Update on Book April 2017

Update

Before you get to the article…

On February 23, 2018, my book on the Mau Maus and Sand Street Angels, who were two Brooklyn youth gangs from the 1950s, has been completed.  It took 15 years of research and writing to complete Brooklyn Rumble: Mau Maus, Sand Street Angels, and the End of an Era.  This book is roughly 6″x9″ and has 370 pages and includes a look at the characters in the Mau Maus and the details of a gang killing that happened in February 1959 in front of the iconic Brooklyn Paramount Theater (now Long Island University).  If you want to buy a copy, click here and this link will take you to an online ordering page.

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Here is an update on the progress of my book on the Mau Maus and Sands Street Angels.  I haven’t yet come up with a title, but I am getting close.  My lovely sister has designed the cover already and it looks amazing!  Here is what the book’s framework looks like so far and the Chapter titles:

Preface

Chapter 1 – “Fort Greene a Brief History” – this chapter goes back to the early history of Fort  Greene all the way up to the 1950s.

Chapter 2 – “Navy Yard a Brief History” -this chapter goes back to the early history of the Navy Yard all the way up to the 1950s.

Chapter 3 – “Youth Gangs in New York” – in this chapter I talk about the history of youth gangs in New York City,  how gangs came on the scene in the late 1940s and how they developed into the 1960s and then how youth gangs in general affected Fort Greene and the Navy Yard area.  I also talk in general about crime in both the Navy Yard and Fort Greene

Chapter 4 – “Mau Maus” – this chapter is about the Mau Maus, their history, who was in the gang, how it started, who they fought, who they hung out with, what they did etc.

Chapter 5 – “Sands Street Angels” – this chapter is about the Sands Street Angels, their history, their ties to organized crime, their outlook on life.

Chapter 6 – “The Four” – in this chapter I go into a detailed history of Carlos, Carl, Melvin and Israel.

Chapter 7 – “February 23, 1959” – this chapter is devoted to the killing that happened at the Penny Arcade near the famous Brooklyn Paramount Theater.

Chapter 8  – “The One That  Got Away” – this chapter is how the Mau Maus got captured, their time in the Brooklyn House of D, their sentencing and what institutions they were sent to.

Chapter 9 – “The Meeting” – this was one of my favorite chapters, but I don’t want to give it away.

Chapter 10 – “Last Gasp” – this chapter was about what happened to the Mau Maus after the Penny Arcade, their bitter fights with the Suicides and Apaches and their eventual demise.

Epilogue – what eventually happened to Carlos, Carl, Melvin and Israel.  It is also where I briefly discuss what happened to other characters in the Mau Maus.

Appendix – this is solely dedicated to talking about the distortions found in Nicky Cruz’s book Run Baby Run and how it can not be considered a reliable history on the Mau Maus.

The writing of Chapters 1-10 is completed.  I am half way through the Epilogue which would leave the Appendix as the last remaining item to write.  After all that I have to transcribe some more interviews, go over a few more questions with my current contacts and then it goes to the proof reading stage.  Once proof reading is completed, it goes to print!

Summer 2017 is my best guess on when it will be completed and ready for sale.