The Baxter Street Dudes were a New York teenage street gang, mostly of former newsboys

Newsboys

Newsboys are a Christian pop rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Australia. They have released 15 studio albums, six of which have been certified gold...

 and bootblacks, who ran the Grand Duke's Theatre from their headquarters in the basement of a Baxter Street dive bar

Dive bar

A dive bar is a type of bar or pub. Dive bars generally have a relaxed and informal atmosphere—they are often referred to by local residents as "neighborhood bars," where people in the neighborhood gather to drink and socialize...

 during the 1870s. They were known by trade as neighborhood thieves led by a tough known as Baby-Face Willie, however they also wrote and performed plays

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

, musicals and variety shows which were enjoyed by other street toughs and slummers throughout the city. The theatre house eventually became a popular underworld hangout, from which the gang enjoyed financial success, however they soon came under attack from rival gangs from the Five Points

Five Points, Manhattan

Five Points was a neighborhood in central lower Manhattan in New York City. The neighborhood was generally defined as being bound by Centre Street in the west, The Bowery in the east, Canal Street in the north and Park Row in the south...

 and Mulberry Bend

Mulberry Bend

Mulberry Bend was an area in the notorious Five Points neighborhood in Lower Manhattan. It was bound by Bayard Street in the north, Cross Street in the south, Orange Street on the west and Mulberry Street on the east. The "Bend" in the street layout was due to the original topography of the area...

. The gangs began throwing rocks in order to disrupt the performances and violent fights would often break out. The club was eventually shut down by police both due to the frequent fighting as well as the gang's refusal to pay amusement tax

Entertainment tax

-In India:In India, movie tickets, large commercial shows and large private festival celebrations may incur an entertainment tax.Entertainment falls in List 2 of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India and is exclusively reserved as a revenue source for the state governments...

es to the city.

The gang has been portrayed in a number of historical novels including Dreamland (2003) by Kevin Baker

Kevin Baker

Kevin Baker is an American novelist and journalist. He was born in Englewood, New Jersey and grew up in New Jersey and Rockport, Massachusetts....

, The Five Points Concluded (2003) by Rocco Dormarunno, Sweet America: An Immigrants Story (2004) by Steven Knoll and Heyday: A Novel (2007) by Kurt Andersen

Kurt Andersen

Kurt Andersen is an American novelist who is also host of the Peabody-winning public radio program Studio 360, a co-production between Public Radio International and WNYC. In 1986 with E. Graydon Carter he co-founded Spy magazine, which they sold in 1991; it continued publishing until 1998...

.