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Paddy Corcoran
Although there is no certain date of when Paddy Corcoran began his occupation
of the land where Tudor City now stands, we do know a few things for certain.
The first being that he and his lads were quite a potent force by 1860 and that
several of his underlings - perhaps even Paddy himself - participated in the anti-draft
(Civil War) riots in NYC. It appears that by the 1870's Paddy and company were
more legit than not in their business dealings, though they were known to settle matters concerning them in their own manner as well, and they continued to occupy the Roost area. Their departure from that spot seems to have occurred by the dawn
of the 1890's - I have even heard it told that Teddy Roosevelt, while serving first as Police Commissioner of NYC was one of the forces that drove Corcoran's Roost
Gang out of business - though several members then moved
into the police department! He was alleged to be of the highest intelligence; a high aptitude for math, an ability to become fluent in languages - even Chinese.
He was a focused businessman and quite active politically.
~~~~~Photo and Story contributed by Tom Maxwell-Long~~~~~
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