NYC / Chicago / L.A. - Gangs (New York, Union: neighborhoods, safer, FIOS)

[welder]

Originally Posted by SuperMario

Now I know where you're coming from.

How old are you?

[King0fthehill]

Originally Posted by marilyn220

I don't know about chicago, but LA wins the gang problem hands down. NO OTHER CITY IN THE COUNTRY CAN COMPARE.

And trust, it's NOTHING TO BE PROUD OF.

They have approximately 8,000 gangs/gangmembers (or more). Majority of them latino. There is NOT a huge black population in Los Angeles. Blacks are concentrated in certain areas, but it's nowhere near comparable to the east or south.

Being a born and bred NYer that relocated to LA about five years ago, I was literally SHOCKED to how backwoods this place is. They are literally 20 years behind NY (and the rest of the country) in EVERYTHING.

Don't believe the hype you see on TV. This place is 80% latino, then there's the "rest of us". Americans are the minority. Believe that.

I live here as well and I've been saying this for a while.

LA is becoming a city for Hispanics, by Hispanics.

[TunaBoy]

Gotta love these who's hood is harder threads. I lived in los angeles and now live in nyc. Supermario is right, the vast majority of homicides in LA are "gang related." If you watch the news in LA about a murder, it will almost always be mentioned that it is gang related or they will always say that police are investigating if it is. In NY, its mainly drug-related. Sure, cali gangbangers slang on their blocks as well and yes there are drug related murders, but most of them are due to conflict over gang colors and racial hatred. Mexicans and blacks dont get along, even in some areas mexicans and asians dont get along. The samoans are cool with the blacks but not the mexicans. There is alot of racial tension. The color bangin is not as bad as in the 80's and 90's, and nowadays some crips are cool with some blood sets. But back in the day if you wore blue in the wrong hood, a blood would take off on you without hesitation, and vice versa. If youve ever heard the term "set trippin", it basically means when gangbangers bump heads due to gang affiliation, nothing to do with drugs or anything else. Its mainly about pride and who's the downest for their set. Ive even been randomly hit up myself just walking minding my own business, when a car full of gangbangers roll up throwing signs out the window and asking me where im from. You hear about ALOT of people getting shot that way. I know there are bloods and crips in nyc, but I don't know enough about them.

As far as crime stats, nyc has improved alot from the 80s and 90s. But since it is such a big city, the crime per capita is lower overall. However, there are parts of nyc that are grimey and just as crime-plagued as parts of chicago, new orleans, LA, etc. So I would hardly call new york "soft". Its just that the city's overall stats are based on the entire population. Imagine if the south bronx was its own city. That's why places like camden are considered so dangerous, the population is lower and the hood makes up a higher percentage of the city so the crime per capita is high.

[bmwguydc]

LA is scary, by far, in terms of the gang problems, even infiltrating supposedly better neighborhoods in the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys. There are areas where one is somewhat insulated from gangs, but it can be a false sense of security sometimes, vastly different from New York where there is a problem, but it's not as prevalent throughout the area.

Super Mario is right, I agree, and I think his perspective is a valuable contribution, since he is recounting his experiences in the city, as we all do. It's healthy to have all sides contributing to an informed discussion as it enables real issues to be brought to the open, especially when dealing with neighborhoods in transition that are not familiar to an outsider.

Furthermore, age has nothing to do with it, since some have seen much more in fewer years than some who are in their sixties, it's a function of exposure and the streets seem to make people grow up all too quickly. Plus, if one reads posts and does not jump to a conclusion of an ulterior motive for the way a post is phrased or the information contained within it runs counter to what one would like to believe about an area, one would see that while Super Mario knows about the streets, he's not promoting that lifestyle at all to the exclusion of others. He's in college and that proves that he's looking to the future, since the last time I checked people who were not involved in making positive strides in their lives did not bother to attend high school, much less futhering their eduction.

I am certain that he has more experience with the streets than I do, and I am a little bit older, but I respect his experiences and his motive to post the information for the benefit of others, who can then make a more informed decision about places in which they wish to possibly reside in the city. Things look different in the light of day than they do in the dead of night, that's for sure, and while I have been in some sketchy areas during the day without issue, I am not so sure that I would necessarily tempt fate by going about the same actions late into the night.

[SuperMario]

Originally Posted by TunaBoy

Gotta love these who's hood is harder threads. I lived in los angeles and now live in nyc. Supermario is right, the vast majority of homicides in LA are "gang related." If you watch the news in LA about a murder, it will almost always be mentioned that it is gang related or they will always say that police are investigating if it is. In NY, its mainly drug-related. Sure, cali gangbangers slang on their blocks as well and yes there are drug related murders, but most of them are due to conflict over gang colors and racial hatred. Mexicans and blacks dont get along, even in some areas mexicans and asians dont get along. The samoans are cool with the blacks but not the mexicans. There is alot of racial tension. The color bangin is not as bad as in the 80's and 90's, and nowadays some crips are cool with some blood sets. But back in the day if you wore blue in the wrong hood, a blood would take off on you without hesitation, and vice versa. If youve ever heard the term "set trippin", it basically means when gangbangers bump heads due to gang affiliation, nothing to do with drugs or anything else. Its mainly about pride and who's the downest for their set. Ive even been randomly hit up myself just walking minding my own business, when a car full of gangbangers roll up throwing signs out the window and asking me where im from. You hear about ALOT of people getting shot that way. I know there are bloods and crips in nyc, but I don't know enough about them.

As far as crime stats, nyc has improved alot from the 80s and 90s. But since it is such a big city, the crime per capita is lower overall. However, there are parts of nyc that are grimey and just as crime-plagued as parts of chicago, new orleans, LA, etc. So I would hardly call new york "soft". Its just that the city's overall stats are based on the entire population. Imagine if the south bronx was its own city. That's why places like camden are considered so dangerous, the population is lower and the hood makes up a higher percentage of the city so the crime per capita is high.

Great post. Agree with everything you said.

NYC has always been a city run by drug dealers. When LA recorded it's peak homicide number in 1992, gang banging was at its highest. Most homicides were caused by gangs. In NYC, 1990, there wasn't many people following the bloods and crips, so that homicide number was virtually all do to drugs. Two rates of about 33 per 100,000 but totally different ways of getting there. Chicago has also always been more of a gang banging city. NYC is safer nowadays, but the number of homicides are still tide mostly to drugs. Another example of a city run by drugs is Miami. It's highest murder rate in 1984, made it the muder capital with a rate around 95 per 100,000. But we all know this was the Miami vice era, with the Cuban and the Columbian drug cartels.

And thank you BMWGUYDC for a great post.

[Chicagoland60426]

Originally Posted by SuperMario

lol you have no idea how gangs work. Gangs in those cities fight over colors. A Blood will kill a Crip cause he's a Crip.....Peoples and Folks go at it in the Chi cause of colors. Thats the name of the game. They dont kill each other for drugs because 1) its not as entrenched a culture as it is in NYC and 2) they stay in their own neighborhoods.....drug crews murder each other for gangs....NYC used to have the Wild Cowboys, Marauders, Purple city, Papi Chulos, Jehrri curls, La Compania etc....these killed in excess in the hundreds back in the days. They wouldn't eliminate you cause you were a Chulo or a Cowboy....they eliminated you because it enabled them to control territory that many of these gangs shared. Everything revolved around drugs. You cheated one of these members and they would kill you. Bloods and Crips could care less.

You know there are areas of NYC with as much population as other cities that were comparable in crime rates with the highest crime cities right?

Hunts Point was worse than Newarks worst precinct, central ward n everything but homicide rate.

East Harlem would make the top 5 crime cities last year. So unless you have the money to live in a safe area, bet your ass that you're going see just how real NYC can be.

Now Supermario, I'm the one that started the gang thread in the CHicago forum. I been living in the Chicago area all my life and grew up in a area that is fill with gangs and drugs. Most Chicago gangs don't color bang like they use to back in the 80s & 90s; its more about who you affiliated with ; People or Folks. Unlike NYC, where you can wear your hat cocked to the left or right and won't get beat up or killed, In Chicago if you where your hat the wrong way in certain hoods, you can get beat up or killed, because it means you affiliated with People(left) or Folks(right); Lupe Fiasco explain this in one of his songs. You made a minor error that Gangs in Chicago don't sale drugs and just gangbang; actually they do, but its more like a combination of both, while NYC is more drug related murders. Basically Chicago gangs do sell drugs and is entrenched in most gangs in Chicago( especially black gangs), and the murders are mostly gang & drug -related just like in LA. The latino gangs in Chicago are a little more about turf than the black gangs.

[amc760]

Originally Posted by NJ Chutzpah

LA has the worst gang problem, it dwarfs chitowns

they are having a giant race war going on, chitown and NYC do not have

A giant race war?
Oh no!

[Chicagoland60426]

Originally Posted by marilyn220

I don't know about chicago, but LA wins the gang problem hands down. NO OTHER CITY IN THE COUNTRY CAN COMPARE.

And trust, it's NOTHING TO BE PROUD OF.

They have approximately 8,000 gangs/gangmembers (or more). Majority of them latino. There is NOT a huge black population in Los Angeles. Blacks are concentrated in certain areas, but it's nowhere near comparable to the east or south.

Being a born and bred NYer that relocated to LA about five years ago, I was literally SHOCKED to how backwoods this place is. They are literally 20 years behind NY (and the rest of the country) in EVERYTHING.

Don't believe the hype you see on TV. This place is 80% latino, then there's the "rest of us". Americans are the minority. Believe that.

Actually Chicago gang problem is comparable to LA. Chicago acually have around a 100 different gangs in the city alone, with between 70,000-100,000 gang members in Chicago. And also Chicago have many latino gangs that started in Chicago(ex. Latin Kings, Gangster Two Six, Maniac latin Disciples , Latin Dragons) and many black gangs, but it is a little bit more latino gangs in Chicago than black gangs.

Here is the 2007 homicide rate in LA, Chicago, NYC

Los Angeles- 390(murders)- 10.1(murder rate)

Chicago- 443(murders)- 15.7(murder rate)

New York City- 496(murders)- 6.0(murder rate

[analyticalkeys]

Could you explain this People and Folks thing a little bit more.. or could you forward me to someplace that does? I'm interested; I've actually never heard of it.

[Chicagoland60426]

Originally Posted by analyticalkeys

Could you explain this People and Folks thing a little bit more.. or could you forward me to someplace that does? I'm interested; I've actually never heard of it.

Each gang in Chicago is affiliated with either People or Folk nation/alliance. Gangs in the People alliance symbols are usually with a 5 point star and usually wear hats tilted towards left side. Gangs in the Folk alliance symbols usually have the 6 point star( like the Jewish star) and wear hats or bandanas towards right side. Basically the People and Folk alliance is similar to back in the CIvil War era, where southern states alliance was the Union( Confederate Flag) and the Northern States had there own alliance(Yankees or whatever). To get a better understanding, go to www.chicagogangs.org and the website show you all the Chicago gangs.