Jack Sirocco
Encyclopedia
Jack Sirocco was a New York
gangster involved in labor racketeering and strikebreaking. Originally a lieutenant in Paul Kelly's
Five Points Gang
, where he was the immediate boss of Johnny Torrio
http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_236.html, Sirocco defected to the rival Eastman Gang
, which he led in its last days.
, was an early member of the Five Points Gang, but later defected to the Monk Eastman
Gang during the gang war in the mid-1900s. Sirocco remained with the gang as manager of the Pearl House dance hall with Johnny Torrio and the satellite James Street Gang, until 1911 when he and Chick Tricker
left wounded Eastman leader Jack Zelig
behind during a failed robbery. Attempting to gain control of the gang both he and Tricker refused to post bail
for Zelig. However, due to Zelig's political connections, the charges against him were later dropped. Upon Zelig's release Sirocco and Tricker planned Zelig's death, sending Eastman member Jules Morrello (or Julie Morrell) to murder Zelig. Zelig, however, was informed of the attempt by Ike the Plug and killed Morrello during a party at the Stuyvesant Casino Hall on December 2, 1911 http://www.mobsters.8m.com/5points.htm.
This would begin a civil war
between the two Eastman factions that would last for nearly a year until Zelig's death in 1912. Sirocco and Tricker tried to lead the Eastman Gang after Monk Eastman briefly returned to lead the Eastmans, but by that time the civil war had destroyed what was left of the gang.
Sirocco later formed another gang, hiring out to strikebreakers and labor sluggers, competing with rival "Dopey" Benny Fein as the two struggled for control of labor slugging in New York's East Side during the early 1910s. In November 1913 the two gangs clashed as Sirocco's gang, hired by the Feldman Hat Company as strikebreakers against union workers protected by Benny Fein's gang, quickly escalated into a major gunfight in which Fein lieutenant Max Greenwalt was killed (most likely by Sirocco member Red Murray although other sources state that Greenwalt was killed by Johnnie Dike in a gunfight on Broome Street).
Benny Fein planned an ambush to eliminate the Sirocco gang as they were attending a local dance at Arlington Hall on January 9, 1914. However the ambush turned into a major battle lasting several hours and, while neither gang suffered any casualties, Deputy Court Clerk Frederick Strauss, apparently investigating the battle, was killed in the crossfire http://members.tripod.com/Fighting9th/History8.htm. In the ensuing scandal and the police crackdown, Sirocco disappeared from New York's underworld soon after the incident.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
gangster involved in labor racketeering and strikebreaking. Originally a lieutenant in Paul Kelly's
Paul Kelly (criminal)
Paul Kelly was an Italian immigrant who founded the Five Points Gang in New York City after starting some brothels with prize monies earned in boxing...
Five Points Gang
Five Points Gang
Five Points Gang was a 19th-century and early 20th-century criminal organization, primarily of Italian-American origins, based in the Sixth Ward of Manhattan, New York City. Since the early 19th century, the area was first known for gangs of Irish immigrants...
, where he was the immediate boss of Johnny Torrio
Johnny Torrio
John "Papa Johnny" Torrio , also known as "The Fox", was an Italian-American mobster who helped build the criminal empire known as the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s that was later inherited by his protege, Al Capone...
http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_236.html, Sirocco defected to the rival Eastman Gang
Eastman Gang
The Eastman Gang was the last of New York's street gangs which dominated the city's underworld during the late 1890s until early 1910s. Along with the Five Points Gang under Paul Kelly, the Eastmans succeeded the long dominant Whyos as the first non-Irish street gang to gain prominence in the...
, which he led in its last days.
Biography
Sirocco, known as the main rival of gangster "Dopey" Benny FeinBenny Fein
Benjamin "Dopey Benny" Fein was an early Jewish American gangster who dominated New York labor racketeering in the 1910s. With a criminal record dating back to 1900, Fein's arrest record included thirty charges from petty theft and assault to grand larceny and murder...
, was an early member of the Five Points Gang, but later defected to the Monk Eastman
Monk Eastman
Edward "Monk" Eastman was a New York City Gangster who founded and led one of the most powerful street gangs in New York City at the turn of the Twentieth Century, the Eastman Gang. His other aliases included Joseph "Joe" Morris, Joe Marvin, William "Bill" Delaney, and Edward "Eddie" Delaney...
Gang during the gang war in the mid-1900s. Sirocco remained with the gang as manager of the Pearl House dance hall with Johnny Torrio and the satellite James Street Gang, until 1911 when he and Chick Tricker
Chick Tricker
Chick Tricker was an early New York gangster who, as a member of the Eastman Gang, served as one of its last leaders alongside Jack Sirocco. A longtime member of the Eastmans, Tricker had made a name for himself as a well known Bowery and Park Row saloonkeeper who first came to prominence in a...
left wounded Eastman leader Jack Zelig
Jack Zelig
"Big" Jack Zelig was a Jewish American New York City gangster and one of the last leaders of the Monk Eastman Gang.-Early years & the Eastmans:...
behind during a failed robbery. Attempting to gain control of the gang both he and Tricker refused to post bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
for Zelig. However, due to Zelig's political connections, the charges against him were later dropped. Upon Zelig's release Sirocco and Tricker planned Zelig's death, sending Eastman member Jules Morrello (or Julie Morrell) to murder Zelig. Zelig, however, was informed of the attempt by Ike the Plug and killed Morrello during a party at the Stuyvesant Casino Hall on December 2, 1911 http://www.mobsters.8m.com/5points.htm.
This would begin a civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
between the two Eastman factions that would last for nearly a year until Zelig's death in 1912. Sirocco and Tricker tried to lead the Eastman Gang after Monk Eastman briefly returned to lead the Eastmans, but by that time the civil war had destroyed what was left of the gang.
Sirocco later formed another gang, hiring out to strikebreakers and labor sluggers, competing with rival "Dopey" Benny Fein as the two struggled for control of labor slugging in New York's East Side during the early 1910s. In November 1913 the two gangs clashed as Sirocco's gang, hired by the Feldman Hat Company as strikebreakers against union workers protected by Benny Fein's gang, quickly escalated into a major gunfight in which Fein lieutenant Max Greenwalt was killed (most likely by Sirocco member Red Murray although other sources state that Greenwalt was killed by Johnnie Dike in a gunfight on Broome Street).
Benny Fein planned an ambush to eliminate the Sirocco gang as they were attending a local dance at Arlington Hall on January 9, 1914. However the ambush turned into a major battle lasting several hours and, while neither gang suffered any casualties, Deputy Court Clerk Frederick Strauss, apparently investigating the battle, was killed in the crossfire http://members.tripod.com/Fighting9th/History8.htm. In the ensuing scandal and the police crackdown, Sirocco disappeared from New York's underworld soon after the incident.
Further reading
- Fried, Albert. The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980. ISBN 0-231-09683-6
- Pietrusza, David. Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003. ISBN 0-7867-1250-3