Gangsters of Harlem [Hardcover]

Ron Chepesiuk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 2007

For the first time ever, author Ron Chepesiuk chronicles the little known history of organized crime in Harlem. African American organized crime has had as significant an impact on its constituent community as Italian, Jewish, and Irish organized crime has had on theirs. Gangsters are every bit as colorful, intriguing, and powerful as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, and have a fascinating history in gambling, prostitution, and drug dealing. In this riveting, vivid documentation, Chepesiuk tells the little-known story of organized crime in Harlem through in-depth profiles of the major gangs and motley gangsters whose exploits have made them legends.

Editorial Reviews

Review

New York has always been the epicenter of the American gangster scene. I once saw a shirt in a store on St. Mark's Place that had a picture of a machine gun-toting gangster with the caption, "New York City, Family owned and operated since 1920." So true.

My publisher, Barricade Books, based out of Ft. Lee across the GW Bridge, has been putting out mob books on topics other than Al Capone and John Gotti. I just finished the new book by Ron Chepesiuk, Gangsters of Harlem. The book is a good overall picture of the various criminal elements that have held sway over the legendary Manhattan neighborhood. The early part of the book deals with the Mafia activity in the 1920s and '30s. It's some of the same material I've seen in other places. But the book really starts to take off when we get to the 1950s and the rise of the black crime figures. Ironically it's just as the neighborhood begins its gradual state of decline. Familiar names like Nicky Barnes and Frank Matthews (who is still on the lam after 25 years - take that Whitey Bulger!) are mixed in with Bumpy Johnson.

By the time the 1980s comes along, all hell breaks loose. Crack is the name of the game and gangbangers take control of the streets. No more code of honor. Paranoia and corruption rule. Some of the most violent criminals you'll ever read about plied their trade in Harlem. Chepesiuk delivers the story with plenty of quotes from cops and DEA agents who were there at the start of the crack "epidemic." Though street gangs are not my favorite crime subject, I have to say these are the best chapters in the book. It's new and fresh information, maybe that's why I liked them.

The book ends with two "tacked on" chapters, one on numbers kingpin Spanish Raymond Marquez (excellent), the other on police corruption (boring).

Overall, Gangsters of Harlem was a great read. It could have used more pictures, and there was hardly any mention of the Pleasant Avenue connection and the Italians who still ran East Harlem through the 1970s, but that does not detract greatly.

As Harlem reaps the benefits of gentrification (or not, as some people argue), stories like those in this book may become distant memories and the neighborhood might be known once again for more than crime. --Blog Critics

Product Details

• Hardcover: 278 pages
• Publisher: Barricade Books (January 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569803188
• ISBN-13: 978-1569803189
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,093,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ron was a university professor before getting the writing bug. Now he is an award-winning author, two-time Fulbright Scholar recipient to Indonesia and Bangladesh, an adjunct instructor in UCLA's Extension Journalism program and a consultant to the History Channel's "Gangland" documentary series. Ron is the author of twenty-four books and more than 4,000 magazine, newspaper and Internet articles on a wide range of topics, from science to entertainment. His celebrity interviews include Yasser Arafat, Jimmy Carter, Abbie Hoffman, Noam Chomsky, Evander Holyfield, Andy McDowall, and many others. He has been interviewed by the History Channel, Biography Channel, Investigative Discovery, Black Entertainment Television and NBC Dateline and other media.

Among other awards, two of his books, Drugs Lords and Gangsters of Harlem, were selected finalists for Foreword magazine's 2007 True Crime Book of the Year. Gangsters Harlem won honorable mention. A third book, Black Gangsters of Chicago won a silver medal in the Independent Book Publishers Association's 2007 True Crime Book of the Year. Black Gangsters of Chicago also won first place in the African American nonfiction category of the U.S. Book News "Best Books 2007" award. Both "Black Gangsters of Chicago and Gangsters of Harlem were finalists for the award in the true crime category and Drug Lords won honorable mention in the general nonfiction category of the 2008 London Book Festival, while Black Gangsters of Chicago won honorable mention in the 2008 New England Book Festival. Black Gangsters of Chicago also won first place in African American nonfiction category of the 2009 National Indie Excellence Award. Gangsters of Harlem won the award in the True Crime category.

A native of Thunder Bay, Canada, Ron resides in South Carolina when not on assignment around the world. He hopes someday to write an award-winning screenplay based on one of his books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Liked it... after Page 25, April 6, 2007

By 

Thomas Hunt "[e-mail]" (New Milford, CT USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gangsters of Harlem (Hardcover)

Overall, I liked it a lot. It is interesting reading and - at least in parts - a useful historical reference.

The book's opening, which deals with the Italian gangsters of East Harlem in the 1900s, contains some inaccuracies about the Morello-Terranova clan (The Morello family was certainly NOT the "first established Italian American Mafia family;" Giuseppe Morello and Peter Morello were the same person; Nicholas Morello was actually Nicholas Terranova; and the Terranova boys were half-brothers to Giuseppe, not step-brothers.) and makes some shaky statements about the origins of lottery rackets.

Despite these errors and others, the tales of Morello, Lupo, Terranova and Gallucci certainly will appeal to the casual reader. But why Chepesiuk decided to lead off his book with this superficially researched stuff rather than use the more reliable bits of it to backfill stories occurring later on remains a mystery. A tougher reviewer might penalize him a star for that bad decision, but there's enough good stuff in the rest of the book to make up for it.

"Gangsters" starts moving with the Harlem Renaissance of the Jazz Age. Tales from this period are easily worth the price of admission. Chepesiuk explores colorful underworld characters like Dutch Schultz, "Mad Dog" Coll and Owen Madden, and renowned entertainers like Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Louie Armstrong. The reader is likely to be left wanting more from this exciting and culturally rich era (though some Milton Mezzrow material sounds like it was drawn from a drug-culture website or from Mezzrow's own notoriously unreliable autobiography and is very difficult to accept).

Chepesiuk finally hits his stride as he discusses the rise of the African American gangster in Harlem and the various underworld rackets, including the evolution of the drug trade's focus from heroin to marijuana to crack cocaine. He provides fairly detailed biographies of the more noteworthy figures, like Bumpy Johnson and Queenie St. Clair, Frank "Black Caesar" Matthews, "Untouchable" Nicky Barnes, Pee Wee Kirkland and Frank "Super Fly" Lucas. At this point, the author seems more determined than he was earlier to set the historical record straight. He challenges some old legends and "Gangsters of Harlem" becomes a valuable resource.

On the whole, "Gangsters" is a well written and entertaining work. I do recommend it... from about Chapter 2 on.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and Informative, August 22, 2007

By 

Ellen Poulsen "Author" (New York City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gangsters of Harlem (Hardcover)

This book offers a cohesive history of the development of crime in Harlem. This well-researched book spans many decades and takes the reader out of the "Dutch Schultz" mindset that so often dominates Harlem's history of numbers policy, as well as drug dealing gangsters. It is a good addition to the library of any reader who is interested in the history of organized crime (and not so organized) in New York City. There was new information about Madam Queen Stephanie St. Clair, a woman who is a more or less "cold case" in terms of what is really known about her. In short, this is a worthwhile investment and a great book to read if you want to brush up your Shakespeare - or Bumpy Johnson - whichever comes first!

4.0 out of 5 stars Crime Does Pay... For a While, December 13, 2010

By 

Elliot Malach "The Unknown Surfer" (Galveston, Tx) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gangsters of Harlem (Paperback)

I can't vouch for the historical accuracy of the book, but I found it very entertaining.

Every chapter is about a different gang or gangster from the late 1800s through the present. Some were pretty colorful characters for their short lives, since it is not a profession many actually retire from. Quite a few of the gangsters were involved in the numbers, and the author does a good job of showing how the system operated in connection with the Italian Mafia.

The last chapter covers the corrupt police who were as bad as most of the criminals.

The book is a quick, easy read but does not go into a lot of depth.