A five story building on Merchant Street in the New York City financial district caught fire on the morning of December 16, 1835.

Repercussions from this event are still evident today. The fire was already spreading to other buildings when the alarm was sounded about nine a.m.

Most of the 49 engine companies and six hook and ladder units responded but the temperature was 17°F below zero and the hydrants were frozen solid. The engine pumps had to be heated to prevent freezing. The river ice was broken through and a futile attempt made to control the flames with bucket brigades. By noon 13 acres of Manhattan were ablaze and the glow could be seen in Philadelphia.

Gangs from the Bowery and Five Points descended on the scene at dawn on December 17 and began looting at a wholesale rate. Fire fighters joined in the looting and were seen carrying off loads of jewelry and other valuables. Looters began firing buildings to conceal the looting. One arsonist was caught in the act and hanged on the spot by a mob of irate citizens. He swung from the tree for three days before the police got around to cutting him down. About 700 buildings burned and the $22 million loss bankrupted most insurance companies and precipitated the Panic of 1837.

The police staged a continuous house by house raid in the Bowery and Five Points during the following week and repossessed booty by the van load. Legal trivialities like search warrants were dispensed with.

No attempt was made to recover loot taken by firemen. Fire Chief Handsome Jim Gulick was dismissed but was promptly reinstated when the firemen threatened to strike. The bitter greeting "I'm a firefighter and well-to-do, thank you" was a vogue in the Bowery and Five Points for many years. The Bowery Boys took the civics lesson to heart and almost all members of the gang became volunteer firemen and participated in Tammany Hall politics with a right good will. New York City did not replace the old volunteer fire department with a paid, uniformed fire department until 1865.

Fernando Wood was reelected Mayor in 1857 with the assistance of the Dead Rabbits. The Dead Rabbits in an aggressive get out the vote drive managed to persuade at least 10,000 of the dearly departed to perform their civic duty and exercise the electoral franchise by voting for Fernando Wood. Wood was reelected by a little over 9,000 votes.

The state legislature created the New York City Municipal Police in 1853 but during Wood's first term as Mayor (1855-1857) corruption completely permeated police ranks. The Republicans at Albany shortened Wood's second term of office from two years to one and created the Metropolitan Police Force, with Frederick Talmadge as superintendent, to replace Wood's corrupt Municipal Police. Talmadge demanded that Wood disband the Municipal Police and Wood refused even in the face of a May 1857 decision by the Supreme Court. Superintendent George W. Matsell, 15 captains and 800 patrolmen of the Municipal Police backed Mayor Wood.

Captain George W. Walling pledged his loyalty to the Metropolitan Police and was rewarded by being ordered to arrest Mayor Wood. Wood refused to submit and Captain Walling attempted to arrest the Mayor by force. City Hall was occupied by 300 Municipals who promptly tossed Captain Walling into the street. Fifty Metropolitans in frock coats and plug hats then marched on City Hall with night sticks in hand. The Municipals swarmed out and routed the Metropolitans. Fifty two policemen were injured. One Metropolitan was invalided for life.

The Metropolitan Police Board called out the National Guard and the Seventh Regiment surrounded City Hall. A platoon of infantry with fixed bayonets marched into City Hall and surrounded Mayor Wood who then submitted to arrest. Mayor Wood was charged with inciting to riot, released on nominal bail and returned to his office.

The feud continued on through the summer with constant confrontations between the rival police forces. When a Metropolitan arrested a criminal a Municipal would come along and release him. When a Municipal arrested a criminal a Metropolitan would come along and release him. Whenever a policeman arrested a criminal and succeeded in bringing him to a police station he would find an alderman and magistrate from the opposing side waiting. A hearing would be held on the spot and the prisoner released on his own recognizance. Pedestrians were mugged in broad daylight on Broadway while rival policemen clubbed each other to determine who had the right to interfere.

The gangs were soon looting and plundering without interference but were not satisfied with a whole city at their disposal. They turned on each other for looting rights in particular areas and small scattered confrontations over the summer developed into the two day Mother of All Rumbles.

On the Fourth of July the Dead Rabbits, the Plug Uglies and several other Five Points gangs marched into the Bowery to do battle with the Bowery Boys and to loot stores. They attacked a Bowery Boys headquarters with pistols, knives, clubs, iron bars and huge paving blocks routing the defenders. The Bowery Boys and their allies the Atlantic Guards poured into Bayard Street to engage in the most desperate and largest free-for-all in the city's history. The Metropolitans attempted to stop the fighting but were severely beaten.

The Metropolitans took a few prisoners and retreated. The Municipals said the battle looked like a Metropolitan problem and was none of their business.

The Five Points gangs would force the Bowery gangs up Bayard Street to the Bowery and then the Bowery gangs would force the Five Points gangs back down Bayard Street to Mulberry, Elizabeth and Baxter Streets. The New York Times reported the air as being full of stones and brick-bats. Other gangsters took the opportunity to began looting stores and residences. Shopkeepers and residents barricaded their buildings and defended themselves with pistols and shotguns.

The police attempted another sortie in the afternoon and cleared the streets forcing the rioters into the buildings and onto the roof tops. One gangster fell from a roof into Baxter Street and was stomped to death by the police as he lay with his head in a pool of blood. The police were unable to maintain their occupation and were soon forced to again retreat with their prisoners. As soon as the police retreated the rioting resumed. The situation was brought more or less under control on July 5 when three regiments were brought into action.

Sporadic fighting continued for a week. The Dead Rabbits took umbrage over press reports of the events and in a letter to the Editor of the New York Times denied any participation in the affair and blamed the entire riot on the Roach Guards of Mulberry Street and the Atlantic Guards of the Bowery.

An appeal of the Supreme Court decision was rushed into court in response to the public outcry and the original decision was upheld. Mayor Wood abolished the Municipals and several months later about fifty officers, both Municipal and Metropolitan, filed suit against Wood for injuries sustained in the City Hall riot. They were awarded a judgment of $250 each but Mayor Woods never paid. Finally the city paid the claims and the legal costs. The number of dead will probably never be known as the gangs buried most of their dead in secret. Many well known Bowery Boys and Dead Rabbits, however, were never seen again. During his message to the common council on January 6, 1861, during his third term, Mayor Wood advocated establishing New York City as a separate state.

The Five Points Gang under, Paul Kelly, developed a subgang called the James Street Gang under the command of Johnny Torrio. Torrio's recruits included Al Capone, Lucky Luciano and Frankie Yale. These ambitious youths were soon moved up into the Five Pointers.

The Five Pointers at their peek were a collection of 1500 eye-gouging terrorists but by 1915 they were deteriorating because of a lack of rackets to sustain them.

Kelly moved into waterfront labor racketeering. Torrio and Capone moved to Chicago. Luciano and Yale remained in New York. The United States Congress and the States gave these worthy citizens a new lease on life and a Christmas present in the form of prohibition which went into effect on January 20, 1920. More modern-day gang leaders emerged from the ranks of the Five Pointers than any other similar organization.

Luciano maintained control of the New York waterfront during World War II by authorizing the burning of the S.S. Normandie, on February 11, 1942 at her Hudson River Pier, from his cell in Dannemora Prison.

But that, of course, is another story.