The Neighbors' Sons was a New York street gang which, operating in the neighborhoods between
Bleecker and
Grove Streets, were rivals of the
Gopher Gang
The Gopher Gang was an early 20th-century New York street gang who counted among its members Goo Goo Knox, James "Biff" Ellison, and Owney Madden, born in England of Irish ancestry. Based in the Irish neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, the Gopher G ...
and the
Hudson Dusters
The Hudson Dusters was a New York City street gang during the early twentieth century.
Formation
Formed in the late 1890s by "Circular Jack", "Kid Yorke", and "Goo Goo Knox", the gang began operating from an apartment house on Hudson Str ...
during the early 1900s.
During a brawl between members of the Neighbors' Sons and the Hudson Dusters on
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
in July 1912, in which three unidentified men approached several men loitering on the corner of
Horatio and
Washington Streets and began firing in full view of hundreds witnesses, casualties included at least one man, William Jenks, who had been shot in the spine and lungs. Another two men, James Redmond and Edward Ahearn, were later admitted to
St. Vincent's Hospital with minor gunshot wounds and were taken into custody for their connection to the shooting.
Known for their frequent altercations with law enforcement, police arrested gang members Thomas McManus, John O'Brien and George Fox, arresting two for assault and attempted robbery as well as a third for interfering in the duties of a police officer after attempting to mug a Ninth Avenue
surface car conductor on May 31, 1913. That same morning, police conducted a search for another member who had been stabbed by a rival gang. However, they failed to find him.
[''"Shooting Arouse Police, A Patrolman Killed Yesterday Morning"''. New York Times 01 June 1913]
They were among many of the gangs who were broken up during the police campaigns against the city's street gangs during 1916.
References
Former gangs in New York City
{{Organized crime groups in New York City