Big Apple History . Early New York . Police Battle Gangs


	1857 headlines about gangs

From the early 1800s on, New York City was home to dozens of street gangs. Almost all members were young men, although a few women -- like Hell-Cat Maggie -- joined as well. Some were peaceful; others went armed with clubs, hobnail stomping boots, and sometimes a knife or pistol.

Each gang had a name to keep up, a style of clothing to wear, an area of turf to protect. The red-striped Dead Rabbits and the Plug Uglies -- who wore stuffed, or plug, hats -- ran the Five Points, an immigrant ghetto in lower Manhattan. The Atlantic Guards and True Blue Americans, in their tall stovepipe hats, guarded the Bowery.

Some of these gangs could be quite violent, as Philip Hone, a New York merchant, wrote in his diary in 1839. "The city is infested by gangs of hardened wretches. . . [They] patrol the streets making the nights hideous and insulting all who are not strong enough to defend themselves."

But like gangs today, the gangs of old New York mostly attacked each other, protecting their turf against rivals, which included the police as well as other gangs.

In fact, the police had their own turf battles. Responding to the city's increasing violence in the 1850s, the state government took control of the Metropolitans and filled its ranks with native-born Americans.

Mayor Fernando Wood, elected in large part by the city's immigrant population, did not like Albany's interference in city affairs. He established the Municipal Police Department, manned mostly with foreign-born officers who refused to serve in the new state-controlled force.

The battle lines were drawn: 815 Municipals versus 307 Metropolitans. The two forces went at it, battling for control of the city's police stations. At first, the real winners were the city's gangs and criminals. Arrested by one force, they were often freed by another.

When rioting broke out in Five Points on July 4, 1857, the Metropolitans were called out. As the Municipals stood by and watched, the Metropolitans -- most with less than a month on the job -- were overwhelmed by their lack of experience and ran. After a week, the militia finally restored order.

Still, the problem of competing police persisted for a dozen more years. In 1870, the two forces combined, but not until the 1890s could New York City boast of a truly professional force.

Illustration: from THE NEW YORK DAILY TIMES, July 6, 1857, courtesy of the Collection of the New-York Historical Society.