{"id":3252,"date":"2019-12-23T08:00:35","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T13:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newyorkcitygangs.com\/?page_id=3252"},"modified":"2020-02-23T08:26:41","modified_gmt":"2020-02-23T13:26:41","slug":"king-of-queens","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/newyorkcitygangs.com\/?page_id=3252","title":{"rendered":"King of Queens"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2006 I corresponded with someone who asked me about a gang from Queens called the Corona Dukes.\u00a0 Even though Queens is part of New York City, I have virtually no knowledge on her gangs, so I couldn\u2019t help him.\u00a0 For a reason that I cannot adequately explain, I am not interested in gangs from Queens.<\/p>\n

Then, recently, I received an email from another friend and he too asked me if I knew anything about the Corona Dukes.\u00a0 All this got me to thinking more about youth gangs from Queens.<\/p>\n

This page is about a member of a gang called the English Lords who were from a Queen\u2019s neighborhood called South Jamaica.\u00a0 I have been sitting on this information for quite awhile and now is the perfect time to unwrap it in light of my renewed private discussion of the Corona Dukes.<\/p>\n

Even though this isn\u2019t about the Corona Dukes, or even from their neighborhood, this is for you R & R.\u00a0 I hope you enjoy reading this.<\/p>\n

———————————————————————————————————-<\/p>\n

This story begins in Brooklyn, on December 15, 1935, when a baby boy named Sydney was born.\u00a0 He was a full term baby (although the birth was assisted with the aid of \u201cinstruments\u201d) and by all appearances, he was a healthy boy at 7 pounds and 2 ounces.\u00a0 His early childhood years were normal; he walked at a year old (average) and talked at about 18 months (early).\u00a0 He had the typical childhood illnesses, including bouts of pneumonia on three different occasions in-between the ages of 6-7.<\/p>\n

Other health blips happened when he fell from a school window and was unconscious for a short time and when he was struck by a vehicle at 10 years old but \u201cescaped injury,\u201d which must have meant the injuries weren\u2019t serious enough.\u00a0 Then he got hit by another car when he was 12 years old, but again he \u201cescaped injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the dry, sterile parlance of a social worker, he \u201cmade a good social adjustment\u201d in the home.<\/p>\n

The major social development for Sydney happened when he was 9 years old and his mom and dad separated.\u00a0 The marriage was never a good one for several reasons.\u00a0 First of all, Sydney\u2019s grandma constantly interfered with her daughter and husband\u2019s marriage (insert mother-in-law joke here).\u00a0 The mother was also unfaithful to Sydney\u2019s father and spent all his earnings on expensive clothing which was encouraged by the mother-in-law, who disliked her son-in-law from the very beginning because he was 8 years older than his wife.\u00a0 Then, one day, Sydney\u2019s mother left her husband suddenly, taking Sydney with her.\u00a0 Sydney\u2019s dad had no idea where his wife and young son went.<\/p>\n

Sydney\u2019s mother was a born-and-bred NYC resident and got over the separation with her husband who she said had passed away. She remarried, providing Sydney with a stepfather, who he liked.\u00a0 She worked as an attendant at the Tri-Boro Hospital in Rockaway Beach and her new husband was an engineer employed by the U.S. government.\u00a0 Together they earned $5,520 a year in wages which was above the average median family income in 1953 of roughly $4,200 (United States Census Bureau).<\/p>\n

Sydney grew to 5 feet 9 \u00bd inches tall and had a slender build.\u00a0 In April 1952, when he was 16 years old, his mother and stepfather moved into a residential neighborhood in Queens called South Jamaica.\u00a0 South Jamaica was within the boundaries of Van Wyck Expressway, Baisley Boulevard, Merrick Boulevard and the Long Island Railroad and was populated by middle-income families.<\/p>\n

The family moved into a two family house and were able to do renovations and repairs to the property.\u00a0 They had beautiful landscaping in the back yard of the home and the lawn was well groomed and \u201cproperly terraced.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it was time for high school, Sydney first attended Far Rockaway High.\u00a0 One of the people who I made this page for casually mentioned some things to me about Far Rockaway and another high school named Woodrow Wilson \u2013 facts that provide more depth to the story.\u00a0 For the students that got out of line at Far Rockaway High School, the school administrators would threaten them with the scary notion of transferring to Woodrow Wilson High which was a vocational school with an emphasis on mechanics, woodworking, sheetmetal forming etc.\u00a0 It was not an academic school and nobody wanted to attend Woodrow Wilson.<\/p>\n

Sydney\u2019s grades at Far Rockaway High were poor except for music class.\u00a0 Maybe it was because of that he was transferred to Woodrow Wilson High School; I wonder if he was filled with dread on the transfer.\u00a0 Perhaps not surprisingly, when he turned 16, Sydney quit school and got his Employment Certificate.<\/p>\n

There is mixed information as to whether recreational facilities in South Jamaica for youth were adequate; I heard they weren\u2019t \u2013 example: there was no pool in South Jamaica, at least in 1953 \u2013 but Sydney seemed to do okay because he used a recreational center at the Brooks Memorial Church which wasn\u2019t too far from his home.<\/p>\n

As for religion, Sydney\u2019s parents were described by the pastor of the Baptist church they attended as \u201camong his best workers,\u201d and that they were a \u201cvery religious family.\u201d\u00a0 Sydney wasn\u2019t as enamored with church and was irregular in his attendance.<\/p>\n

Sydney was doing okay despite the separation of his parents; his life wasn\u2019t too bad and he wasn\u2019t a dangerous or troublesome boy.\u00a0 However, it is here that a brief sidebar on the social conditions of South Jamaica must be taken.<\/p>\n

\"Sydney<\/a>

Sydney looks back at the camera in 1953.<\/p><\/div>\n

Although South Jamaica was a middle-income neighborhood, it had two undignified warts: congestion and a high delinquency rate.\u00a0 A vivid anecdote about the latter comes from one of my friends\u2019 whose father was a bus driver in South Jamaica in the 1950s:<\/p>\n

\u2026 The area where the majority of the black folks lived was South Jamaica and my Dad\u2019s bus route took him through there every day.\u00a0\u00a0 One of the driver\u2019s tasks was to \u201cclean-up\u201d the bus at the end of the route; such as dispose of old newspapers, trash, etc\u2026 My Dad would also check the seat seams for coins that dropped out of riders pockets and other valuables. Often he would discover a knife wedged into those seats and he always brought it home and dropped it into one of his dresser drawers. Over the years he acquired quite a collection and that\u2019s where I got the German Paratrooper knife I carried in high school. The blade was a spear point style, emerged from the front by gravity, was very strong \u2014 Solingen Steel \u2014 and I sharpened both sides to razor sharpness. They are very rare now; but, you can still acquire one on internet auction sites for between $400 and $1,000, depending upon the shape it\u2019s in. I also served as the source for virtually all the blades my friends carried.<\/p>\n

Gang warfare was part of the criminal fabric of South Jamaica.\u00a0 A newspaper article from as far back as 1949 described in great detail a shootout in the neighborhood between the local \u201cAngels,\u201d and an invading gang from East New York called the \u201cGents.\u201d\u00a0 The battle erupted at night in front of a school on a dimly lit street.\u00a0 Shouting and gunshots cut through the air and panicked housewives scrambled to call the Jamaica police station and reported that a riot was in progress.\u00a0 Every police radio car raced pell-mell to the rumble, but by the time they got there, the battle was over.<\/p>\n

One Queens cop explained the challenges they had with youth: \u201cSome of these young monsters know their rights.\u00a0 They know we\u2019re not supposed to lay a hand on them.\u00a0 If you tell them to move, they take your badge number and tell you they\u2019re going to turn you in for hitting a kid.\u00a0 What can you do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat can you do\u201d was a great rhetorical question.\u00a0 But one cop in South Jamaica worked out a plan on what to do after a member of a gang called the English Lords murdered a member of a gang called the Counts in the spring of 1953.\u00a0 Whenever the police were tipped off about an impending gang fight, they would nab the boys and bring them to the police station along with their parents.<\/p>\n

Once the police had everyone assembled, they showed them guns, clubs, knives and brass knuckles \u2013 some of them were stained with the dried blood of victims \u2013 that they had confiscated in past gang fights.\u00a0 Many parents were deeply unsettled by this ghoulish display.\u00a0 Then the police would show them pictures of the victims of past gang fights, some of them pictures of the deceased and others who were maimed.\u00a0 \u201cMany young toughs have some sense whaled into them when they get home after one of those sessions,\u201d one policeman said.<\/p>\n

South Jamaica was at war, not with another country, but between their youth and youth from other boroughs.\u00a0 Skulls were broken, faces slashed with razors and knives.\u00a0 Innocent people \u2013 even children \u2013 were attacked.\u00a0 Many of the boys joined a gang at 13 years old.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>

This remarkable picture was taken by a newspaper in 1958 where members of a South Jamaican gang created a stomping scene. This picture was posed, but they showed what it would be like for several gang members to stomp kick a hapless enemy gang member who had the misfortune of being caught. The gang that posed this picture demanded that their faces wouldn\u2019t be shown in the picture.<\/p><\/div>\n

So how did gangs even begin in South Jamaica?\u00a0 According to one youth worker, after World War 2, a swell of people moved to Queens from other boroughs.\u00a0 Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn all had youth gangs set up, so when members of these gangs moved to Queens, they brought their gang attitudes with them.\u00a0 Many kids who moved into Queens had to travel back to other boroughs to attend school.\u00a0 South Jamaica in particular was congested while other boroughs had adequate classroom space.\u00a0 This moving into Queens and movement out for school created a frothing gang atmosphere just like other boroughs were afflicted with.<\/p>\n

The New York City Youth Board, which was an organization that worked with youth to help them stay out of anti-social fighting gangs, said that South Jamaica was one of two neighborhoods in Queens that was a \u201ctrouble\u201d spot.\u00a0 South Jamaica had some slum areas, ill-lighted streets, and a shortage of recreational facilities, all elements that also helped spawn gangs (in addition to gang members from other boroughs moving into Queens).<\/p>\n

Gang members always had to be ready to fight; mobilization for scheduled rumbles was quick and usually happened within the hour.\u00a0 Gangs structured themselves with hierarchies that included \u201cPresidents\u201d at the helm who would lead the gang into fights and settle disputes within the gang.<\/p>\n

Each gang had a turf to protect.\u00a0 If their territory was invaded by an enemy gang, there would be hell to pay and somebody would end up beaten or humiliated.\u00a0 Anything could trigger a gang war: an insult, a beating, even a lost hat.\u00a0 Nobody ever bothered asking questions and retaliation was swift and brutal.\u00a0 This only led to reprisals and revenge.\u00a0 A gang fight never settled anything, it only created more fights.<\/p>\n

The gangs in South Jamaica were extremely proficient at collecting weapons for their arsenals.\u00a0 It got so bad that on July 14, 1953, Judge Irwin Shapiro gave a warning to Queens\u2019s gangs to surrender the rest of their weapons by 3 p.m. the next day or there would be \u201cconsequences.\u201d\u00a0 Up to that point, boys had turned in eight rifles, five pistols and a switchblade knife.\u00a0 This did not include a Walter P38 automatic pistol confiscated from a gang leader (his father threw it into a lake, but the police recovered it), a 30-30 rifle seized at this leader\u2019s girlfriend\u2019s house, a German Luger pistol used in a downtown Manhattan robbery and a .25 calibre pistol taken from the leader of another gang.\u00a0 Nor did it include another switchblade and dagger that was supposedly floating around somewhere on the streets. \u00a0It was noteworthy when the Judge said that \u201cthose are just a few samples [and] we know there are plenty more weapons still out.\u201d\u00a0 The Judge said that if boys voluntarily turned the weapons in they would be not prosecuted.\u00a0 However, if they weren\u2019t surrendered by the next day, he would sic the police on them to find the weapons.\u00a0 No sympathy would be given to those caught.\u00a0 The bulk of the confiscated weapons were from the following gangs: the Counts, Lords, Seagrams and Chaplains (it was spelled \u201cChapmans\u201d but most likely means Chaplains).<\/p>\n

Perhaps it shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise that this boiling gang zeitgeist had an effect on Sydney.<\/p>\n

When Sydney\u2019s family moved to Queens, at first he was na\u00efve to the gang situation in South Jamaica.\u00a0 He barely knew anybody, but in short order two boys came to his home and threatened him.\u00a0 To protect himself, he joined a gang called the English Lords.\u00a0 He also joined for the excitement of dances and picnics.<\/p>\n

Not only did Sydney become a member of the English Lords, he worked his way up to become President of the gang.\u00a0 At first he claimed that it was a \u201csocial club,\u201d and that later it got into trouble and fights with another club.\u00a0 This dubious statement is surely a lie, and it is likely the English Lords were already a full-blown fighting gang when he joined.<\/p>\n

Sydney carried a knife to protect himself from enemy clubs who were looking to avenge the death of the Count at the hands of the English Lords (already mentioned).\u00a0 He became respected and feared as head of the English Lords.\u00a0 He walked with a swagger, but later a probation officer said it was only a mask to create an illusion of importance and \u201ctoughness.\u201d\u00a0 Matching his bluster was a black homburg hat which Sydney didn\u2019t wear to protect his head from the elements, but had for \u201cidentification.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, it was part of English Lords\u2019 fashion.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The father of a South Jamaican gang member, who was a gun collector, voluntarily gave these seven rifles that he owned to the police in the drive to get guns off the street. He did this so the police could check ballistics; if clean, the police would return them. The police said there was no evidence that the gang members had access to these guns.<\/p><\/div>\n

A look at the specific gangs that lived in South Jamaica around the spring of 1953 is helpful to understand the bees\u2019 nest that Sydney found himself in.\u00a0 In South Jamaica there were at least nine gangs.<\/p>\n

First there were the Lucky Lords.\u00a0\u00a0 They were a large organization which had several sub-gangs under its umbrella, namely:<\/p>\n