Monk Eastman (c.1873-1920) was a New York brawler 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. Eastman's real name was Edward Osterman. His other aliases included Joseph "Joe" Morris, Joe Marvin, William "Bill" Delaney, and Edward "Eddie" Delaney. Eastman is considered to be one of the last of the nineteenth-century New York gangsters who preceded the rise of Arnold Rothstein and more sophisticated organized criminal enterprises such as Cosa Nostra. [1]
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Early life
Eastman was born in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn around 1873 into a family of Jewish restaurateurs. When Eastman reached maturity, his father set him up in a pet store. However, Eastman wanted more excitement and money. In 1895, he relocated to the New Irving Hall area of Lower Manhattan and became a so-called "sheriff". The "Sheriffs" were bouncers responsible for maintaining order in the neighborhood clubs and saloons owned by gangsters and politicians. Eastman soon established a reputation as a formidable and ruthless brawler. While on duty, he carried a large wooden club for bashing unruly customers. Every time Eastman clubbed someone, he carved a new notch in the club. According to local folklore, he had 49 notches on his club.
Criminal career
Eventually, Eastman decided to leave the life of a "sheriff" and start his own gang. His top lieutenants included thugs such as Max Zwerbach, aka Kid Twist, Richie Fitzpatrick, and Jack Zelig. Within a short period of time, the Eastman Gang included as many as 1200 members. The Tammany Hall Democratic Party political machine in New York came to rely on the Eastman Gang to mobilize its voters during elections.
Eastman's greatest rival was Paul Kelly, leader of the Five Points Gang. The warfare between these two gangs reached a fever pitch on September 17, 1903, with a protracted gun battle on Rivington Street involving dozens of gangsters. Two men were killed and numerous innocent civilians were injured.
Tammany Hall worked closely with both Kelly and Eastman, and grew tired of the feuding—and the bad press that was generated when civilians were killed or injured in the cross-fire. In 1903, Tammany Hall set-up a boxing match between Eastman and Kelly in an old barn up in the Bronx. The fight lasted two hours, with both men taking an awful punishment before it was called a draw.
Monk Eastman lived at 221 E.5th Street at the turn of the century, just about two blocks from Paul Kelly's New Brighton Social Club at 57 Great Jones Street.[2]
Prison
On February 3, 1904, Eastman attempted to rob a young man on 42nd Street and Broadway in Manhattan. However, the young man was being followed by two Pinkerton agents hired by man's family to keep him out of trouble. The agents intervened and Eastman started shooting at the agents while running away. The chased ended when Eastman was apprehended by policemen responding to the shooting. Tired of bad publicity from Eastman, Tammany Hall refused to help him this time. Later that year, Eastman was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison at Sing Sing penitentiary.
In 1909, Eastman was released after serving five years in prison. During his absence, the Eastman Gang had shattered into several factions; one of his top men, Zwerbach, was dead. Since none of the surviving gang factions wanted Eastman as their leader, he was effectively out of power. For several years, Eastman reverted to petty thievery. During this period, he became addicted to opium and served several short jail terms.
Military service
After the United States entered World War I in 1917, the 44-year old Eastman decided to join the Army. During his military physical, the doctor observed all the knife and bullet scars on Eastman's body and asked him which wars he had been in; Eastman replied, "Oh! A lot of little wars around New York." [3]. Eastman ended up serving in France with "O'Ryan's Roughnecks", the 106th Infantry Regiment of the 27th Infantry Division. After Eastman's discharge in 1919, the Governor of New York, Al Smith, recognized Eastman's honorable service by restoring his U.S. citizenship.
Final years
After his discharge from the Army, Eastman quickly returned to a life of petty crime. One of his criminal partners was Jerry Bohan, a corrupt Prohibition agent. On the morning of December 26, 1920, Eastman met Bohan at the Bluebird Cafe in Lower Manhattan. Both drunk at the time, the two men started arguing about one of their criminal ventures. Finally, around 3:43 a.m. Eastman stalked out of the Cafe. Bohan followed Eastman to the entrance of the 14th Street subway station and shot him dead.
Monk Eastman was buried with full military honors in Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Bohan was later convicted of Eastman's murder and served three years in prison.
Eastman in Literature and Film
- Eastman is featured in a 1933 short story by Jorge Luis Borges called Monk Eastman: Purveyor of Iniquities and in Kevin Baker's 1999 novel Dreamland.
- In the P.G. Wodehouse novel, Psmith, Journalist, the fictional character "Bat Jarvis" is largely based on Eastman and shares his kindhearted streak for animals.
- In the 1988 film Eight Men Out Monk Eastman is referred to as one of Arnold Rothstein's enforcers and collection agents. "Yeah, that's right, I'm collecting for Mr. Rothstein now," said Abe "Lil Champ" Attell, played by Michael Mantell. "Would you rather deal with Monk Eastman!?" Stephen Mendillo, who played Monk in the movie, had a couple lines in the train station when Rothstein sends him to let Sport Sullivan know the fix is on: "If anyone connects Mr. Rothstein to this, I come see you again. You don't want that!"
- The film Gangs of New York features a character called "Walter 'Monk" McGwin" (played by actor Brendan Gleeson) who is loosely based on Eastman and carries a club with notches carved into it. However, the story in this film takes place several decades before Eastman became a "sheriff", or bouncer.
- In the book, "The Notorious Izzy Fink," Monk was powerful gang leader.
External links
- Monk Eastman at FindAGrave.com
- Monk Eastman: The Terror of Lower East Side
- Monk Eastman & the Lower Eastside Gangster City
- Gangs of Lower East Side; profiles, timeline, map
- New York Times: "Monk" Eastman Caught after Pistol Battle
References
- ^ Cohen, Rick (1999)). Tough Jews : Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams.
- ^ Ferrara, Eric (2008), Gangsters, Murderers & Weirdos of the Lower East Side; A self-guided walking tour - ISBN 978-1-4357-2507-2
- ^ Ashbury, Herbert (1928)). The Gangs of New York.
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