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Fascinating Facts About the Birth of the Italian-American Mafia

Khalid Elhassan February 13, 2025 17 min

Mafia - Lucky Luciano, who midwifed the birth of the modern Italian-American Mafia — Lucky Luciano, who midwifed the birth of the modern Italian-American Mafia. The Mob Museum

9. From Street Crime to Organized Crime

Mafia - Paul Kelly, right, and his subordinate, Jack McManus — Paul Kelly, right, and his subordinate, Jack McManus. Infamous New York

When a rivalry with another street gang led by a Monk Eastman spilled into street violence, Tammany Hall ordered Kelly and Eastman to settle their differences in a boxing ring. The match ended in a draw, and when street fighting resumed, Eastman was arrested for robbery. Tammany Hall withdrew its protection, and he was convicted and sent away for ten years in Sing Sing, leaving Kelly as NYC’s unchallenged top gang boss. After surviving a messy assassination attempt in 1905 that involved a bloody public shootout, Kelly was arrested but soon released because of his connections. Tammany Hall ordered him to tone it down, and Kelly reduced his direct street gang involvement. Moving into labor racketeering, he got himself appointed vice president of the Longshoremen’s union, for which he provided muscle during labor disputes, until his death of natural causes in 1936.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.