"Every street hustler alive should see the possibilities right now."
The Bloods gang and fire cleanup companies, ferries, street vendors, and more.
A residential building in Jackson Heights that was secured by an alleged gang-affiliated company after a devastating fire
When there’s a fire at a residential or commercial building, specific companies come by to take over the long and arduous task of what comes next. These companies not only deal with the actual task of cleaning apartments or offices damaged by fire and the water used to put it out, but sometimes also securing them. It’s a big and important business that most people hopefully will never have to think too much about.
Big business means big money — and last month, federal prosecutors indicted nearly a dozen alleged members of the violent Bloods gang for what they said became a criminal enterprise within this fire-mitigation and clean-up industry. These gang members allegedly took over a Brooklyn company using violence and extortion — and then eventually took over the whole multi-million industry, roping in private and public insurance adjusters. At one Jackson Heights building where they worked after a fire, tenants complained of their apartments being burglarized once they could finally video conference to see inside — and thought something was up with the people hired to protect their building.
I reported on this wild story for THE CITY, in collaboration with Amir Khafagy of DOCUMENTED.
Other interesting stories from this week
The city is moving forward with its plan to expand the number of legal street vendor permits, but this process to apply is delayed for a reason I couldn’t figure out. [THE CITY]
Single rides on the NYC Ferry will go up to $4 each way, while you’ll be able to get a discount on multi-ride packs. Seniors and disabled New Yorkers will also get reduced fares. [THE CITY]
And a question: What does New York City smell like to you? Feel free to share in the comments.
Described as the “epic drama of a New York Empire,” the docuseries Supreme Team — produced by rapper Nas — takes a look at the crack-dealing crime syndicate headquartered out of southeast Queens in the 1980s.
Mayor Eric Adams is featured at times throughout the series, reflecting on his own time as a teenager in Queens and then later as a police officer. The first episode ends with the mayor’s swearing-in ceremony in Times Square this year, his hands on a Bible and clutching a photo of his mother. He said his story should be an inspiration to every incarcerated person in the city, and every person who feels trapped in their current reality.
"Where you are is not who you are,” he said in the show. "Every street hustler alive should see the possibilities right now.”
He later talks about the affect the murder of Police Officer Eddie Byrne had on him as a young police officer and the department itself, which began to wage war on the borough’s drug dealers after the gruesome killing.
It’s a well-done show about something not many people know about. Plus you’ll see early Ja Rule videos.
All three episodes are available now on Showtime, or on the app where you can use your friend’s Showtime account.
LISTEN
The credits for the second episode of Supreme Team begin with the recognizable trumpet of Tom Browne’s “Funkin’ for Jamaica (NY).” The song is a love letter to his Queens neighborhood, although plenty of people thought he meant the country.
"I still have Caribbean people who come up to me and say, ‘thank you for making that song for our Island’ ... I don't have the heart to tell them," he said in a short documentary about his life and his hit song.
"People want it to be what they want it to be."
Whichever Jamaica you think it’s about, it is one of the best funk songs ever made — and the video always cheers me up.
###
Thanks for reading!
A mountain road in North Carolina, if you need a little zen