James Brady (criminal)

John or James Yakey Yake Brady was an American criminal, the founder and leader of the Yakey Yakes, an independent street gang based in Manhattan, New York at the turn of the 20th century. Under his leadership, the gang, which had its base around the Brooklyn Bridge, operated freely within the territory of the Eastman Gang and successfully fought off attempts by both the Eastmans and the Five Points Gang to absorb the Yakey Yakes into either organization. Only following Bradys death from tuberculosis did the gang finally disappear.

Brady was born and raised in the Irish enclave of Cherry Hill known as the Gap . He worked as an apprentice jockey as a youth, but became too heavy to turn professional. Returning to the Gap, he worked as a cooper and later joined the Cherry Hill Gang. It was around this time that he was given his familiar nickname during an altercation with a GermanAmerican saloonkeeper who, suffering from a battered nose, mispronounced Bradys first name as Jake or Yake.

Source: Wikipedia