The Five Points Gang, an infamous name in the annals of American criminal history, emerged from the squalid slums of Lower Manhattan’s Five Points district during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This gang, under the leadership of Paul Kelly—an Italian immigrant born Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli—transformed from a ragtag group of street thugs into one of the most powerful criminal organizations in New York City, setting the stage for the modern American Mafia.
The Five Points neighborhood was America’s first true melting pot, notorious for its abject poverty, rampant disease, and ethnic tensions. It became a breeding ground for criminal activity, giving rise to gangs that would shape the city’s underworld. The Five Points Gang, in particular, was pivotal in this transformation, engaging in a variety of illegal activities including extortion, robbery, and murder, and clashing with rival ethnic gangs for control over territory and criminal enterprises.
Paul Kelly’s strategic leadership and charisma were instrumental in the gang’s rise to power. He established the New Brighton Athletic Club, which served as the gang’s headquarters and a veneer for its criminal activities. Kelly’s ability to charm New York’s elite, coupled with his multilingualism and appreciation for the finer things in life, allowed him to expand his influence beyond the slums of Five Points to other parts of Manhattan and even into parts of New Jersey. This expansion was marked by the elimination of rivals, such as the significant defeat of the Eastman Gang, once led by Monk Eastman, who was imprisoned, leaving the Five Points Gang without a significant rival.