That’s one type of criminal New Yorkers don’t worry about these
days: river pirates. But from the city’s beginning through the
19th century, ships loaded with valuables were constantly coming
in and out of New York Harbor—easy prey for river pirates. A
detective added: “River thieves are the men who have not the
brains to be burglars, but who do not hesitate to murder in
order to steal a coil of rope.” Most notorious of the river
pirates in the 1860s and 1870s was the Patsy Conroy gang. Conroy
helmed a band of lowlifes who trolled the dockyards of the East
River. Another murderous group known for hijacking and robbing
ships was the Hook Gang, named for Corlears’ Hook on the East
River waterfront. Finally law enforcement got serious about
ridding the rivers of pirates. The NYPD formed the “Steamboat
Squad” in the 1870s, which drove out most of the gangs by the
20th century. A short account of an 1870s act of piracy, from
The New York Times: Tags: 19th century American pirates, 19th
century crime in New York Ci