Johnny Torrio, and to a lesser degree Paul Kelly, are the architects of modern organized crime in America. The James St gang, out of Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn, came to prominence utilizing Kelly's connections at Tammany Hall. Ironically, the Democratic political machine that dominated NYC politics from before the American Civil War, provided the political protection for the gangs political violence. Torrio, a boxing promoter met Kelly, a boxer who once fought Monk Eastman to settle ownership of the 5 Points, at local fights between the 2 boroughs after the City of New York formed in 1898 and the Willie B (Williamsburg Bridge) opened connecting the Lower East Side to Brooklyn. It was through this union, that Torrio, Yale, Vanella, Capone, Masseria, Luciano, Lansky, Siegal connected with each other. Evolving to eventually form the foundation from which rose the edifice of modern organized crime and the American Mafia. Torrio, Iole, Vanella, Capone all hung out in my neighborhood and Al was married at St Mary Shining Star of the Sea in Court St., ten blocks from my apartment in Carroll Gardens. Capone lived at 38 Garfield Pl between 4th and 5th Aves. He received the scars on his face very close to this location in the winter of 1918, in an altercation with Frank Gallucio after Capone insulted his older sister..
Interesting I read Andy Warhol bought the former HQ of Paul Kelly's gang in 1970.
It is a fascinating aspect of the American Mafia, its origins, and the transition from a street gang into the foundations of an enterprise that would impact American society profoundly for decades to come. Ironically, it was through interactions with Tammany Hall that the reigns of power to commit crime in the name of politics would be sanctioned by the establishment. Once that happened, the politicians were blackmailed and bribed into ignoring the many acts of crime perpetrated now for power and money. Attached is an image of Robert Vanella's funeral home at 29 Madison St. in Manhattan, which is open and operating to this very day. Also attached is a newspaper add placed by Robert (Roxie) Vanella searching for work. The James St Gang origins trace back to the Patsy Conroys, a gang of pirates that operated off of Corlears Hook on the East River and hijack river traffic between the end of the American Civil War and the turn of the twentieth century a hundred years ago. Attached is an image of the Patsy Conroys under the boardwalks of Corlears Hook. Pirates are the first example of organized crime in history. I stand corrected on my previous post, James St wasn't in Brooklyn but instead, in the the Fourth Ward and Corlears Hook area.
