The Gangs Of New York

I didn’t think it could suck anymore than it already does but, by God, watching it on AMC  fills the bill.Let’s see. Where to begin. Number one, all the gangs they show at the beginning of the film are horseshit. While there has been talk down through the years of the “Plug Uglies” or “The Chichesters,” for instance,  there is little evidence that any so-called gangs existed with those names. Possibly there were groups of three or four who dressed a certain way and may have even referred to themselves with names such as those from time to time but that does not necessarily qualify them for gang-hood. For instance, a “Plug Uglie” was supposedly identified by his leather banded hat stuffed with rags. It made a kind of helmet. Maybe there were guys who wore hats like that and even called themselves Plug-Uglies. But an entire gang? Hardly. Anyway, do some discriminating reading on the subject and you’ll find that the most violent “gangs” of the era were associated with politicians and political candidates. There were running battles in the streets for decades around elections and also the curious situation in New York regarding their fire departments. That’s right, plural The Metropolitan Fire Department and the Municipal Fire Department. They were rival fire departments because fire departments had lots of power…still do…and in those days they used that power to get their own people elected and to get their share and more of public money. Corrupt? Oh, hell yes. The state of New York eventually had to intercede after the situation got so bad firemen would let buildings burn unless someone came up with the right amount of money on the spot to get them to put it out. And they battled each other, the Municipals and the Metropolitans, using their own gangs of street-fighters. The worst feature, though, of the film “The Gangs Of New York” is the portrayal, in true Hollywood fashion, of Union soldiers as a slaughtering force during the 1863 Draft Riots. The slo-mo at the end of an Irish street hood meeting his doom is meant to be poignant, to touch the heart. A man yearning to breath free while the police machine cuts him down. What a slander. The Union Army in New York, called there right off the battlefields of Gettysburg, saved many lives including those of black orphans whose home was set aflame by the rioters. The children were placed on a barge in the middle of the East River until calm had been restored. These soldiers, fresh from combat with Lee’s army, were not about to brook anything from a mob of murderers. It was a call to duty answered with honor. “The Gangs Of New York” tries to disgrace that. Blow it out your rectum, Scorcese.