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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Does Judge Gerald Culkin sound irritated? Read the sentencing minutes of Alberto Torres below. Torres was a member of the notorious Viceroys from East Harlem and in this case he was arrested on December 11, 1956 with George Rivera, another Viceroy, for possession of a loaded .22 hand gun along with a cartridge stored in his wallet.
Judge Gerald Culkin served in the 1950s and 1960s. One of his most well-known cases that he presided over was that of Salvador Agron who was sentenced to death (later his sentence was commuted). In 1968 Culkin was was dubbed the “Watermelon Judge.” While a lawyer was trying to have himself assigned as counsel to a couple of defendants, Culkin, turning in his chair and not speaking to anyone in particular, said, “Those boys wouldn’t know a good lawyer from a good watermelon.”
Judge Gerald Culkin