Whether it be the exploits of Meyer Lansky and John Gotti in real life or the Sopranos and the Corleone family in fiction, gang life has been a part of the fabric in New York’s tapestry. Immigrant gangs, like it or not, generate attention and followings and are a sign that a group of outsiders are trying to establish their foothold in America. Now, author Jeffrey Konvitz has written a new historical fiction book, “The Circus of Satan: Murder, Revenge and the Rise of Organized Crime” (89th Street Press), in which he looks at the rise of the gangs that captured the headlines and imagination of many New Yorkers. He appeared on 710 WOR to discuss the rise of immigrant gangs and compare the gangs that have popped up through the ages.
Konvitz told host Larry Mendte that, despite the common thread of violent criminality, there is one big difference between the gangs of today and the romanticized images of the mob of a century ago: “Take the gangs that existed from 1900 to 1913. Whether they were the Irish mob, the first of the Jewish gangs- the great gangster Monk Eastman and the Bowery in 1900- the Italian gangs in Little Italy, no matter how awful and violent these people were, they all wanted to be Americans. The Tren de Aragua and MS-13, they don’t want to be Americans; they want to use America. They want to use American freedoms for their crimes; there’s a big difference. All these people back in the 1900’s considered themselves to be Americans”
Konvitz reminds people that crime is still at the heart of gang life; there is just less altruism as a side-effect of the gangs’ existence: “Big Jack Zelig in the Bowery was like Robin Hood; he protected his own people… when it came to the Jewish gangs, he extorted them, but he (also) protected them. So, it was slightly different. Today it’s a free-for-all. It’s totally different; in fact, organized crime today is more like Medicare fraud and SBA fraud.”
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