Irishtown’s Code of Silence “That alley was the most turbulent spot in Irishtown,” so said a man who called himself the Gas Drip Bard in an 1899 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle about a dangerous place off Gold Street in the mid 1800s. “It would be worth a policeman’s life to enter there afterContinue reading “Code of Silence”
Tag Archives: Brooklyn
NYC Turn of the Century Gangs
Earlier this year, I tried to take a wider view of the book and ask some important questions. One of the questions I asked, and what has always weighed on my mind… Why were there gangs anyway? Why do they still exist today? After many years of research, my conclusion is really no different thanContinue reading “NYC Turn of the Century Gangs”
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Finding Brooklyn’s Irishtown
I was at first made aware of an “Irishtown” in Brooklyn by an elder through word of mouth, which of course is the ancient form of Irish storytelling. My grandmother, who was born in Brooklyn in 1917, first made mention in passing when telling of stories from her childhood in the humble tenement neighborhoods. BecauseContinue reading “Finding Brooklyn’s Irishtown”
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Frankie Yale – Divide the Dawn
Frankie Yale is a minor character in the historical novel Divide the Dawn (Fall, 2019). As are most of the characters in the book, he is based on a real, historical person: The Brooklyn, Italian Mafia “Capo.” Francesco Ioele moved from Italy to Southern Brooklyn in 1901 as an eight-year old and quickly became known as aContinue reading “Frankie Yale – Divide the Dawn”
