_http://www.nysun.com/article/72816_ (http://www.nysun.com/article/72816) Abroad in New York By FRANCIS MORRONE March 13, 2008 In the 1963 study of immigrant succession in New York City, "Beyond the Melting Pot," Nathan Glazer and Daniel Moynihan wrote that "New York used to be an Irish city." Irish had lived in New York from its earliest days. But not until the famine migrations, beginning in the late 1840s, did New York become "an Irish city." By 1855, nearly one-third of all New York City residents were Irish-born. William Tweed (of Scottish Protestant descent), "boss" of the Tammany Hall Democratic machine in the 1860s, and formerly an anti-Catholic nativist, rose to power by recognizing the political strength latent among the new Irish. To win them over, he placed Irish in key positions in the Tammany hierarchy. When Tweed's corrupt tenure abruptly ended in 1872, Honest John Kelly, an Irish Catholic immigrant, was poised to take the Tammany reins. For several decades, the Irish dominated New York politics — and for several decades the stereotypical New Yorker spoke with a brogue. By 1855, nearly one-third of all New York City residents were Irish-born. William Tweed (of Scottish Protestant descent), "boss" of the Tammany Hall Democratic machine in the 1860s, and formerly an anti-Catholic nativist, rose to power by recognizing the political strength latent among the new Irish. To win them over, he placed Irish in key positions in the Tammany hierarchy. When Tweed's corrupt tenure abruptly ended in 1872, Honest John Kelly, an Irish Catholic immigrant, was poised to take the Tammany reins. For several decades, the Irish dominated New York politics — and for several decades the stereotypical New Yorker spoke with a brogue. That it's hard to pick a spot in New York where some tangible sense of Irish history may be had is a measure of how thoroughly the Irish assimilated into the American mainstream. Yet Irishness imbues much of New York life. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, who was not struck by how many of the fallen firefighters and police had Irish surnames? It seemed as though the names might not have been much different in 1901. And New York has not, to this day, had a Catholic archbishop not of Irish descent. The approach of St. Patrick's Day makes one ponder the remarkable role of the Irish in the building of New York City. A brief stroll through New York's Irish history might begin in front of one of the city's grandest edifices, the old Police Headquarters building on Centre Street, between Broome and Grand streets. This Hoppin & Koen building opened in 1909, when Irish utterly dominated the police force. The subsistence farmers of Ireland arrived in New York with apparently no urban skills. Irishmen therefore took heavy-lifting jobs, such as dock, warehouse, and construction work. But their seemingly alien skills — for oral storytelling (the "gift of gab"), or clandestine organizing (a necessity amid repressive British rule) — suited the Irish for success in organizational life, and they succeeded wildly in politics, in the church, in the police and fire departments, and in the public school system. The glorious, great-domed building on Centre Street was a monument to a force just a bit more than 60 years old, and one dominated for half that time by the Irish. (The department moved to the new One Police Plaza in the 1970s, and the old headquarters is now apartments.)" **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL Money & Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001)