Five Points Gang” and said its riot occurred on the battleground of the “old Five Points Gang.”<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030214/1903-07-06/ed-1/?sp=4 “Reserves Beaten Off: Five Points Gang Ends Celebration by Rioting and Assaulting”], ''New-York Tribune'', July 6, 1903, p. 4.</ref> This contemporary distinction is one reason later sources cannot safely be reduced to a single uninterrupted organization.

==Paul Kelly period==
The later singular [[Five Points Gang]] was associated with Paul Kelly and an Italian-led but multiethnic network of social clubs and neighborhood crews. Contemporary and later sources disagree over whether the name covered Kelly's entire association or a faction that separated from him in 1905. Its history is therefore treated in a dedicated article rather than projected backward onto every earlier gang in the neighborhood.<ref name="Turner" />

==See also==
* [[Five Points Gang]]
* [[Dead Rabbits]]
* [[Dead Rabbits riot]]
* [[Whyos]]

[[Category:Former gangs in New York City]]
[[Category:Five Points, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Irish-American organized crime groups]]

Five Points gangs - Revision history

Informer: Correct Five Points organizational identity using contemporary reporting and stronger biographies

Informer: Create independently sourced historical gang article