Talk:Five Points Gang

Incorrect information
"This area lay between Broadway and the Bowery, an area that roughly describes the southern part of present day mid-town" As I understand it, and as Wiki's article on Midtown Manhattan states, the southern boundary of "Midtown" is 14th Street. Five points is just below Canal St, which is well South of 14th St. I'm going to edit this to say "An area which is is now located in present day Chinatown." Please forgive any breach of Wiki etiquette, I am extremely new to this. (Countsoma (talk) 17:51, 20 August 2009 (UTC))


 * No breach of etiquette, but considering that the land did not move, it might be better to say something like, "an area now occupied by present-day Chinatown." History and people change on the land. Parkwells (talk) 15:20, 7 July 2011 (UTC)


 * I made minor punctuation correction, and added WP link to Chinatown (Manhattan). ~Eric F. 184.76.225.106 (talk) 19:33, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
 * Changed "...poor immigrant settlement..." to "...settlement for poor immigrants...". (Ambiguous: could mean that settlement was done poorly -- which I assume was not the intent.) ~Eric F. 184.76.225.106 (talk) 21:04, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

As I observed on https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File_talk:Fivepointsgang.jpg&action=edit&redlink=1 - The photo listed as “Members of the Five Points Gang of New York City,” uploaded by Viv290 8 November 2014, 17:42:53, appears to be an altered version of “Members of the Black Hand arrested at Fairmont, W. VA.” Library of Congress, digital file from original neg. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2004003246/, also linked at http://wvhistoryonview.org/catalog/wvulibraries:44310 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Carterfsmith (talk • contribs) 17:21, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

Proper Credit
When looking at other sites on the Five Points, I came across this website. This article on the Five points in Wikipedia, and that article are almost exacly the same, pictures,refrences, and all. I thought that I would make you aware of this, I don't know what should be done, but I know something should because wikipedia should not have someone else's work on here without credit to them, and permission to copy their work at the very least. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.226.223.16 (talk • contribs)


 * They got the article from us. So they should be crediting us, which they have. Flyingtoaster1337 01:05, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Misleading organization
If one went by the article, it appears that Al Capone was active in the gang at the turn of the century. Which would be quite impressive as he was born in 1899. His involvement should be moved further down the article and that section he is first mentioned rewritten or moved itself  RoyBatty42 20:33, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

There Are No References Anywhere In This Article
added Template:Refimprove Lucky dog (talk) 04:35, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Problem with lack of citations
Editors have written about the criminals with zest, but it is too bad they didn't bother to add the required inline citations, especially on disputed issues, so that people might know where the content comes from. The entire article could be deleted, as it is effectively unsourced. Parkwells (talk) 15:16, 7 July 2011 (UTC)


 * I hope this article can be fixed rather than deleted. There seems to be renewed interest in NY gang history, 5-points area, etc., probably due to Scorsese's movie, rebuttals, controversy, etc. -- It would be nice to find a place where one can sort fact from fiction. But, WP editors need to research scholarly sources for good information. ~Eric F. 184.76.225.106 (talk) 20:11, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

Charles Dickens
The fact that 5-Points "appalled" Dickens seems immaterial without a quote or something; certainly, many other visitors were equally appalled. I suggest something like: After visiting the area in 1842, Charles Dickens wrote: "  "

~Eric F. 184.76.225.106 (talk) 19:58, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

So the origins.....
So in the lead we are told the origins come from primarily irish gangs (presumably 1840s+), but then we are told the origins apparently start with Kelly about 1870. So which is it? I would assume it is meant to imply that the various gangs 1830s-1860s were of irish origin (primarily) and then as they moved out Kelly and the italians came along and sort of started consolidating the various prior gangs into a larger gang. However this is not clear in the article as it stands. Given the time period it is extremely problematic to say a specific gang is both irish AND italian in origin. 56.0.143.25 (talk) 21:17, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

Incorrect photograph
I believe the supplied photograph (copied from http://www.museumsyndicate.com/item.php?item=73469 ) is unrelated to the Five Points Gang of New York City. It is instead a photograph of 19 men arrested in March 1909 near Fairmont, West Virginia, and charged with being part of a Black Hand (extortion) band. This can be verified by viewing Page 28 of the April 4, 1909, issue of the Pittsburgh Press. Tphunt (talk) 15:18, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

Below-Standard Writing Overall
This needs some serious wordsmithing because it reads in places more like a high-school term paper than an encyclopedia article. Example: "Gambling dens and brothels were numerous in the Five Points area, which was considered a dangerous destination, where many people had been mugged, particularly at night. In 1842, famous British author Charles Dickens visited the area..." Mpaniello (talk) 13:24, 12 August 2023 (UTC)