Vach "Cyclone Louie" Lewis (d. May 14, 1908) was an early New York gangster and member of the Eastman Gang under Max "Kid Twist" Zwerbach. Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Max "Kid Twist" Zwerbach born as Maxwell Zwerbach or Zweifach ( March 14, 1884 - May 14, 1908) was an American
Born Sam Tietch, Lewis performed as a wrestler and strongman, supposedly wrapping iron bars around his neck and arms, at Coney Island side shows before joining the Eastmans. Coney Island is a Peninsula, formerly an island in southernmost Brooklyn, New York City, USA with a Beach on the Atlantic Ocean Following Monk Eastman's imprisonment, he sided with Zwerbach during the struggle for leadership of the gang and, after the murder of rival Richie Fitzpatrick's in 1904, carried out the elimination of the remaining members of the Fitzpatrick faction [1]. Monk Eastman (c1873-1920 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 Richard "Richie" Fitzpatrick (1880-1904 was a top gunman in the Monk Eastman gang as well as a former member of the Five Points Gang, during the late 1890s
As a bodyguard, Lewis became Zwerbach's right hand man during the next four years and was involved in the murder of a gambler known as "The Bottler", a member of the Five Points Gang who operated struss games on Suffolk Street, shooting him twice in the chest in full view of twenty people.
Trouble continued between the Eastmans and the Five Points Gang until May 14, 1908, when he and Zwerbach got into a fight with Louis "The Lump" Pioggi, a member of the Five Points Gang, over his former girlfriend and dance hall girl Carroll Terry and eventually forced him to jump out the first story window of a Manhattan bar breaking his ankle [2]. The Five Points Gang was a 19th-century Criminal organization based in the Sixth Ward ( The Five Points) of New York City. Louis "Louie the Lump" Pioggi (born 1889 &ndash date of death unknown was a New York criminal and member of the Five Points Gang, known most prominently for the
Returning to gang leader Paul Kelly, the two plotted the murder of their rivals and later that night, with several other gang members, Lewis and Zwerbach were ambushed while leaving a Coney Island bar and gunned down, with Zwerbach shot once in the head and Lewis five times in the head and chest. Paul Kelly (1876 - 1936 was a New York criminal who founded the Five Points Gang, one of the last dominant street gangs in New York history and recruited
Further reading
- Nick, Tosches. King of the Jews: The Greatest Mob Story Never Told. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005. ISBN 978-0-06-621118-3
References
- Asbury, Herbert. Herbert Asbury ( September 1, 1889 — February 24, 1963) was an American Journalist and Writer who is best The Gangs of New York. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. ISBN 978-1-56025-275-7
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