Vach "Cyclone Louie" Lewis (died May 14, 1908) was an early New York gangster and member of the Eastman Gang under Max "Kid Twist" Zwerbach.

Biography

Lewis was a wrestler, strongman, and bodyguard; supposedly wrapping iron bars around his neck and arms, at Coney Island side shows before joining the Eastman Gang. Following

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 ...

's imprisonment, he sided with Zwerbach during the struggle for leadership of the gang and, after the murder of rival Richie Fitzpatrick in 1904, eliminated the remaining members of the Fitzpatrick faction. As a bodyguard, Lewis became Zwerbach's right-hand man during the next four years and was involved in the murder of a gambler known as "The Bottler", a member of 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 ...

who operated stuss games on Suffolk Street, shooting him twice in the chest in full view of twenty people. Trouble continued between the Eastmans and the Five Points Gang until May 14, 1908, when Lewis and Zwerbach got into a fight with Louis "The Lump" Pioggi, a member of the Five Points Gang, over his former girlfriend and dance hall girl Carroll Terry and eventually forced Pioggi to jump out the second story window of a Manhattan bar breaking his ankle. Pioggi returned to gang leader Paul Kelly, and the two plotted the murder of their rivals. Later that night, with several other gang members, Lewis and Zwerbach were ambushed while leaving a Coney Island bar and gunned down, with Zwerbach shot once in the head and Lewis five times in the head and chest. Asbury, Herbert. ''The Gangs of New York''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928.

References

''The Life and Times of a Legend''. Syracuse: Nicholas J. Pedrotti 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Vach Year of birth missing 1908 deaths Eastman Gang People murdered in New York City Male murder victims Deaths by firearm in Brooklyn