266:. When three local Irish girls entered the club escorted by their Italian dates, Lonergan chased them out supposedly yelling at them to "Come back with white men, fer chrissake!" It was at that moment that the lights went out and gunfire was heard. Customers rushed for the exits in a panic as glass was shattered as well as tables and chairs being overturned. As police arrived, they found one of Lonergan's men, his best friend Aaron Harms, dead in the street and they followed a blood trail into the club where they found Lonergan and drug addict Cornelius "Needles" Ferry on the dance floor near a
219:, Lonergan had earned a fearsome reputation in Irishtown and on the Brooklyn waterfront as a vicious street brawler after killing a Sicilian drug dealer in a Navy Street bike shop. Believed by authorities to have been involved in at least a dozen murders during his criminal career, he was reportedly well known for his hatred of
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at the club claiming he had been shot by a stray bullet from a passing car. The two other members, Joseph "Ragtime Joe" Howard and
Patrick "Happy" Maloney, were apparently unaccounted for leaving no witnesses willing to testify. Although seven men had been arrested in connection to the shooting, including a visiting
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shot execution style. A fourth member, James Hart, managed to escape, having been found a few blocks away crawling on the sidewalk after being shot in the thigh and leg. He was taken to the
Cumberland Street Hospital where he eventually recovered but refused to cooperate with police. He denied being
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Anna
Lonergan publicly blamed the gangland shooting on "foreigners" commenting "You can bet it was no Irish American like ourselves who would stage a mean murder like this on Christmas Day". The killings are generally attributed to Capone, in partnership with Frankie Yale, although these often
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colorful accounts are sometimes vague and inconsistent but allege that the incident was prearranged. It is with the death of
Lonergan however that the White Hand Gang disappeared from the Brooklyn waterfront allowing Frankie Yale and eventually the
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celebration. Lonergan and the other White handers, according to witnesses, were intoxicated and being unruly to other patrons. Lonergan himself loudly and openly called nearby customers "
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The True and
Complete Story of 'Machine Gun' Jack McGurn: Chief Bodyguard and Hit Man to Chicago's Most Infamous Crime Czar Al Capone and Mastermind of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre
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156:(January 16, 1900 - December 26, 1925) was an American underworld figure and labor racketeer. He was a high-ranking member and the final leader of the
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Richard
Lonergan was one of fifteen children, among them being Anna Lonergan known as "Queen of the Irishtown docks", born to local
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accident as a child from which his underworld nickname "Peg Leg" originated. A childhood friend and later brother-in-law of
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On the
Waterfront: The Pulitzer Prize-winning Articles that Inspired the Classic Movie and Transformed the New York Harbor
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451:
The
Everything Mafia Book: True Life Accounts of Legendary Figures, Infamous Crime Families, and Chilling Events
275:, all the men were released on bail ranging from $ 5,000 to $ 10,000 and the case was eventually dismissed.
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shortly after the murder of its leader Bill Lovett in 1923. Lonergan spent the next two years battling
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after his murder in 1923 and, under his leadership, led a two-year campaign against
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over the New York waterfront until he and five of his lieutenants were killed in
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On the night of
December 25, 1925, Lonergan and five of his men entered the
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The Gangs of New York: An
Informal History of the New York Underworld
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Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster
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Johnson, Malcolm Malone; Haynes Johnson and Budd Schulberg.
408:. Leicester: Troubador Publishing Ltd, 2005. (pg. 125-129)
453:. Avon, Massachusetts: Everything Books, 2003. (pg. 40)
331:. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996. (pg. 156-158)
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235:along the waterfront. He became the leader of the
433:. New York: Da Capo Press, 2003. (pg. 163-164)
383:. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. (pg. 158-159)
356:. New York: Da Capo Press, 1998. (pg. 203-204)
509:Not Guilty - The Story of Samuel S. Leibowitz
354:The Wicked City: Chicago from Kenna to Capone
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545:Murdered American gangsters of Irish descent
306:. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. (pg. 78)
473:. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press, 2006. (pg. 53)
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471:Assignment Homicide: Behind the Headlines
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431:Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone
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196:John Lonergan. Raised in Irishtown, an
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511:. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1933.
497:. New York: Chamberlain Bros., 2005.
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352:Johnson, Curt and R. Craig Sautter.
211:, he later lost his right leg in a
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154:Richard Joseph "Peg Leg" Lonergan
555:People murdered in New York City
74:, New York City, New York, U.S.
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560:Deaths by firearm in Brooklyn
223:and would occasionally lead "
147:Matty Martin (brother-in-law)
540:Gangsters from New York City
329:Capone: The Man and the Era
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565:Prohibition-era gangsters
227:hunting" expeditions in
550:Criminals from Brooklyn
140:Anna Lonergan (sister)
327:Bergreen, Laurence.
200:enclave between the
176:celebration at the
80:Cause of death
248:Adonis Social Club
194:bare knuckle boxer
178:Adonis Social Club
535:American amputees
283:to take control.
221:Italian-Americans
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64:December 26, 1925
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100:Other names
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262:" and other
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166:Frankie Yale
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66:(1925-12-26)
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530:1900 births
525:1925 deaths
217:Bill Lovett
213:trolley car
162:Bill Lovett
143:Bill Lovett
90:Nationality
519:Categories
287:References
209:waterfront
110:Occupation
34:1900-01-16
273:Al Capone
252:Christmas
250:during a
233:dive bars
202:Manhattan
184:Biography
180:in 1925.
172:during a
137:Relatives
206:Brooklyn
84:Murdered
50:New York
42:Brooklyn
229:saloons
113:Mobster
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258:", "
256:wops
231:and
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192:and
61:Died
54:U.S.
28:Born
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