Sai Wing Mock (aka Mock Duck) (1879 – July 23, 1941) was a Chinese-American criminal and leader of the Hip Sing Tong, which replaced the On Leong Tong as the dominant Chinese-American Tong in

Manhattan Chinatown Manhattan's Chinatown is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering the Lower East Side to its east, Little Italy to its north, Civic Center to its south, and Tribeca to its west. With an estimated population of 90,000 to 100, ...

in the early 1900s.

Early criminal career

Mock Duck arrived in the United States during the late 1890s, settling in New York's Chinatown, where he formed the Hip Sing Tong, a minor criminal organization. Within a few years, Mock Duck challenged Tom Lee and the On Leong Tong to control criminal activities in Chinatown, and hold the police and political protection of

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 ...

Chinatown kingpin

In 1900, Mock Duck demanded half of Lee's revenue from illegal gambling operations. When Lee refused, within 48 hours, Mock Duck declared a Tong war against the On Leongs. Hip Sing men set one of Lee's boarding houses on fire, resulting in the deaths of two men. In another incident, two Hip Sing hatchetmen decapitated an On Leong man, and open warfare began in Chinatown. One Chinatown historian describes Mock Duck in 1904 as "strutting around on Pell Street, covered in diamonds," adding that, at that time, "Mock Duck is firmly in control of the Hip Sing, his sinister image bolstered by his long, lethal-looking fingernails, which signal he is too grand to do the dirty work he assigns to others." Mock Duck survived repeated attempts on his life, including in February 1932 at his establishment in Newark's Chinatown and wore a

chain mail Mail (sometimes spelled maille and, since the 18th century, colloquially referred to as chain mail, chainmail or chain-mail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common milita ...

vest. He was named by the press the "Clay Pigeon of Chinatown" and the "Mayor of Chinatown". During several attempts on his life, Mock Duck reportedly squatted down in the street and fired at his attackers with two handguns with his eyes closed. After Lee put a bounty on Mock Duck and the rest of the Hip Sings, Mock Duck formed an alliance with the rival Four Brothers Tong. Mock Duck took advantage of the reform crusade started by Charles Parkhurst. Duck posed as a businessman, and supplied information on the On Leong criminal operations to Parkhurst, including addresses. The authorities raided On Leong opium dens and gambling houses on Pell and Doyers Streets. However, Mock Duck held back the addresses of the more lucrative Mott Street operations for leverage against Lee. The warring Tongs signed a truce in 1906, but the Hip Sings and the On Leongs were again at war the following year. Mock Duck finally defeated Lee in the " Bow Kum" Tong war of 1909–1910. He was arrested several times during the next decade, during which time a number of attempts were made on his life. But he was convicted only once in 1912, for operating a policy game, and served two years of imprisonment in

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison for men operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining (village), New York, Ossining, New York, United States. It is abou ...

Prison.

Retirement and death

In 1932, Mock Duck agreed to an arrangement with the US and Chinese governments to declare a peace among the Tongs of Chinatown, and he retired to

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

where he lived until his death on July 23, 1941.Brooklyn Death Index: "Mock Sai 62 y July 23, 1941 15191 Kings County

Fictional Representations

Mock Duck is one of the main characters in the historical fiction novel ''No. 10 Doyers Street'' by Radha Vatsal, which tells the story of the fight to save Chinatown and Mock Duck's custody battle for his adopted daughter, Ha Oi.

Footnotes

Notable Chinese tongs

* Bing Kong Tong * Hip Sing Tong * On Leong Tong * Suey Sing Tong * Hop Sing Tong

References

*Devito, Carlo. ''Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime''. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005.