Paul Kelly (born Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli; December 23, 1876 – April 3, 1936) was an Italian American mobster and former boxer, who founded the

Five Points Gang The Five Points Gang was a criminal street gang of primarily Irish-American origins, based in the Five Points of Lower Manhattan, New York City, during the late 19th and early 20th century. Paul Kelly, born Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli, was an It ...

in New York City. He had started some brothels with prize money earned in boxing. Five Points Gang was one of the first dominant

street gangs A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

in New York history. Kelly recruited young, poor men from the ethnically diverse immigrant neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan. The Five Points Gang included some who later became prominent criminals in their own right, including

Johnny Torrio John Donato Torrio (born Donato Torrio, ; January 20, 1882 – April 16, 1957) was an Italian born-American mobster who helped build the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s later inherited by his protégé Al Capone. Torrio proposed a National Crime Sy ...

, Al Capone, Lucky Luciano,

Meyer Lansky Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the ...

and

Frankie Yale Francesco Ioele (; January 22, 1893 – July 1, 1928), known as Frankie Yale or Frankie Uale, was an Italian-American gangster based in Brooklyn and second employer of Al Capone. Early life Yale was born in Longobucco, Italy, on January 22, ...

. At the peak of his criminal career, Kelly was ranked by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' in 1912 as "perhaps the most successful and the most influential gangster in New York history". Kelly was said to support election of Democratic

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

politicians with his gang's activities at elections. After open street warfare with the Eastman Gang in the early twentieth century, which also had ties with Tammany Hall, Kelly and Eastman were ordered by the politicians to end their competition with a boxing match. It ended in a draw. Tammany Hall politicians finally withdrew protection for Eastman, who was convicted and imprisoned on larceny charges in 1904. Kelly lost support when politicians wanted to clean up the Bowery. Gradually he became involved in rackets of the longshoremen's union. Known for his high culture and gentle manners, Kelly is considered the first in the United States to organize crime on a business model. He cultivated a distinguished and sophisticated image, in contrast to the brutish attitude of his peers. Jay Robert Nash refers to him as "the real father of organized crime in America" and "the first modern-day underworld boss".

Biography

Early life

Born in New York City to Italian immigrant parents from Potenza, Basilicata, he grew up in the

Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. After several jobs, Vaccarelli started as a boxer in the

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...

division. In the 1890s, he changed his name to Paul Kelly, for association with the politically dominant, ethnic Irish politicians. His career was short and quite successful. In 1897 he was described by the ''Bridgeport Herald'' newspaper as one of the "fastest and cleanest little boxers in the business". He used his boxing earnings to open brothels and clubs.

Five Points Gang

Offering his services to

politician "Big" Tim Sullivan, Kelly was alleged to have used his gang to help elect Tom Foley against Tammany Hall incumbent Paddy Divver. The latter was a local saloon owner campaigning to keep the red-light districts out of the Fourth Ward during the 1901 Second Assembly District primary elections. On the day of the primary on September 17, Kelly's gang of over 1,500 men assaulted Divver supporters, blocked polling booths, and committed numerous acts of voter fraud to win the election for Foley. Some voted several times during the day; one gang member claimed that "I got in 53 votes." Foley was the challenger, not the incumbent. The Second District already had numerous houses of prostitution as Divver, a judge and longtime Tammany leader had to know. Divver was reported to have drawn a pistol on a personal enemy. Kelly later gained control of the vice districts of the Fourth and Sixth Wards, including prostitution, and controlled a virtual criminal monopoly in the Five Points. In 1903 Kelly was arrested for assault and robbery and served nine months in jail. On release, Kelly formed the Paul Kelly Association, an athletic club which he used to recruit younger men for his criminal organization. The headquarters were located at 24 Stanton Street. He soon opened the New Brighton Athletic Club, a two-story cafe and dance hall at 57 Great Jones Street (between Lafayette and Bowery). Kelly charmed socialites and other prominent citizens who frequented his club. Always well dressed, Kelly spoke French, Italian, and Spanish fluently, and appreciated

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

and classical music.Jay Robert Nash, ''The Great Pictorial History of World Crime, Volume 2'', Scarecrow Press, 2004, p.473 His educated and sophisticated persona impressed many of New York's elite. During that time, Kelly's organization expanded into other parts of Manhattan and parts of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Some of his top gunmen, such as "Kid Twist"

Max Zwerbach Max Zweifach born Maximillian Zweifach known as "Kid Twist" and occasionally referred to as Zwerbach (March 14, 1884 – May 14, 1908) was an American gangster active in the early 1900s. Early life Born Maximillian Zweifach in the Austria-Hunga ...

and Richie Fitzpatrick, became alienated, defecting to the Eastman Gang, where they struggled for power after Eastman was sent to prison. Others, such as Johnny Spanish, went out on their own.

Rivalry with Monk Eastman

Kelly's main rival was

Monk Eastman Edward "Monk" Eastman (1875 – December 26, 1920) was a New York City gangster who founded and led the Eastman Gang in the late 19th and early 20th century; it became one of the most powerful street gangs in the city. His aliases included Jos ...

, whose gang of more than 2,000 controlled New York's Lower East Side. Eastman, an old-fashioned thug of the 19th century, was the opposite of the "cultured" Kelly. While both gangs were under the control of Tammany Hall, the gangs frequently had armed conflict among their members for control of the "neutral" territory along the Bowery. During a brawl between members of the two factions, Kelly punched Jack Shimsky in the nose. Shimsky, one of Eastman's best subordinates, sought revenge by challenging Kelly to a boxing match. Despite his short stature (5' 2") and slender build, Kelly won the fight. He knocked out Shimsky (a 6', 230-pound man) in the third round. An unconscious Shimsky was carried out of the ring by his seconds. Kelly's

controlled the area to the west of the Bowery, and Eastman's, everything to the east. Tammany Hall wanted a neutral area between them to be off-limits. When the gangs fought openly over the territory, attracting police attention and civic outrage when civilians were wounded, Tammany Hall called Kelly and Eastman to a sit-down meeting. Officials ordered them to have a boxing match to settle the issue. The winner would take control of the prized neutral territory, and the war would end. Both parties agreed, and Kelly and Eastman duked it out, but the fight ended in a draw. The gangs resumed warfare. Eastman was arrested for robbing a man on the West Side who was being tailed by Pinkerton detectives hired by his family to protect him. Eastman was convicted of robbery, and Tammany Hall, eager to end the warfare between the gangs, declined to provide protection. Eastman was sentenced to 10 years in

Sing Sing Prison Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

Kelly's downfall

With Eastman's arrest, Kelly completely controlled New York. He had internal competition, and in November 1905, Kelly's former lieutenants, Pat "Razor" Riley and James T. "Biff" Ellison, now members of the Gopher Gang, tried to kill him at his New Brighton headquarters. Kelly, drinking with bodyguards Bill Harrington and Rough House Hogan, returned their fire. Harrington died protecting Kelly. Riley and Ellison escaped, and a wounded Kelly was taken to a private hospital before he could be arrested. Kelly turned himself in a month later, but charges were dropped due to his political connections. Ellison was arrested in 1911, convicted, and sent to prison. He became mentally ill and was placed in an asylum, where he died. Riley was found by police, dead from pneumonia, in his basement hideout in Chinatown. The negative publicity from the attempted assassination resulted in the New York Police Commissioner William McAdoo closing the New Brighton for the protection of its socialite regulars. This marked the decline of Kelly's dominance in the New York underworld.

Final years

Tammany Hall also put pressure on Kelly to lower his profile as it sought to clean up the Bowery. After Kelly closed the New Brighton, he moved operations to the Italian immigrant communities in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

and

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. But he also retained ties to his old neighborhood, becoming a vice president of the

International Longshoremen's Association The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) is a North American labor union representing longshore workers along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and inland waterways. The ILA h ...

(ILA) under his Americanized birth name of Paul Vaccarelli. He was based in the

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

area. Kelly/Vaccarelli was expelled from the ILA in 1919, but returned to it later that year. He took leadership of a spontaneous port-wide strike begun in protest against a wage increase of only five cents an hour, which management had agreed to. With the support of Mayor John F. Hylan, Kelly was appointed to a commission to resolve the strike. He ended it but did not achieve any concessions for the strikers. Kelly became a labor racketeer, providing muscle in labor disputes during the 1920s. He died of natural causes in 1936.

In popular culture

Richard Condon Richard Thomas Condon (March 18, 1915 – April 9, 1996) was an American political novelist. Though his works were satire, they were generally transformed into thrillers or semi-thrillers in other media, such as cinema. All 26 books were writte ...

's novel ''

Mile High ''Mile High'' is a British television drama based on the lives of the cabin crew members of Fresh!, a budget airline based in London. The name of the show is a reference to the Mile High Club. The show was broadcast on Sky1 from 2003 to 2005 ...

'' (1969), features Kelly in the first third of the novel. He explores a young super-criminal who invented

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

and organized crime for his private profit. * Caleb Carr features Kelly as a character in his historical crime novel ''

The Alienist ''The Alienist'' is a crime novel by Caleb Carr first published in 1994 and is the first book in the Kreizler series. It takes place in New York City in 1896, and includes appearances by many famous figures of New York society in that era, inc ...

'' (1994). In the 2018 TV series adaptation, Kelly is portrayed by Antonio Magro.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Paul 1876 births 1936 deaths Five Points Gang American boxers of Italian descent American gangsters of Italian descent People from Chelsea, Manhattan People from Five Points, Manhattan