gangs

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From the Allen Street Boys to Satan’s Sinners, Street Gangs of the Lower East Side

Clayton Patterson's new book with Jose "Cochise" Quiles, cover photo by Clayton Patterson (Image: Nicole Disser)

Clayton Patterson’s new book with Jose “Cochise” Quiles, cover photo by Clayton Patterson (Image: Nicole Disser)

Last week, Elliot Caldwell was fatally shot outside of Campos Plaza, the NYCHA public housing project where he’d grown up. An EV Grieve commenter noted that the 23-year-old had been arrested in 2013 when the Manhattan DA busted alleged members of the Money Boyz, a coke-dealing gang based out of the East Village housing project. DNAinfo wrote that a woman claiming to be Caldwell’s aunt told reporters: “He was a great father. He changed his life for his son. He just got caught up in a bad situation.”

The NYPD told B+B that the suspect in Caldwell’s shooting is described as a “black male wearing a red hoodie,” who “fled from the scene on foot.” So far there have been no arrests, and police say the investigation is ongoing.

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In Five Star, Keith Miller’s Leading Man Is a General in the East New York Bloods

Left to right: Primo (James 'Primo' Grant) and John (John Diaz) talk business on the court. (Photo: Nathan Fitch)

Left to right: Primo (James ‘Primo’ Grant) and John (John Diaz) talk business on the court. (Photo: Nathan Fitch)

Keith Miller’s latest film grew out of his 2011 short, “Gang Bangin’ 101.” In that two-minute doc, James “Primo” Grant – a burly, bearded Brooklyn native who works as a bouncer at a Bed-Stuy nightclub – spoke frankly about joining the East New York Bloods when he was 12 and eventually becoming a five-star general in what he calls the “brotherhood.”
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