Paul Kelly (born Francesco Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli;[1] December 23, 1876 – April 3, 1936) was an Italian-born American mobster, who founded the Five Points Gang in New York City.

Kelly recruited young, poor men from the ethnically diverse immigrant neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan.

Tammany Hall politicians finally withdrew protection for Eastman, who was convicted and imprisoned on larceny charges in 1904.

Known for his high culture and gentle manners, Kelly is considered the first in the United States to organize crime on a business model.

Jay Robert Nash refers to him as "the real father of organized crime in America" and "the first modern-day underworld boss".

On the day of the primary on September 17, Kelly's gang of over 1,500 men assaulted Divver supporters, blocked polling booths, and committed numerous acts of voter fraud to win the election for Foley.

[7] He soon opened the New Brighton Athletic Club, a two-story cafe and dance hall at 57 Great Jones Street (between Lafayette and Bowery).

Always well dressed, Kelly spoke Italian, French and Spanish fluently, and appreciated fine art and classical music.

[8] Kelly's main rival was Monk Eastman, whose gang of more than 2,000 controlled New York's Lower East Side.

When the gangs fought openly over the territory, attracting police attention and civic outrage when civilians were wounded, Tammany Hall called Kelly and Eastman to a sit-down meeting.

Eastman was arrested for robbing a man on the West Side who was being tailed by Pinkerton detectives hired by his family to protect him.

Eastman was convicted of robbery, and Tammany Hall, eager to end the warfare between the gangs, declined to provide protection.

He had internal competition, and in November 1905, Kelly's former lieutenants, Pat "Razor" Riley and James T. "Biff" Ellison, now members of the Gopher Gang, tried to kill him at his New Brighton headquarters.

The negative publicity from the attempted assassination resulted in the New York Police Commissioner William McAdoo closing the New Brighton for the protection of its socialite regulars.

But he also retained ties to his old neighborhood, becoming a vice president of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) under his Americanized birth name of Paul Vaccarelli.

He took leadership of a spontaneous port-wide strike begun in protest against a wage increase of only five cents an hour, which management had agreed to.