Frank "Chick" Tricker was an American gangster in New York who, as a member of the

Eastman Gang The Eastman Gang was a predominately Jewish-American organized crime, Jewish-American street gang that dominated parts of the underworld in New York City during the late 1890s until the early 1910s. Along with the increasingly Italian-American a ...

, served as one of its last leaders alongside Jack Sirocco. A longtime member of the Eastmans, Tricker made a name for himself as a Bowery and Park Row saloonkeeper who first came to prominence in a brawl with "Eat 'Em Up" Jack McManus, a former prizefighter and Bowery bouncer at McGurk's Suicide Hall. After insulting several dance hall girls at Paul Kelly's club New Brighton, McManus confronted Tricker at

Third Avenue Third Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, as well as in the center portion of the Bronx. Its southern end is at Astor Place and St. Mark's Place. It transitions into Cooper Square ...

and Jones Street and shot him in the leg. While Tricker was recuperating in a local hospital, McManus was ambushed and killed by Sardinia Frank only a day later. Tricker survived the gang wars of the last decade and became a prominent member under Eastman leader "Big" Jack Zelig, who was awarded control of one of the three factions of the Eastman gang. By 1910, Tricker headed his faction based at the former Stag Cafe on West 28th Street near Broadway, renaming it the Maryland Cafe. The club had a long history of violence as, only the previous year, three men had been killed in a dispute over a woman. During the so-called "Ida the Goose War", several members of his gang were killed in a confrontation with the Gopher Gang when Ida the Goose was abducted (or ran off with) a member of Tricker's gang. Leaving the gangs to settle the matter themselves, the Gophers eventually took her back to

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

after a brief gunfight in the Maryland Cafe leaving six members dea

Following a failed armed robbery in 1911, Tricker and Sirocco left behind Zelig, who had been injured during the holdup, to be arrested. Instead of bailing him out, the two decided to assume control of the Eastmans. Zelig was eventually released in part to his political connections in

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

. A later attempt to murder Zelig failed when, after being informed by Ike the Plug, Zelig lured Eastman member and assassin Jules Morell into his club where he was kille

By 1912, Tricker and Sirocco were using Little Rock's pool room, at 396

Broome Street Broome Street is an east–west street in Lower Manhattan. It runs nearly the full width of Manhattan island, from Hudson Street in the west to Lewis Street in the east, near the entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge. The street is interrupted ...

, as their headquarters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tricker, Chick Year of birth missing 1913 deaths Eastman Gang

Further reading

References