Eastman Gang
The Eastman Gang was the last of New York's street gangs which dominated the city's underworld during the late 1890s until the early 1910s. Along with the Five Points Gang under Italian-American Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli, best known as Paul Kelly, the Eastman gang succeeded the long dominant Whyos as the first non-Irish street gang to gain prominence in the underworld during the 1890s. Its rise marked the beginning of a forty to fifty-year period of strong Jewish-American influence within organized crime in New York City.
Monk Eastman leader of the Eastman Gang from a New York Police Department mug shot, 1903 | |
| Founded | 1890s |
|---|---|
| Founded by | Monk Eastman |
| Founding location | Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York |
| Years active | 1890s–1910s |
| Territory | Manhattan, New York |
| Ethnicity | predominantly Jewish-American but also some Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans and English-Americans |
| Criminal activities | Armed robbery, theft, illegal gambling, extortion, prostitution, and peddling opium |
| Allies | Batavia Street Gang, Lenox Avenue Gang |
| Rivals | Five Points Gang, Whyos, Yakey Yakes |
| Notable members |
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Under the leadership of Monk Eastman, a well known bouncer and hired thug, the Eastman Gang spent the next decade establishing a criminal empire in Manhattan's Lower East Side through criminal activities, including prostitution and illegal gambling. They operated stuss games, and established strong political connections through Tammany Hall.