Sometimes when I do research on NYC youth gangs from the 1950s, I come upon dead ends; I\u2019ve gotten used to it.\u00a0 But sometimes \u2013 sometimes \u2013 there are interesting discoveries waiting to happen.\u00a0 Like last year when I was doing research on a 19-year-old teenager who was a member of a gang from Manhattan called the \u201cPersian Lords.\u201d\u00a0 Along with some friends they came up with the idea to rob Kearns Funeral Parlor at 1461 Bushwick Avenue in south eastern Bushwick close to Stuyvesant Heights.\u00a0\u00a0 However, this didn\u2019t pan out, and the funeral escaped the wrath of the robbers.\u00a0 Instead they settled on robbing the Bushwick Avenue subway station.<\/p>\n
Armed with a .45 caliber handgun and a 4\u201d blade stashed in a sheath tucked in the small of the back of one of the boys\u2019, they entered the subway station at 1:05 a.m. Announcing that it was a stick-up, they ordered the clerk operating the subway change booth to the ground.\u00a0 They stole $157.15 in change and tokens as well as $6.00 from the clerk\u2019s wallet.<\/p>\n
Although they got away with the change and tokens, it wasn\u2019t long before the police collared them and they were arrested.\u00a0 The Persian Lord, whose nickname was \u201cBro,\u201d was sentenced to a 5-year term in an upstate reformatory.\u00a0 This is where the story gets more interesting.<\/p>\n
I have often found that inmates incarcerated in this reformatory would, not surprisingly, disobey the rules of the institution and would then be punished.\u00a0 When this happened, a disciplinary infraction form was filled in and the guard would write down what it was the inmate had done.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen dozens of these.<\/p>\n
\u201cBro\u201d had eight infractions while he was serving his time, but one in particular stuck out.\u00a0 As I flipped through the small blue pages that chronicled his disobedience, one of them had a curious metal pin attached to it.\u00a0 Reading the infraction, the guard wrote that \u201cBro\u201d was caught for:<\/p>\n
\u201cPossessing a contraband key.\u00a0 Early this evening I received information that inmate Jones had broken into a locker.\u00a0 I frisked Jones and found a home made key that would fit all lockers.\u00a0 I informed Lt. Henbf of this find and he told me to have him locked in A-1 jail.\u201d<\/p>\n
After I finished reading the infraction, I realized that the attached pin was the actual home-made key!\u00a0 This was the first time I found physical evidence along with the corresponding disciplinary infraction.\u00a0 What a thrill it was to see it preserved after all these years!\u00a0 There was one other time (just recently) that a piece of evidence was kept with the infraction report.\u00a0 It was graphic material that an inmate was caught reading.\u00a0 It was a ghastly, 2-page letter going into great detail about some sick bestiality fantasies that was unfit to display on this website. \u00a0Let\u2019s just say presenting pictures of this key as physical evidence of contraband from 1962 was a better fit!\u00a0 The pictures below speak for themselves.<\/p>\n
![\"Contraband](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newyorkcitygangs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/IMG_1578.jpg?resize=640%2C853&ssl=1\")
<\/a>Contraband Key Image #1<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"Contraband](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newyorkcitygangs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/IMG_1579.jpg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1\")
<\/a>Contraband Key #2<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"Contraband](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newyorkcitygangs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/IMG_1582.jpg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1\")
<\/a>Contraband Key Image #3<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sometimes when I do research on NYC youth gangs from the 1950s, I come upon dead ends; I\u2019ve gotten used to it.\u00a0 But sometimes \u2013 sometimes \u2013 there are interesting discoveries waiting to happen.\u00a0 Like last year when I was … Continue reading