Stories
Early Characters
Yankee Sullivan Prizefighting Champion
Yankee Sullivan real name James Ambrose. he was born in Bandon, Cork in 1811, he was also known as Frank Murray and James Sullivan. Yankee Sullivan was a bare-knuckle boxer and was a prizefighting champion from 1851 to 1853. He was considered to be the inheritor of...
The Mandelbaum Gang – New York’s Female Gang Boss
Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum was a New York entrepreneur and operated as a criminal fence to many of the street gangs and criminals of the city's underworld, handling between $1-5 million in stolen goods between 1862 until 1884. Like her rival John D. Grady and the...
The Death of Bill “The Butcher”
William Poole better known as "Bill The Butcher” was a champion pugilist in 1855 when kicking, biting and eye-gouging were acceptable tactics and fighting to the death, meant just that. It was a time when challenging your opponent was issued out of pure hatred. When...
Manhattan, New York, 1855
Manhattan, New York in 1855 - To the right of the picture is Hells Kitchen & the West Side, New Jersey can be seen further back and on the left is the East Side and straight down is where Five Points & the Bowery was located. In the front is the old reservoir...
Irish hunger Memorial – New York City
A real piece of Ireland in America. In New York City, the birthplace of the Irish Mob, stands what is undeniably proof of the long standing links between two countries going back two centuries. In New York there is a memorial garden called the Irish Hunger Memorial...
Little Annie Reilly
Little Annie Reilly also known under the aliases Kate Cooley, Connelly and Manning she was a thief and con artist widely regarded as "the cleverest woman in her line in America" She was also one of Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaums elite inner circle during the 1860's...
The Whyos Gang
The Whyos Gang were a street gangs of New York, they were the city's dominant street gang during the mid-late 19th century. The gang controlled most of Manhattan from the late 1860s until the early 1890s. Consisting largely of criminals ranging from pickpockets to...
Mulberry Street / Mulberry Bend
The photo is a picture of an unnamed real Gang of New York in Bandits Roost an alley somewhere in Mulberry Street. Its part of an exhibition called How The Other Half Live by photographer Jacob Riis. If the Five Points of Manhattan was the poorest, most crime-ridden...
The Short Tails
The Short Tails (Not to be confused with the Shirt Tails, who were an earlier gang) This is a photo of a real Gang of New York, under a pier in Corlears Hook, it was taken in 1888 and part of an exhibition called How The Other Half Lives by photographer Jacob Riis...