The Potashes were a 19th-century American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 street gang active in Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...

 and the New York waterfront

New York Harbor

New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...

 during the early-to mid 1890s. One of the many to rise in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 during the "Gay Nineties

Gay Nineties

Gay Nineties is an American nostalgic term that refers to the decade of the 1890s. It is known in the UK as the Naughty Nineties, and refers there to the decade of supposedly decadent art by Aubrey Beardsley, the witty plays and trial of Oscar Wilde, society scandals and the beginning of the...

"-period, the gang was led by Red Shay Meehan and based near the Babbit Soap Factory on Washington Street

Washington Street (Manhattan)

Washington Street is a north-south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Running from 14th Street in the Meatpacking District at its northernmost end to its southern end at Hubert Street in TriBeCa, Washington Street is, for its entire length, the westernmost street in lower Manhattan...

 (hence their name) near present-day Rector Street

Rector Street

Rector Street may refer:*These New York City Subway stations in Manhattan:**Rector Street , serving the train**Rector Street , serving the trains...

. The gang were described as "a collection of hard fighters, who terrorized the whole neighborhood and even dominated the other gangs". They and the much older Boodle Gang

Boodle Gang

The Boodle Gang was an American street gang active in New York City during the mid-to- late 19th century. The gang were notorious "butcher cart thieves" during the 1850s and their hijacking methods would later be used by criminals of the early twentieth century....

 dominated Lower West Side Manhattan until the end of the 1890s when they were displaced by the then emerging Hudson Dusters

Hudson Dusters

The Hudson Dusters was a New York City street gang during the early twentieth century. Formed in the late 1890s by Circular Jack, Kid Yorke, and Goo Goo Knox the gang began operating from an apartment house on Hudson Street. Knox, a former member of the Gopher Gang, had fled after a failed attempt...

who would go on to control the area for the next decade.