The Cherry Hill Gang was a New York street gang during the late nineteenth century.

Formed in the 1890s, the Cherry Hill Gang were known as the "dandies

Dandy

A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self...

" of New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

's underworld. Often wearing dress suits and armed with metal weighted walking sticks, gang members were able to attack and rob wealthier victims surprising those who would have been suspicious of other poorer gangs of the period.

Throughout the decade, rival gangs would attempt to compete with the gang's success. One incident in particular occurred when, after the Batavia Street Gang

Batavia Street Gang

Batavia Street Gang was a New York independent street gang based in the Fourth Ward during the 1890s. Affiliated with the Eastman Gang during the turn of the 20th century, they were rivals of the Cherry Hill Gang throughout the previous decade...

 announced hosting a party at New Irving Hall, the Cherry Hillers planned to arrive in expensive wardrobe. Not to be outdone, as hosts of the party, the Batavia Street Gang robbed Segal's Jewelry Store on New Chambers Street of 44 gold rings. The following morning however, shortly after selling the rings at a local pawn shop, over a dozen gang members were arrested by police while being fitted for suits at a tailors shop on Division Street spending that night in The Tombs

The Tombs

"The Tombs" is the colloquial name for the Manhattan Detention Complex, a jail in Lower Manhattan at 125 White Street, as well as the popular name of a series of preceding downtown jails, the first of which was built in 1838 in the Egyptian Revival style of architecture.The nickname has been used...

 while the Cherry Hill Gang and others attended the party.

By the early 20th century the Cherry Hill Gang was regarded as the most vicious gang in the city. Their main rivals were the Whyos

Whyos

The Whyos, a collection of the various post-Civil War street gangs of New York, was the city's dominant street gang during the late 19th century. The gang controlled most of Manhattan from the late 1860s until the early 1890s, when the Monk Eastman Gang defeated the last of the Whyos...

, but they fought just as vigorously amongst each other. Many Cherry Hillers such as Yakey-Yakes Brady, Monk Eastman

Monk Eastman

Edward "Monk" Eastman was a New York City Gangster 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. His other aliases included Joseph "Joe" Morris, Joe Marvin, William "Bill" Delaney, and Edward "Eddie" Delaney...

, and Bill "The Brute" Sanger, formed sub-gangs of their own and feuded constantly over turf and power.

Resources

• Sifakis, Carl. Encyclopedia of American Crime, New York, Facts on File Inc., 1982
• "Cherry Hill Bad as Mining Camp", The Evening World, March 11, 1903 - http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1903-03-11/ed-1/seq-12/