DISCLAIMER

Many of the names and some of the descriptions in this blog have been changed to protect the guilty.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

The North End Gang Wars of the Early '80s, Part 2


Some say the dividing line was Interstate 91. Others say the train tracks. Still others insist it was Birnie Avenue. One thing was for sure: when the border was crossed, tempers flared.



It was the early 1980s in the North End: the territories were established and the gang colors were assigned: red and black in Demon City and yellow and black in Whop City.

In the legendary battles between the Demon-strators and the Whops/Last Survivors, the summer of 1981 marked the time when the clashes were ratcheted up a notch after Demon-strators enlisted the help of Hartford’s Savage Nomads gang.

On August 31, 1981, in front of the North Main Street branch of BayBank Valley, a Savage Nomad with a Mohawk haircut leaned out of a car and fired on Last Survivors Jesus and Rafel Laboy. Jesus took cover behind a fire alarm box.

“Do you know how thin that is?” said Jesus, referring to the pole, to a reporter from the Morning Union. “It’s thin, man, when you’re hiding from a gun.”

Residents began to fear that Springfield gangs, by using outside forces, would bring more casualties in the North End gang wars. After all, that year the Savage Nomads in Hartford had joined a pact with their chapter in New York City, and the result was two killings in a single week in Hartford. Bringing in reinforcements from other areas was the newest gang tactic, and not an entirely surprising one: there was power in numbers, the “mergers” served to intimidate and demoralize enemies, and shooters couldn’t easily be identified by witnesses.

Because many of the Springfield gangbangers had roots in Hartford and New York, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for more personnel and firepower to descend on the North End and make an already dangerous situation unbelievably chaotic.





A Savage Nomads stronghold on Park Street in Hartford

After a violent Summer of 1981, the retaliatory gang shootings in the North End continued into the fall. On September 12, Marixa Rivera, who was friendly with the Demon-strators/Spanish Lords, was shot as she was crossing Main Street in the North End. An hour later, three Demon-strators were arrested after they fired shots on Donald Street: Whops/Last Survivors turf.

At the end of an October 2 Morning Union story on the gangs (below), Police Chief Paul Fenton raised eyebrows when he insisted that there was “no gang problem in Springfield. These are isolated instances.”


The feud resumed the following year with a February 8 brawl at the New North School:


After three people were shot at Main and Huntington Street on July 21, Mayor Theodore Dimauro ordered Chief Fenton to report to him personally on this shooting and other confrontations that night that also involved gunshots:


By 1983, however, police were confident that they had things under control in the North End. The “Hartford presence” turned out to be not as menacing as it could have been. There was trouble, but it was not as heated as it was in 1981. On January 26, two other gangs, the Playboys (Huntington and Main) and the Blue Boys (Patton Street) went at it:


And the Playboys also fought with the Last Survivors on June 16:


(Yes, that injured patrolman, Michael Schiavina, is the same one who was gunned down with his partner by a Plainfield Street man, “Crazy Eddie” Ortiz, two years later.)

Then came another casualty of the North End gang wars. On July 3, someone threw a bottle at Jose Olivo’s car in front of Charkoudian Drug Store, 3274 Main Street, and he responded by fatally shooting 20-year-old Pierre Messier, who was friendly with the Whops/Last Survivors. This took place eight days after Messier’s 25-year-old sister, Diane, was shot in the thigh on Donald Street.

The idea of white youths getting shot in a gang dispute in the North End might seem unlikely to many, because the gangs were predominantly Hispanic, but the neighborhood once had a large contingent of of French-Canadian families—whose teenagers battled Puerto Rican youths in the North End Streets in the early 1970s. The Messiers grew up on Donald Street before moving to Abbe Avenue that year, and both streets were considered to be in “Whop City.”

Pierre Messier was certainly no stranger to the neighborhood’s feuds, having been arrested with a juvenile for beating someone with a chain on November 9, 1981, but Hampden County Superior Court Judge George C. Keady said the violence truly had to stop because he was sick of young lives and families ruined. He sentenced Olivo, 17, to nine-to-12 years in state prison.

“A message has to go forth from this courtroom,” he said. “Peace has got to start somewhere, and it seems to me it’s got to start in our daily lives.”

By the end of the summer of 1983, police insisted they were winning the war on gangs, because their leaders were in jail, and many of the “players” had become fathers and wanted out of “the life.” There had been two gang-related shootings in mid-August, including a victim with a leg wound, but the gang wars were quieting down:


It’s hard to say what finally ended the North End gang wars of the early 1980s. Aggressive policing and community cooperation certainly were major factors. A couple of years ago the subject was brought up on the Facebook page “You know you’re from Springfield, MA if…”, and a person, who wrote that he had “an unusual view from where I stood,” opined that the police’s gang control program quelled many of the problems. “A lot of compromise” also helped, he added. “We were killing each other. HIV, ODs, and prison played BIG roles as well.”

But history often repeats itself, and in the early 1990s, Springfield was flooded with a resurgence in gang activity when New York and Hartford-based gangs such as the Latin Kings and Los Solidos spread north to this city. In Hartford, the formerly feuding Savage Nomads and Ghetto brothers joined together to form Los Solidos, and they, along with Hartford’s 20 Love gang, began recruiting in Springfield.

“Gangs. Drive-by shootings. Teen-agers dead at the hands of other teen-agers. Drug turf wars,” wrote a Springfield Sunday Republican reporter in 1995. “It can’t happen here. Guess again.” Indeed, it already had—in the previous decade, before a long respite.

And guess what? Gangs are still a problem in Springfield. The website Law Street ranked Springfield the 10th most dangerous city among cities with a population of under 200,000—partly because of gangs. Law Street used the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report Statistics to determine its ranking.

“Springfield’s high levels of violent crime and gang activity have led its police department to adopt Iraq-style ‘counterinsurgency’ strategy,” according to the website. “This strategy involves community building in which officers work to solve the underlying problems that contribute to crime. Increased police visibility has also been used to help combat issues with gangs in an attempt to make Springfield residents feel more secure. Although many members of the local police department believe these strategies will help, the jury is still out on the effect of the these new efforts and Springfield remains one of the most dangerous American cities.”

Springfield’s counterinsurgency strategy was featured on the TV news magazine 60 Minutes, which included the oft-told story that there were “gang members on motorcycles with AK-47s on their backs” at the Edgewater Apartments on Lowell Street in the North End’s Brightwood section: formerly Whop City:


According to the 60 Minutes report, “They found that since the counterinsurgency operation started, North End Schools have seen fewer discipline problems and drug offenses, and that litter and gang graffiti is no longer everywhere in sight—important indicators that the community is no longer totally under the gangs’ control.”

Hell’s Acres readers: what do YOU think? Three decades after the North End gang wars of the early 1980s, is the North End under control out of control? Leave comment below!

 Read The North End Gang Wars of the Early 1980s, Part 1.

28 comments:

barrooman said...

hartford went from mark twains "Of all the beautiful towns it has been my fortune to see this is the chief.” to a cesspool in a couple of generations. i dont think anything can save it. gonna pop on the warriors soundtrack

Hell's Acres said...

Hey barrooman,

I though The Warriors was great when it came out, but the last time I watched it, years ago, it seemed truly bad. The Baseball Furies lol.

Agawamian said...

If I think about Springfield, though, the one thing that gives me a bit of hope is that the city seemed to have a bit of a resurgence in the mid-to-late 80s. Gang activity slowed down and people were building houses, heck, a couple of my school friends moved from the 'burbs TO Springfield.

And, now the gangs have come back and that seems to have ground to a halt.

Stop the gangs, and you've got a city full of affordable, beautiful (if not somewhat tired) housing stock just waiting there.

Hell's Acres said...

I always like to think that the city is poised for a resurgence, and then I read about gangbangers shooting it out on Worthington Street on Saturday night, with five people hit by gunfire. And then two more people shot the next day. WTF?

Agawamian said...

I think another good post would be a synopsis of the rapid rise and fall of the so-called "Entertainment" district in downtown, in the late 90s early 00s. I had moved out of the area by then, and returned only infrequently, but it seemed like all of a sudden Downtown Springfield had places to go at night. And, then it seemed like just as suddenly these places got overrun by violence and were no longer places to be.

Anonymous said...

They are not gangs they are a whole bunch of punks who think there grown men but they need guns you whole bunch of pussy that why I left Springfield.

Anonymous said...

I lived on Donald st. for many yrs.The messiers were close with my family at that time. The underpass was the unofficial dividing point. walk in those streets in my teen years was never ever ever dull

Hell's Acres said...

Thanks for the comment. It's tragic that both both Pierre and Diane Messier took bullets in this war, and that Pierre died over something stupid. I can't imagine how their family and friends felt, especially since they were probably not heavily involved in the feud.

Someone told me that the Whops also hung around old quonset huts on Plainfield Street. Is that true? Where were they?

And where exactly was Donald Street? The city must have paved it over because it's not on the maps.

Anonymous said...

Donald was the street right after the underpass heading towards the chicopee line.As I recall the hangout/mtg points changed often to stay ahead of not only drivebys but also the police n

Hell's Acres said...

Any idea how this gang war started?

Anonymous said...

What are the "big" gangs now, and what is their territory

Hell's Acres said...

Hi,

I'm not sure of the North End gangs today. In recent years there have been the Latin Kings, La Familia, Los Solidos, Neta, and Orchard Street, but they might have several territories. The Latin Kings were hit hard with indictments a few years ago. If you mean Springfield as a whole, the Eastern Avenue and Sycamore Street posses are probably still the major gangs in Mason Square. I have a rundown of Springfield's past and present gangs in this post, but it probably could use an updating: http://hellsacres.blogspot.com/2013/04/spitting-to-all-fields-part-11.html.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting! Great research. I was in the first class of New North School when it opened and seeing guys in jean vests with Demon-Strator patches walking in and around the school is something I still remember. Thanks for posting.

Hell's Acres said...

Those first days of school there must have been pretty intimidating. How did you survive?

Anonymous said...

Wow! I grew up in what was called whop city. My grandma was the first tenant in Plainfield which was called Riverview projects which is known today as Springfield Housing. I remember watching from my grandma's window the lights of fire from the sticks. You knew they were there. Early that day your eye told too not be in that area or you were subject to fight. I rember watching the Last survivors line up and march around the projects. You knew that a rumbo was going down. Being that young in the eighties never knew how serious they were. You seen the different colors being worn and not knowing they were controlling that area. Today you need a bullet proof vest to sit on your porch. It's crazy these kids act like they learn to shoot I the womb? No one is safe anymore. I pray God stops the violence in our Community of Springfield. With this casino coming they got bigger things to worry about they there turf. Our city may be suck dry of the local businesses that keep us going. Wake up Springfield!

Anonymous said...

Proud daughter of a PlayBoy. Understand that these were also sports teams. My uncles the founding fathers and my father the "coach". I'd say they are all doing well for themselves these days along with all their children. -Cabrera

Hell's Acres said...

Hi Cabrera,

Thanks for the comment. Didn't know the PlayBoys was a sports teams. Which of the others were also sports team?

YoSoy413 said...

Grew up in the Plainfield St. area; 56 Orchard,128 Washburn, 605 Plainfield St. and finally 278 Plainfield (corner of Clyde and Plainfield right next to the park) from around 1977 to 1984-85 when we moved to Six Corners after my father bought our first home. Remember the Whops hangin in the huts in Kenefick Park or the handball courts @ New North School and the huge brawl right on Plainfield with I recall Italians and the Last Survivors which I watched from my bedroom window. From my house which was next to the park and in front of us was the A&P warehouse? I was very young at that time, attended New North for 5th grade after I "graduated" from Brightwood School; I remember I was in Pod 6D at New North then from 6th grade on went to Sacred Heart School on Stafford Street which is no longer. I've driven by there now and it is soooo different now; the house is still there but surrounded by iron fences and has been taken over by heroin dealers, the whole area from Lowell St. to around maybe Abbey Avenue...Fond memories of Pynchon Terrace which was it's name when we lived there. Won't ever be the way it was back then...David

Anonymous said...

I lived at 17 Harriet st in Springfield. I remember bullets hitting the building and we'd hit the floor instinctively.

Anonymous said...

Woooow! Brings back a lot of memories, I did not live in Springfield but still was affected by the whops and demonstrators fuel when it spilled over into Holyoke and the weekend they battled the Crash Crew in Holyoke in the Flats. My parents' house was right smack dead in the middle. It was based between East Dwight st. And Mosher and West and Center streets they blocked off every possible entrance to that quadrant (which is now known as PiƱa park) with trash barrels lit on fire and molotov cocktails and gunfire kept the police and whoever else was not involved out. It was crazy. It was kind of cool I snuck out to the back yard numerous times to watch, against my parents will. It looked like one of the reports from CNN of a war torn 3rd world country. It was awesome and it went on like that for about three days.

Hell's Acres said...

I didn't know the Whops and the DemonStrators ever teamed up to fight anyone. And I never heard of the Crash Crew. Was that the name of the gang in The Flats back in the '80s, or were there others? I'm not that familiar with Holyoke gangs back then.

Anonymous said...

My step brother and sister's Mother was Mama D...
TC..Aka.. Sherri and TR...aka Teddy

AG said...

Wow...memories on Donald St. in Springfield in the 70's.
My family moved from Maine to an apartment on Donald St in 1971. I was thirteen at the time. It was a pretty normal street back then, with Irish, French, and Polish families...mostly French, and kids playing in the streets. The Godbouts, Richeys, Lyons, Shays, Estells, Goodreaus, Father Black, and others. The Messiers lived across the street from us, and from what I remember, Diane started hanging around with PR Gangers. In fact, one day, she and a couple of her PR friends were sitting on her porch steps and they thought my two friends were talking about them...which they were. When my friends and I went to the Charkodian Drug Store up around the corner, the PR's cut us off by going around the block. They were going to kill my friends with a knife. We were just kids and this Ganger named Peanut Butter wanted to kill Richard and Steve. At one point, he had Steve down on the ground with a knife to his neck and screaming that he was going to kill him. The only thing that saved Steve was a PR lady yelling in Spanish from her porch to leave him alone,...that he's just a kid.
I have many stories from that time before and after it turned toward evil. Our apartment building was shot at several times. Diane Messier was shot, and shortly after that, Peter, her brother, was shot and killed. I had moved back to Maine just before that happened, but I heard that the gangers broke into the funeral home and dumped Peter's body out of his coffin in the middle of the night in order to show the ultimate disrespect.
The 70's for me will always be tied to good memories there, but also, to the later trauma that Donald St. would become. Maybe, appropriately, the street was eventually erased...plowed over, and now, can't even be found on any maps.
And that, perhaps, is just as well.

Hell's Acres said...

Hi AG,

Wow, incredible recollections. Feel free to tell more stories about that era. My recounting is an outsider's perspective of the North End and relies heavily on media accounts, which is why I appreciate the comments from people who were THERE.

Unknown said...

Waoo lots of memories I lived in Plainfield clyde street

Anonymous said...

The whops had a football street team that called themselves the killer bees. I played on a team called the franklyn boys (not a gang). We played against the Playboys as well. It was interesting that the whops had allies that far in the north end.

Anonymous said...

Holyoke had the holyoke demons..

Anonymous said...

Hey I’m from Jefferson park(Calhoun park). I’m 22 yrs old now and I’ve lived on Calhoun st for 20 yrs. now that I’m reading this article the shit that I saw growing up starts to make more sense. We don’t call north end the demonstrators they go by main st, Franklin, or van horn. And on the other side of the river is just Plainfield. Ofc you got Morgan which were Latin kings when I was growing up I heard that block got raided though. Morgan used to come to jp just to fuck with us and start unnecessary shit with the bloods over on Massasoit. The bloods on Massasoit used to tell me if I ain’t from there don’t come there… but I’ve lived there my whole life lol. Don’t get me started on van horn. That park was Carew gangs spot. I’ve read some of these comments from the ogs and shit let me tell you ain’t nothin changed other than the names of the streets. Although I would say it ain’t as dangerous as before because it was easier to get away with crime back then. I am only 22 yrs old though and I’ve seen shoot outs 5 ft away from me, holmes that I used to ball with get stabbed, hear the cry of a woman getting r***d over at van horn, crackheads either dancing for a nick or offering blow at the park. I remember I used to chill at the center at the end of Dwight and main towards exit 8, gang members used to pull up and grab kids that used to rep sets and go hit licks so I highly doubt anything has changed. Yesterday I visited home, I haven’t been back in almost 2 yrs, and shit hasn’t changed. There’s still kids that were just like me angry and ready to bang. Now that I think about it as crazy as jp is I still found “peace”. I remember the old lady that used to sell me limbers for a quart cus she new my mom or the fact that I only had to walk 5 minutes to buy compras. I made a lot of friends there…I’ve lost a lot to that same block. I’ll always be a north end baby that’s fosho