Bowery Boys

A view of a fight between two gangs, the "Dead Rabbits" and the "Bowery Boys" in the Sixth Ward, New York City

The Bowery Boys were a nativist, anti-Catholic, and anti-Irish gang based out of the Bowery section of Manhattan in the mid-19th century and, despite their reputation as one of the most prominent gangs of 1800's New York, led law-abiding lifestyles for most of the week. The gang was made up exclusively of volunteer firemen but also worked as mechanics and butchers (the occupation of famed Bowery Boy leader William "Bill The Butcher" Poole) and would fight rival fire companies over who would extinguish a fire. While acting in capacity as a gang (and aided by other Bowery gangs) the Bowery Boys would battle against multiple outfits out of the infamous Five Points, most notably the Dead Rabbits, with whom they would feud for decades.The uniform of a Bowery Boy generally consisted of a stovepipe hat in variable condition, a red shirt, and dark trousers tucked into boots; the uniform paying homage to their roots as volunteer firemen.

See also

• William Poole
• B'hoy and g'hal
• The Bowery Boys (Hollywood films (1946-1958)
• The Bowery Boys: New York City History (audio podcast)
• Gangs of New York, a 2002 film in which the feud between the Bowery Boys and Dead Rabbits is a central plot point

Further reading

• Adams, Peter. The Bowery Boys: Street Corner Radicals and the Politics of Rebellion. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-275-98538-5

References

• Asbury, Herbert. The Gangs of New York. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. ISBN 1-56025-275-8
• Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0