Mobsters, Gangs, Crooks and Other Creeps-Volume 2 - New York City

Mobsters, Gangs, Crooks, and Other Creeps 

Volume 1 - New York City 

By Joe Bruno 

***** 

PUBLISHED BY: 

Joe Bruno Literary Services 

Smashwords Edition 

EDITED BY: 

Marc A. Maturo 

Copyright 2011 by Joe Bruno Literary Services 

Introduction 

I have been a criminal defense lawyer for 34 years, specializing in organized crime cases. Like Joe Bruno, I was born in New York City's Little Italy. My first residence was 146 Mulberry Street on top of Angelo's Restaurant. At the age of six, I moved a mile south to the Lower East Side to a place called Knickerbocker Village, which borders the East River, and is located between the historic Manhattan Bridge and the majestic world-famous Brooklyn Bridge. 

Like Joe Bruno, I lived in Knickerbocker Village for more than three decades. Our neighborhood was filled with unforgettable characters, most of whom were criminals, and many of whom were in the Mafia. Joe got to meet and see many famous criminals during his years in Little Italy, and in Knickerbocker Village. It is no surprise to me that he was fascinated not only with the mafia characters, but with the entire history of Lower Manhattan, and New York City in general. 

His book, " Mobsters, Gangs, Crooks and Other Creeps-Volume 1- New York City" is a composite of characters and events, that weaves the denizens of the underworld with the rich history of New York City, from the early 1800's, through the early 1900's. Although Italian-American criminals are covered, this is not just another mafia book. The book covers the Jewish gangsters as well (who truly were the pioneers of organized crime) and the Irish gangs, who were one of the first ethnic groups to run the New York City rackets. Joe even presents a few "lady gangsters" too. 

Most of all, "Mobsters, Gangs, Crooks and Other Creeps-Volume 1- New York City" is easy to read. The short-chapter format is a stroke of genius. It is interesting, informative, entertaining, and to the point. You won't be bored reading it. 

Joe Bruno has hit the mark in presenting Old New York the way it really was. Rough and bloody! 

- Mathew J. Mari, http://www.mathewmarilaw.com/

Ah Hoon - The Murder of Chinese Comedian Ah Hoon 

Sometimes a comedian can be dead funny, but after one of his on-stage performances, Chinese comedian Ah Hoon turned up quite dead instead. 

The Tong Wars started in Chinatown in 1899, with the powerful On Leong Tong dominating the gambling, and drug interests, in downtown Manhattan. The smaller Hip Sing and the Four Brothers Tongs, joined forces, and engaged in violent confrontations with the On Leong Tong, over the rights to control Chinatown's illegal activities. Almost daily, dead bodies littered the streets of Chinatown, which at the time consisted of Mott, Pell, Chatham Square, and Doyers Streets only. 

Ah Hoon was a famous Chinese comedian, who was featured often at the Chinese Theater, at 5-7 Doyers Street, right in the middle of the Tong War Zone. The Chinese Theater was a venue, not only for the Chinese, but for English speaking audiences, who were brave enough to venture into an area where gunpowder permeated the air. Ah Hoon was an associate of the On Leong Tong, and the content of his jokes, in which he constantly disparaged the Hip Sing and Four Brothers Tongs, made it seem like he thought he was bullet-proof. 

Things started to get hairy for Ah Hoon, when the Reverend Huie Kim, the pastor of the Christian Morning Star Mission on Doyers Street, warned Ah Hoon that his jokes were not too funny with certain people. The good reverend also told Ah Hoon that Ah Hoon could get badly hurt if he kept telling his jokes on stage, where hundreds of people could hear the many indignities he spewed, disparaging the Hip Sing and Four Brothers Tongs.