The Whyos or Whyos Gang, a collection of the various post–

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

street gangs of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, was the city's dominant street gang during the mid-late 19th century. The gang controlled most of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

from the late 1860s until the early 1890s, when the

Monk Eastman Edward "Monk" Eastman (1875 – December 26, 1920) was an American 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 Joseph " ...

Gang defeated the last of the Whyos. The name came from the gang's cry, which sounded like a bird or owl calling, "Why-oh!"

Origins

Consisting largely of criminals ranging from pickpockets to murderers, the Whyos were formed from what remained of the old Five Points street gangs following the

New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

campaigns against gang activity, particularly from 1866 to 1868. Originally forming from members of the Chichesters, the gang began absorbing other former rivals and soon dominated New York's Fourth Ward, an Irish slum notorious for its crime, by the early 1870s. The Whyos had several leaders, but longest reigning were

Danny Lyons Danny Lyons (1862 – August 21, 1888) was, along with Danny Driscoll, the leader of the Whyos street gang during the 1870s and 1880s. Whyos Gang A prominent member of the Whyos, Whyos Gang, a New York City street gang, Lyons led the gan ...

(arrested for the murder of gangster Joseph Quinn), his girlfriend ("Pretty" Kitty McGowan) and Danny Driscoll (hanged at Tombs Prison for the death of Beezy Garrity during a gunfight with rival Five Points gangster Johnny McCarthy). The members were predominantly Irish but, unlike the previous Irish gangs, victimized anyone, not just

white Anglo-Saxon Protestant In the United States, White Anglo-Saxon Protestants or Wealthy Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASP) is a Sociology, sociological term which is often used to describe White Americans, white Protestantism in the United States, Protestant Americans of E ...

s. Driscoll and Lyons eventually decreed that in order to be a real Whyo, the person must have killed at least once. They were so powerful that most of the other gangs at the time had to ask their permission to operate.

Early years

The headquarters shifted many times throughout the years: "Dry Dollar" Sullivan's Chrystie Street saloon, a churchyard at Prince and

Mott Street Mott Street () is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north–south direction in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It is regarded as Chinatown, Manhattan, Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Stre ...

s, and its original headquarters the notorious

Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighbourhood, neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row (Manhattan), Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th ...

dive known as The Morgue. The tavern was the scene of at least 100 violent murders in its early years, as hour-long gunfights between drunken gang members would frequently occur. During the 1870s, the gang would include some of the most notorious gangsters of the era, including Red Rocks Farrell, Clops Connolly, "Big" Josh Hines, Hoggy Walsh, Piker Ryan, Dorsey Doyle, Bull Hurley, Fig McGerald, and Googy Corcoran. Many of the gangsters were among the first to use present-day methods that would later be adopted by rival gangs, and eventually organized crime organizations in the early twentieth century. One notable example is Josh Hines, often seen wearing a pair of pistols, who would regularly arrive at illegal gambling dens and faro games demanding a percentage of the night's profits from the owners. While being questioned by a police detective regarding the extortion activities, possibly when several owners complained, Hines was said to have replied, "Those guys must be nuts! Don't I always leave 'em somethin'? All I want is me fair share." Another prominent member, "Dandy" Johnny Dolan, is noted for inventing several unique gang weapons including a set of shoes in which pieces of an ax blade were embedded and a copper eye gouger (worn on the thumb), first used in a robbery in the summer of 1875. As he attempted to rob a local jewelry store, the owner James H. Noe attempted to stop Dolan and was beaten with an iron crowbar. Dolan then proceeded to use the eye gouger on Noe, taking the eyes with him. Often showing them off to friends, the eyes were found in Dolan's possession while being interrogated by Police Detective Joseph M. Dorsey. He was eventually convicted of murder, and hanged at Tombs Prison on April 21, 1876.

Rise to power

The Whyos, at their peak by the late 1870s and early 1880s, were led by Mike McGloin who began moving the gang into extortion, prostitution, and murder for hire (although this had been practiced earlier by members such as "Big" Josh Hines, "Dandy" John Dolan, and Piker Ryan). McGloin also implemented one requirement for prospective members to commit at least one murder stating in 1883: "A guy ain't tough until he has knocked his man out!" Aside from committing many crimes, the Whyos also offered specific criminal services for a price. The following list was found on Piker Ryan when he was arrested by the

NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

in 1884. *Punching $1 *Both eyes blacked $3 *Nose and jaw broke $7 *Jacked out (knocked out with a

Blackjack Blackjack (formerly black jack or ''vingt-un'') is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ...

) $15 *Ear chewed off $15 *Leg or arm broke $19 *Shot in the leg $20 *Stab $22.00 *"Doing the big job" (murder) $100 and up In 1884, McGloin was arrested for the murder of saloon owner Louis Hanier and hanged at Tombs Prison on March 8 of that year. Danny Driscoll and Danny Lyons eventually jointly led the gang by 1887. In 1888 Driscoll was hanged on January 23 for a murder, and Lyons was hanged for another murder on August 21.

Decline

With the deaths of Driscoll and Lyons, the gang never regained its former status, as its members were eventually imprisoned or killed. As

and the

Five Points Gang The Five Points Gang was a criminal street gang, initially of primarily Irish-American origins, based in the Five Points of Lower Manhattan, New York City, during the late 19th and early 20th century. The gang had its origin in the various I ...

came to prominence in the mid-1890s, many gangs began working with

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 ...

, providing considerable political protection. However, the Whyos continued their violent activities, ending in their last great battle between fellow Whyos as members Denver Hop and English Charley began fighting over shares of a recent robbery. As they began shooting at each other, a major gunfight began, involving at least 20 other members. No one was injured however, as all had been intoxicated, as the press reported that the Morgue's owner had felt the gangs had been silly to think they would hit anything after drinking his liquor. The last of the Whyos were eventually broken up by the Monk Eastman Gang, who maintained control over Manhattan for the next decade.

In popular culture

The term Whyo is frequently used to describe the organized crime characters throughout the television series ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

''. The Whyos were featured, in a fictionalized form, in Elizabeth Gaffney's 2005 novel ''Metropolis''. A story featuring the Whyos Gang was published in the

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

''Real Clue Crime Stories'' in July 1947.
A contemporary version of the Whyos appear in issues #16 and #23 of Marvel Comics, Marvel's ''

Moon Knight Moon Knight is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in ''Werewolf by Night'' #32 (August 1975). The son of a rabbi, Marc S ...

'' volume 2. Whyos and Monk Eastman in PC-game ''EMPYRE: Lords of the Sea Gates'' (2017).

References

* Asbury, Herbert. ''The Gangs of New York''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927. *Kelly, Robert J. ''Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. *Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. *Sifakis, Carl. ''The Encyclopedia of American Crime''. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2005. {{Authority control Former gangs in New York City 19th century in New York City