The19th Street Gang was aNew York City predominantly Irishstreet gang during the 1870s known as a particularly violent anti-Protestant gang.
The 19th Street Gang, made up mostly of youngpickpockets,muggers, andsneak thieves, was led by a young man known as Little Mike. Operating around New York's19th Street to34th Street, known as "Poverty Lane", the gang mainly robbed defenseless victims, such as the elderly, as well as women and children; however, the gang was sometimes said to spare localCatholics, often asking victims to give theirbaptismal name, recitepsalms, their localchurch, and other questions.
By the end of the 1880s, the gang had disappeared entirely.