Yancy Street Gang

The Yancy Street Gang beat the Fantastic Four during a match of Celebrity Hockey.

Real World Background

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the early days of the Fantastic Four comic, the fictional Yancy Street is a reference to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where Kirby grew up. This was the Thing's old neighborhood as well, and the character was targeted by the Yancy Street Gang for being a "sellout" and abandoning his working-class, hoodlum roots. Kirby considered the Thing to be his "alter ego", and the character's troubled relationship with his old neighborhood has been seen as a metaphor for Kirby's own Jewish identity. A 2002 story brought the Thing back to his old neighborhood, to return a Star of David that he stole from a pawn shop as initiation into the gang; this story was the first to reveal that the character is Jewish.

The Yancy Street Gang first appeared in Fantastic Four #15 (June 1963), though mostly off-panel; as in most of their appearances, only their arms are visible. Yancy Street is named in reference to the real Delancey Street, which extends from the Bowery in Manhattan's Lower East Side eastward to the Williamsburg Bridge. However, Yancy Street is seen in Fantastic Four #15 to intersect with 10th Avenue, which is on the west side of Manhattan.

On July 9th 2025, in honor of Jack Kirby, for one day Delancey Street was renamed Yancy Street/Jack Kirby Way. [1]