Most of today's gangs are mostly a bunch of disorganized kids trying to act tough. I remember growing up in Aldus Ave and Southern Blvd over 20 years ago. I remember the gangs then, they were tough and heartless. My mom made sure we were busy after school to avoid all the elements that drive a young person into joining a gang. The random killings back then where bad, even the Mafia had to cease some activities in many areas due to the aggressive nature of these gang members...these bastards just didn't fear them. These gangs were organized, they were just a byproduct of the ghettos.
The homicides...children getting shot, seniors getting killed, heck I even remember stories about cops getting killed and disappearing. The 70's, 80's and 90's were a time that I will never forget. I came to NYC from a town name Van Scoy in Bayamon PR. When we arrived to my fathers place in Newkirk Ave in the late 70's the first thing my father did was asked me if I knew how to fight. I didn't, I didn't have to where I came from. So, my father taught my brother and myself how to fight. My mother didn't approve but didn't want to rock the boat. Everyday there was a group of Haitians and Jamaicans playing soccer in the street.
Once in a while some Latin guys came around with broom sticks and dressed in black pants and shirts and in winter they all used leather jackets. Whenever the guys playing soccer saw them coming they would simply pack up and leave quietly. Then the latins would simply start playing stick ball. I wondered why soccer guys would simply walk away. I asked my dad if there was some sort of schedule for the soccer and then the stick ball players (I was 8 or 9 years old). My father looked at me and I had to explain to him what happened and then he told me that the leather jacket guys were a gang. He also said he knew most of the kids in the gang and that at one time they were victimized by other groups.
Little by little these guys became united and protected each other but later what started like a small group of Puerto Ricans protecting themselves from other ethnicity (Italian gangs, black gangs) ended up being the most feared gang in the area. I didn't ever see these guys do anything bad, just play handball and stick ball. Two years later my mom leaves my dad and we end up in the South Bronx. Man, what a different world it was. The bad guys here were BADDDD. Ruthless and they didn't hide from cops.
My mom signed us up to take Karate and boxing and she made sure we went...lol I saw how the police would avoid driving by my block. If someone called the cops there would be 5 police cars answering the call...even if it was to answer a BS complant. I can go on and on the subject. I guess my point is that there is way too much anti-gang activity in NYC that it is controlled sufficiently that the quality of life in the Jackson Hts area should suffer minimally or non at all and most people in NYC are not effected. While on occasion immigrant communities will be exposed to gangs, the ones that must deal with it most are those in lower income communities.
Topic: Prevalence of Gangs in Jackson Heights? (Read 14538 times)