At a press preview for the New Museum's forthcoming exhibition "The Bowery: Devil's Mile," which chronicles the history and art of the Bowery from Lenape footpath to whatever it is now, I found myself face to face with a lithograph portrait of William Poole, better known as Bill the Butcher. Poole was the leader of the Bowery Boys, a firefighting squad/murderous gang that terrorized Irish immigrants in the 19th century. A brutal fistfighter, Poole was immortalized by a ripped Daniel Day Lewis in Martin Scorsese's 2002 masterpiece "Gangs of New York." And as I stared past his handlebar mustache and into his probing, deep-set eyes, I wondered: Is this all there is?
I Could Totally Take This 19th Century Nativist in a Fight
Some thoughts on Bill the Butcher's embarrassing death lithograph.
