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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There is something about doing research and coming across an original, frayed and aged newspaper article (as opposed to a modern-day reprint) and finding an interesting write-up about a gang or even better, with pictures of the gang members themselves. Finding these items has happened to me on more than one occasion. Below is a picture from the World Telegram and Sun newspaper of four Red Wings exiting the police paddy wagon to be booked on charges of murder for their role in the beating death of a Cuban man in Jefferson Park on Memorial Day in 1958. Pictured from left to right is Philip Petrone, Louis Camp, George Clemente and Edward Castellazzo. Also charged in the killing was Frank Monti, Norbert Belbo and Alfred Catino. To read more on that gang killing, click here.
Red Wings Gang Members Exit Paddy Wagon 1958