FAVORITE LINKS

UIC Gang Study

Gang Research

Search Engine Optimization and Free Submission

Comments

The Bronx Gaylords

Pelham Bay Park Gaylords Club

E. 188 St. And Tiebout Ave

There was a club called the Gay Lords who hung out in the area of 188 St. and Tiebout Avenue--Our Lady of Mercy parish, just south of Fordham Road. The time frame I'm talking about is the early sixties. They were mostly Irish, as was the neighborhood, but may have had some Italian members. Some of the members were Bobby H, Tom G, Billy M, Richie G. and The Gillespie brothers.

We heard from The Bronx, and this is what the gentleman had to say:

"I went to Our Lady of Mercy and certainly remember the so called Gaylords. I do not remember them as being a threat to anyone or anything. As I recall, they were just a group of regular guys that lived in the same neighborhood. Somehow they gave themselves that name. I happen to remember a Gibson, as a member of the Gaylords. He was a very nice guy and not a threat to anyone. It was no more than a name given to a group of young boys living in the same neighborhood. By the way, Gibson could have been a threat if he wanted to be. However, I think he decided to be a nice, Catholic, young man. That neighborhood would be around 188th st. and Marion Ave. Bx. NY."

We want to pay respect to another greaser gang from 188 Street and Tiebout Avenue - The Garrisons. A retired Garrison member had this to say: "Part of the crew I ran with decided to take on the "Garrison" name because we all wore Garrison Belts and we liked the way it sounded."

A special thank you to a member of another old large greaser gang - The South Brooklyn Boys - who was kind enough to help us find this information from New York: The SBB consisted of something like 8-10 different gangs. There were: The SB Angels, SB Diapers, Wanderers, Degraw St boys, Sackett St Boys, The Butler Gents (My gang). They all considered ourselves part of SBB, but only came together in big gangfights against the Untouchable Bishops(Latino) or the The Mau Mau Chaplains (Black). Otherwise, they did their thing separately and shared the turf from Butler Street to 9th St. from 4th Ave up to 7th Ave.

An honorable mention to some other greaser gangs mentioned in the movie "The Wanderers", The Fordham Baldies, whose symbol was the bald eagle, not the shaved heads, a very well known Fordham area gang. The Duckies! Here is what a retired member had to say: "The Ducky Gang (not just boys) lol. Not embarrassed to say I was a member and yes, they were very real. The balcony on 204th and the 'tunnels', and the whole area surrounding Twin Lakes was our turf! Was a wild time growing up, some bad, some good, but many learning experiences came from those times. The Ducky was not predominantly irish or anything else, but yes, we were certainly a 'large' group. On any given weekend night, as u reached the 'balcony', u started the Ducky 'whistle'. This let anyone down in the park know you were coming. We also used the 'whistle' as an all clear after the cops had given up chasing us around and it was safe to come back out. We burned fires in the tunnels in the winter to stay warm, and we went swimming in the Bronx river when it was hot. On weekdays, there was always some 'ducky members' to be found playing hooky." Another former gang member from the Garrisons had this to say about the Duckies: "If you were planning to visit the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx you needed to concern yourself with the "Duck(ie)s."