Paul Kelly was a New York criminal who founded the Five Points Gang, which recruited many of the most prominent criminals of the early 20th century, including Johnny Torrio, Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel and Frankie Yale. His year of birth is not reliably known. Some reports have him born in 1871 but his gravestone in Calvary Cemetery says he was born December 23, 1876 and died April 3, 1936. There are some doubts that the site is actually his grave. Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York City Governor George Pataki (R) Senators Charles Schumer (D) Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) Official languages None (English is de facto) Area 141,205 km² or 54,556 square miles (27th)  - Land... The Five Points Gang were a 19th-century criminal organization based in the Sixth Ward (The Five Points) of New York City. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Johnny The Fox Torrio (February 1882 - April 16, 1957) was an Italian-American mobster famous for building a criminal empire in Chicago during the 1920s that would later be inherited by his protege, Al Capone. ... Jump to: navigation, search FBI mugshot of Capone, 1931 Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), more popularly known as Al Scarface Capone, was a famous American Gangster in the 1920s and 1930s, although his business card is reported to have said he was a dealer in used... Lucky Luciano. ... Jump to: navigation, search Meyer Lansky (born Majer SuchowliÅ„ski, July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), was a gangster born in Grodno, then part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth occupied by the Russian Empire but now in Belarus. ... Jump to: navigation, search Mugshot of the twenty-two-year-old Bugsy Siegels 1928 arrest in New York Benjamin Bugsy Siegel (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American gangster, popularly thought to be the impetus behind large-scale development of Las Vegas. ... Frankie Yale (1893 - July 1, 1928) was a Brooklyn gangster and original employer of Al Capone, before the latter moved to Chicago to start his own gang. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Calvary Cemetery is located in Woodside, Queens County, New York, and is a very popular eternal dwelling place for mobsters and politicians. ... Jump to: navigation, search December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). ... 1876 is a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Jump to: navigation, search April 3 is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 272 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Early life

Born Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli in Sicily, he adopted an Irish surname when he began professional boxing after emigrating to New York in the early 1890s. Using money gained from prizefighting he began operating several bordellos in the Italian district east of the Bowery where he later opened several athletic clubs as a front for the local street gangs that began to come under his control. Sicily (Sicilia in Italian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 sq. ... The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the Mauve Decade, because William Henry Perkins aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion, and also as the Gay Nineties, under the then-current usage of the word gay which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Categories: Stub | Streets in Manhattan ... A gang is a group of individuals who share a common identity and, in current usage, engage in illegal activities. ...

Five Points Gang

Offering his services to Tammany Hall politician "Big" Tim Sullivan, Kelly's gang helped re-elect Tammany Hall incumbent Tom Foley against Paddy Divver, a local saloon owner campaigning to keep the red light districts out of the Fourth Ward during the 1901 Second Assembly District primary elections, forming one of the earliest and longest lasting partnerships between politics and organized crime. Throughout the election day on September 17 Kelly's gang of over 1,500 men openly assaulted Divver supporters, blocked polling booths, and committed numerous acts of voter fraud easily winning the election for Foley. Kelly later gained control of the vice districts of the Fourth Ward, including prostitution, gaining a virtual monopoly in the Five Points. The Tammany Hall on 14th Street, New York City Tammany Hall was the name given to the Democratic Party political machine that dominated New York City politics from the mayoral victory of Fernando Wood in 1854 through the election of Fiorello LaGuardia in 1934. ... Jump to: navigation, search September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... Five Points (or The Five Points) was a notorious slum centered on the intersection of Worth St. ...

In 1903 Kelly was arrested for assault and robbery and served nine months in jail. On release, Kelly formed the Paul Kelly Association, a new athletic club which he used to recruit younger criminals for his organization.

From his headquarters in New Brighton, a Bowery cafe and dance hall, Kelly charmed socialites and other prominent citizens who frequented his club. Always well dressed, Kelly spoke French, Italian, and Spanish fluently and his educated and sophisticated nature impressed many of New York's elite. During that time Kelly's organization expanded into other parts of Manhattan and parts of New Jersey. However Kelly's image alienated many top gunmen who later left for the Monk Eastman Gang, such as "Kid Twist" Max Zwerbach and Richie Fitzpatrick. Others, such as Johnny Spanish, later left to go out on their own. Jump to: navigation, search Manhattan Borough,highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Garden State Other U.S. States Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Governor Richard Codey (D) Acting Senators Jon Corzine (D) Frank Lautenberg (D) Official languages None defined Area 22,608 km² (47th)  - Land 19,231 km²  - Water 3,378 km² (14. ... Richie Fitzpatrick (1880-1905) was a top gunman in the Monk Eastman gang, as well as a former member of the Five Points Gang, during the late 1890s until his death in 1905. ... Johnny Spanish (1891-July 29, 1919) was a Jewish gangster who was a rival of former partner Kid Dropper Nathan Kaplan during a garment workers strike in 1919. ...

Paul Kelly-Monk Eastman rivalry

Kelly's main rival was Monk Eastman, whose gang of over 2,000 gunmen controlled New York's East Side. Eastman, an old-fashioned thug of the 19th century, was the complete opposite of the cultured Kelly, whom Eastman intensely disliked. While both gangs were under the control of Tammany Hall the two constantly raided each other. While Kelly occasionally committed petty theft, which caused his 1903 arrest, Eastman constantly fought alongside his men. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

War broke out between the Five Point and Eastman gangs in 1904. However, as the war began to turn in Eastman's favor, Eastman was arrested for robbery. Tammany Hall, now eager to end the warfare between its two affiliated gangs, withdrew any protection for Eastman, who was sent to Sing Sing Prison. Alternative meaning: Sing Sing (band) Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a prison in Ossining, New York. ...

Kelly's downfall

With Eastman's arrest Kelly completely controlled New York. However members of the Five Points Gang continued to resent Kelly's behavior and in November 1908 Kelly's lieutenants, Razor Riley and James T. "Biff" Ellison, attempted to assume leadership. Walking into Kelly's New Brighton headquarters Riley and Ellison began firing. Kelly, drinking with bodyguards Bill Harrington and Rough House Hogan, returned fire as Harrington was killed protecting Kelly. After several minutes Riley and Ellison escaped and, a wounded Kelly was taken to a private hospital before he could be arrested. Kelly turned himself in a month later but charges were dropped due to Kelly's political connections. Riley was later arrested in 1911 and sent to prison where he went insane, eventually dying in an asylum. Ellison was found by police, dead from pneumonia, in his basement hideout in Chinatown. The negative publicity caused New Brighton to be closed down by Police Commissioner William McAdoo for the protection of its socialite regulars, beginning the end of Paul Kelly's dominance in the New York's underworld. Jump to: navigation, search New York City is home to one of the largest Chinatowns in North America, and is centered around Canal Street in Manhattan. ... William Gibbs McAdoo (October 31, 1863–February 1, 1941) was a U.S. Senator and United States Secretary of the Treasury. ...

Final years

Tammany Hall also put pressure on Kelly to lower his profile as it sought to clean up the Bowery. After Kelly closed the New Brighton, he moved operations to the Italian immigrant communities in Harlem and Brooklyn. He also retained ties to his old neighborhood, becoming a vice president of the International Longshoremen's Association under the name Paul Vaccarelli, with his base in the Chelsea area. He was expelled from the ILA in 1919, but returned to it later that year after assuming leadership of a spontaneous port wide strike begun in protest against a five cent an hour wage increase agreed to by the leadership of the International Union. With the support of Mayor John F. Hylan he was appointed to a commission created to resolve the strike, which he ended without obtaining any concessions for the strikers. Harlem is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, long known as a major African American cultural and business center. ... A map highlighting Brooklyn and the rest of New York City. ... The International Longshoremens Association is a labor union representing longshore workers along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, and inland waterways. ... Chelsea is located on the West Side of Manhattan, New York City. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search John Francis Hylan (April 20, 1868–January 12, 1936), nicknamed Red Mike, was the Mayor of New York City from 1918 to 1925. ...

He became a labor racketeer, providing muscle in labor disputes, in the 1920s. He died of natural causes.. Jump to: navigation, search Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. ...

Further reading

• Kimeldorf, Howard, Reds or Rackets? The Making of Radical and Conservative Unions on the Waterfront, University of California Press, 1988.
• Nash, Jay Robert, Encyclopedia of World Crime (S-Z) Vol. IV, Crimebooks Inc., 1990.

External links

• Find A Grave: Paul "Paul Kelly" Vaccarelli
• American Organized Crime: Five Points Gang
• Mafia International: The Five Points & Eastman Gangs