Monk Eastman was born Edward Osterman around 1873 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. His father set him up in a pet store, but he soon deserted for a life of crime on the Lower East Side. Starting out as a bouncer, Eastman rose to command the fiercest street gang in New York at the beginning of the 20th Century. Eastman was sent to prison for a robbery in 1904. Upon his release, his gang had largely disentegrated. After committing petty crimes for a few years, he enlisted in the U.S. Army at the outbreak of World War I. He fought in the 27th Infantry Division along the Western Front. Upon his return in 1919, he was restored to full citizenship by the governor of New York. Monk Eastman, however, could not shake his old habits. He got mixed up with bootleggers and was shot to death on Christmas night, 1920 at the entrance to the 14th Street subway station in Manhattan. His killer was a crooked Prohibition agent named Jeremiah “Jerry” Bohan, who had been his partner in various criminal activities.