East Harlem Purple Gang
The East Harlem Purple Gang
was a semi-independent group of Italian
American hit-men and heroin dealers who
according to Federal prosecutors dominated heroin distribution in East
Harlem and the
Bronx during the late 1970s in New
York City. The gang was originally affiliated
with the Lucchese crime family and later with the Bonanno crime family and Genovese crime family, and its remnants are now part of the 116th
Street Crew.[1] They allegedly named their group the 'Purple Gang' as a
tribute to a Prohibition Era gang (Purple
Gang) that terrorized Detroit 50 years
earlier.[2] Membership in the group was restricted to Italian Americans
who grew up on Pleasant Avenue[2]
between 114th and 120th streets, just east of 1st avenue.[3]
In 1977, at the peak of its
strength, The Purple Gang had 30 members according to police reports and 80
associates.[2] After the arrest of Leroy
Barnes, the top heroin dealer in Harlem,
the Purple Gang began supplying heroin to his network of African-American
dealers in Harlem at $75,000 per kilogram. In 1977, law enforcement claimed
that the Purple Gang committed at least 17 homicides, some on behalf of
'organized crime principals'.[2]
Law enforcement speculated that
during the late 1970s, the Purple Gang developed a relationship with Nicaraguan
drug dealers, trading firearms for drugs.[2]
The Purple Gang disintegrated during
the late 1970s and became absorbed into the current 116th
Street Crew. Some members were invited to join
the Mafia and became made
men, including Angelo
Prisco and Daniel Leo[4] who became the acting boss of the Genovese crime family in
2005.[5]
Pleasant
Avenue
Pleasant Avenue,
a six-block stretch in East Harlem is one of the most famous incubators of the
Italian Mafia in New York City. Anthony 'Fat Tony' Salerno, ran the Genovese
crime family from Pleasant Avenue. Rao's, the most exclusive restaurant in all
of New York is located here. In the 1960s and 1970s, Pleasant Avenue was so
protected by the mob that residents did not lock their doors.[3]
Locals still recall such colorful
characters as Eddie the Butcher, whose meat shop on 119th st supposedly didn't
sell a single piece of meat in 40 years and Charlie Ding-Ding's candy shop on
118th st was a casino by night.[3]
Anthony Loria Sr.,
longtime partner of Vincent Papa
who masterminded the "Who Stole The French
Connection" corruption scandal was born
and raised on Pleasant Avenue.
This scheme involved corrupt NYPD and law officials that allowed the drug lords
to steal an estimated 70 million dollars of narcotics from the NYPD property
room at 400 Broome Street in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The total scope of
the scandal is still not known and many questions linger on how exactly it
happened.
In
popular culture
·
The Purple Gang was also the subject
of books "The Pleasant Avenue Connection" (Harper & Row, 1976)
and "Blue Domino" (Putnam, 1978).[3]
·
In Elvis Presley's song "Jailhouse
Rock" there is a lyric "The
whole rhythm section was a Purple Gang".
References
1.
^
Bronx detectives pounce on junkie wanted in shooting
slay: September 24, 2007 issue
Retrieved on 2010-03-26
3.
^ a
b
c
d
On Pleasant Avenue, a Mobbed-Up History Is Hard to
Live Down, NY Times Jan 5, 2004 issue
Retrieved on 2010-08-17
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