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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About a year ago, I added a page on the Mau Maus and Sand Street Angels, two gangs I am currently researching and writing on. If you haven’t seen it yet, and have come to my website through this page, I encourage you to take a look at that page for a brief history of the two gangs. Every once in awhile people ask me how the writing is going, so I thought I would dedicate a page to my progress and what future readers can expect to see in the completed book. The research phase is basically done. It was intensive and took a long time, but I wanted to get certain bits of key information that would make this topic come alive. Another reason it takes so long is because I continuously research about other gangs from New York City. This book will have 8 chapters, an Epilogue and an Appendix. The following are what each chapter will be about. These are not the names of my chapters, I still have to figure that out:
Chapter 1 – History of Fort Greene
Chapter 2 – History of the Navy Yard
Chapter 3 – Juvenile Delinquency in New York City
Chapter 4 – Introduction to Mau Maus and Sand Street Angels gangs
Chapter 5 – Introduction to Mau Maus involved in Penny Arcade shooting
Chapter 6 – Crime and Capture
Chapter 7 – Trial, Incarceration & Demise of Mau Maus gang
Chapter 8 – Fort Greene today & my tour of Fort Greene with a Mau Mau
Epilogue – Where the 5 Mau Maus involved in the killing are today
Appendix – This will be devoted to dissecting and bringing to light the falsehoods in Nicky Cruz’s story Run Baby Run
The research in this book will be buttressed with interviews with five of the main members in the Mau Maus (plus two members with smaller roles), those who lived in the neighborhood, court records, probation reports, books, newspaper articles etc. I will also have many pictures in the book about this topic, some of the pictures never seen before by the public.
I am 90% sure I have my title and the book cover has been designed by my sister, who is a stellar graphic designer. The book cover looks incredible and is hanging up on my fridge.
I am now in the writing stage and I hope I will be completed in the next few months. In concluding this page, here is a small snippet of one of the many interesting documents uncovered during my research on the Penny Arcade killing. It is the first page of a letter written by Carl’s little sister Evelyn to the Judge of the case, pleading for mercy on her brother…
