User:Smokingloud/sandbox/Mailmen

= Mailmen (street gang) = The Mailmen, also known as the Lexington Avenue Gang, the Gloom of Night gang, or simply the Puerto Ricans, were a street gang most active between 1990 and 1994 in the Harding Park neighborhood of New York. The group engaged in similar commercial and criminal activities as other gangs at the time but was differentiated by its elaborate initiation rituals and eccentric styles of speech and dress. In its last years the group faced stern opposition from the city government and was eventually destabilized by a police campaign that culminated in the widely condemned Harding Park Massacre. Claims that the group still operates in a covert form are a common urban legend.

History
Alonzo Gonzalez, a store attendant who emigrated from Puerto Rico and settled in Harding Park in the early 80s, allegedly founded the Mailmen in 1989. Gonzalez has stated that the gang's original purpose was to pool money for the purchase an ice cream truck, which he believed would be a profitable enterprise and serve the community. The early members eventually purchased a box truck instead and worked together on odd jobs, often related to moving furniture or goods.

In the early 90s the operation began to expand greatly and take on its later criminal, as well as stylistic, elements. While attending a government-surplus auction one member acquired 400 decommissioned United States Postal Service uniforms. These uniforms were initially used in petty fraud, with gang members going door to door in Harding Park and claiming residents owed the postal service fees, but became mandatory for all gang members to wear.

By 1993 the Mailmen were involved in prostitution, extortion, and other organized crime. A common racket was for gang members to place hundreds of pounds of spoiled food or construction materials in front of businesses that refused to make protection payments, blocking the business's entrance. As these payments became became more and more onerous, community opposition to the group grew and city officials became involved.

By the spring of 1994 the gang was estimated to have several hundred members and make $15 million in illicit proceeds a year. Several high-profile New York Daily News articles galvanized an organized crack down on the gang's activities, often leading to fistfights between members and police. In the summer and fall of 1994 the district attorney prosecuted over 40 senior members of the gang, severely disrupting their operations. A prolonged confrontation at the Harding Park Playground on October 2, 1994 led to the deaths of 3 Mailmen and came to be known as the Harding Park Massacre. The group collapsed internally following the massacre and was inoperational by 1995.

Initiation ritual and identity
Although operating primarily in the Bronx, the Mailmen were known throughout New York and received more media coverage than far larger criminal enterprises. Much of this notoriety stemmed from the group's mannerisms and dress. In addition to postal service uniforms, junior gang members wore mover's gloves and kneepads. Senior members wore black sunglasses and epaulettes. Over time the gang developed a distinct vocabulary to distinguish members and non-members: the Lexington Avenue subway line was referred to as the “Marcus Garvey”, and traveling on the subway as “spelunking”. Targeted businesses were called chozas or casuchas if they refused protection payments, and castillos if they did not.

The gang grew notorious for its most common initiation ritual, in which several prospective member attempted to transport a pallet of eggs through a multi-legged subway route as quickly as possible. The origin of this ritual was believed to be the group's early work in delivering commercial goods. Owing to the difficulty of the task and relative inaccessibility of the subway system at the time, large amounts of spillage were common, causing a nuisance for MTA employees and riders. The problem grew so bad that several USPS workers, believed to be Mailmen, were mistakenly beaten and arrested by police while on their daily commutes.

When pressed by reporters in late 1993 about his organization's criminal activities, Alonzo Gonzalez, the group's founder, replied that the Mailmen were not a gang but "a fraternal organization."