The Capo in Brooklyn

Here are some incidents from my brother’s career as a sergeant in Brooklyn’s 90th Precinct during which he became known as the Capo.

On his beat was Peter Luger’s Steakhouse, a favorite eating place for celebrities. 


Mayor Koch had his own security detail of two detectives. The Patrol Borough which was upstairs in the precinct would get a call, “the Eagle would be at Lugers around 7 pm, no uniform cops”. As the anti-crime supervisor I would be notified to give this special attention. When Mayor Koch pulled up, I was talking to the doorman. As he walked by, he said, “I thought I said no cops.” I replied being in plainclothes, “I don’t see any cops.” He smiled and said thank you.

Now with Elizabeth Taylor, I only saw her as she was the Diva, i.e., front round table with a rose, she was the Queen of Hollywood.

John Lennon did not have any cash and as Luger did not accept credit cards, he was issued an instant credit card and wrote on application, international drug dealer. Although I didn’t drink, I was sitting at the long bar, with Charlie the bartender having been informed that John Lennon was inside. Maybe, I should have told him to retract that line, “the Beatles are more famous than Jesus”.

Peter Luger Steakhouse

My father used to make store deliveries to the new Waste Management center in the industrial section of the precinct. One day he jumped a red light and was pulled over by a marked patrol car. Before he gave the officer his identification, he told him that his son was a Sergeant in the precinct. The officer replied, “your son is the Capo, please don’t tell him I stopped you.” He truly made my Father’s Day.

There was a famous street in the precinct named Graham Avenue. South of Metropolitan Ave. It was called the Avenue of Puerto Rico, and north it was the Via Vespucci. Actually you thought you were in Puerto Rico with the stores and Hispanic music in the south side. In the north was a stronghold of Italians who had not left the neighborhood for Nassau County. One day I went into a pizza parlor, and the owner could not believe that there was an Italian Sergeant in the precinct.

Later his 6-year-old son would fall off his bike and break his arm, and me and my chauffeur took him and his mother directly to the hospital.The father and son never forgot and many years later I would coach his son in baseball at McClancy high school. I would always be their Capo.

There is a procedure when you place a female in a police vehicle that you have to notify Central, of female in/ out of car and give the times. One winter night it was cold and snowy, and I spotted a female with two young children at a bus stop. I asked her where she was going and then put them in the back of the unmarked police car. I advised Central that we had a female and 2 to a certain location. Upon arrival I once again advised Central, 90 Anti-crime supervisor “female and two out of car.” Well somebody in our division of 5 precincts keyed the radio and said, “way to go, Capo”.

I was now to be known as the Capo for my next 7 years in the 90th. The name would follow me when I was to be assigned to the Narcotic Division until I retired 7 years later.

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Note, when assigned to Anti-crime you wear your shield around your neck on a chain for identification purposes.

Armed Robbery

 Armed Robbery

 

In January 1979 I was promoted to Sergeant and assigned to the 90th Precinct in the Williamsburg section of northern Brooklyn. Before I arrived there, I knew that this precinct was the site of the famous 1973 Brooklyn hostage confrontation at the John and Al’s gun store.*

Four Black Muslims entered the store and tried to buy ammo for they were being threatened by a rival sect. When the owner refused, they produced sawed off shotguns, and the hostage incident began.

During the siege an Emergency Service Police officer was shot and killed by the perpetrators. His wife was a co-worker with my cousin Marilyn at CBS, and she was later instrumental in obtaining vests for police officers.

When I checked for the date of the John & Al’s robbery, I was shocked by what google reported. It was erroneously reported that police officer Gilroy was shot by either friendly fire or a ricochet bullet. Actually, he was shot with a scoped hunting rifle by one of the perps. What the author of this article is trying to say is that this is a hunting story out of Field and Stream magazine. I think he got his facts from the defense attorney’s pleas in court. If you did not know any better you would believe this to be the truth.

There would be a similar incident after I was assigned to the 90th, but things would turn out in a more positive manner. The Woolworths robbery started around closing time on a Saturday afternoon. Two foot police officers were notified that there was an armed robbery. As they charged into the store, they confronted three armed robbers and somehow subdued them.

Later investigation revealed that the robbers had heard the overhead subway train and seen a red flashing light and thought there was a heavy police presence outside. Also prior to this incident they had robbed and murdered a Chinese store owner in the Bronx for the lottery receipts.

I and my Anti-crime team would be the first responders who would assist in this on-going situation. Sometimes, like my first arrest, the element of surprise plays a very large part in the outcome. Eventually the robbers would be tried in the Bronx for the murder of the store owner, with one of the robbers turning on the other two.

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*Note. My brother thinks the John and Al's hostage crisis was dramatized on the first episode of the popular TV drama Kojak.

90th Precinct Demographics

Unlike the 30th, the 90th precinct was like a pie, with the Hasidic Jews comprising about 40-50% of the population, the remaining 50% were mostly Hispanics, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, and then Blacks. When I began in the 30th I knew very little about Blacks, and now in the 90th I knew nothing about the Jewish Hasidim. My first commanding officer told me that they are very politically connected with the mayor’s office and vote as a 50,000 block. With a wink of the eye he said treat all equally but some more equal, and you will survive.

The Hasidic community is like a very large self-sustaining beehive. However, it can very quickly become a Hornet nest. They live in their own world with their old-world customs. They developed a security force and a private ambulance service manned by community members. They are holocaust survivors or descendants, and basically, they want to be left alone. It’s where their community boundaries meet with others that there is friction.

The Hasidim would celebrate Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, by walking down Division Ave to the East River. They would then take a live chicken and after waving it over their head three times cut the head off and throw it in the river. At first, I was surprised but later found out that the males used a rooster while the females used a hen. Later, environmentalists tried to get them to use a rubber chicken so as to reduce pollution.

Another custom that was observed, was the white beard of the elders. The elders were held in high respect and because my beard was graying, they took favor with me.

On the other hand, the males in the Hispanic community felt that having a beer in a brown bag did not violate the open container law. As a rookie sergeant I soon learned that I was in a different precinct than the 30th.

These demographics led me and my officers to devise what would become the Robbery Identification Program, RIP for short. We made binders of those who had committed robberies in each sector. This pilot program was so successful that my Commanding Officer got a promotion. Years later I would meet him and he asked, “Capo do you have any more ideas? I thought you retired.”

As I was getting familiar with this new precinct, my chauffeur, as we passed by South 3rd street and Driggs Ave, pointed out the building where Police officer Frank Serpico was shot during a set up attempt on his life. Later, Al Pacino would play the part in this same named movie, Serpico.

After I left the 90th a new wave of White Hipsters, who could not afford to live in Manhattan, started taking up residence in the precinct.

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Anti-Crime Unit

In January 1979 I was promoted to Sergeant and assigned to the 90th Precinct in the Williamsburg section of northern Brooklyn. The parent command is the Patrol Borough Brooklyn North.

The old Williamsburg Bridge connects Brooklyn to lower Manhattan. It has 4 vehicle lanes in each direction and a two rail system in the middle as well as a foot path. What a feat of engineering!

In the middle of the foot path there was a zig zag, and there was an increase in robberies at this location. We asked for a volunteer female police officer to be a decoy, and almost all in the precinct volunteered as they wanted to be considered for my anti-crime unit. Well, we staked out the bridge with officers on nearby roof tops with binoculars. No sooner than we set up, the perpetrator came and after a brief scuffle the arrest was made. He wasn’t satisfied with taking her purse but when he put his hands on her she made the arrest. Later she would get promoted to Detective.

As each precinct had an anti-crime unit, I was one of the first to have a fully integrated one. I used to ask my fellow patrol sergeants for the names of their best officers to fill vacancies. Well there were two Black officers who at first refused because they didn’t want to be broken up. I said I want both of you. Later I named them the B&T express and both would retire as Detective first grade.* Also, I chose 3 females who more than distinguished themselves. Later I would meet my lifelong friend Detective Carol in the Narcotics division.

One day one of my chauffeurs said to me , “there’s the frog.” I said “what”? He said that before I was assigned to the 90th this person had committed a homicide and fled. He further said I knew he would someday return. The reason why he was the frog is because he had skin between his fingers. He made the arrest and the detectives closed the case.

Another interesting arrest: We responded to a robbery at the local Mc Donald’s and when the robber put the gun away he shot his finger off. Now as it had snowed we followed the blood trail and made the arrest. Later we went back to the Mc Donald’s to retrieve the finger which was thrown in the garbage by the enraged employee who had a gun pointed at her. She said hope they can’t affix it.

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*Note: The Black officers were Wilbur Bishop and Joseph Titus, thus the B&T express, two great detectives. Sadly, Joe Titus passed soon after his retirement.

90th Precinct

It would be in the 90th precinct that I would become a legend: Da Capo. But first I had to cut my teeth. Could I become an effective leader?

Unlike the 30th, the 90th was more like a pie, with the Hasidic Jews comprising about 40-50% of the population, the remaining 50% were mostly Hispanics, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, and then Blacks. When I had begun in the 30th I knew very little about Blacks, and now in the 90th I knew nothing about the Hasidics. My first commanding officer told me that they are very politically connected with the Mayor’s office and vote as a 50,000 block. With a wink of the eye he said treat all equally but some more equal, and you will survive.

Now I was assigned to the 6th squad and informed by a mentoring sergeant that I had inherited a group of malcontents and cynical Police officers, who by the way were mostly of Italian ancestry. I was soon to be tested as they decided to go on a summons strike. I held a meeting and asked whose idea this was? They said they were doing it on their own. I told them that they were to do exactly what other squads were doing, no more no less. Message sent. I have to say that these guys went from #8 to #1 in the precinct. It didn’t take long for the Precinct C.O. to take notice and he assigned me to the role as the Anti-Crime supervisor. I was not only to be in this assignment for four years but also I was re-upped for 7 years until I would be transferred to the Narcotics Division.

In the 90th Precinct most crime occurred around the overhead Broadway train lines. There were numerous robberies and gold chain and pocketbook snatches. I supervised two platoons of police officers, a 10x6 and a 6x2am tours. Well, there was one station at Broadway and Flushing Ave that was getting hit very hard. I devised a plan where I would combine my two platoons into one for a week. Well it was like Midway, where we kept making arrests one after the other as we now had sufficient manpower. Crime decreased. I guess the bad guys got the message that there was a new sheriff in town.

The Anti-crime supervisor and the anti-crime units were so effective in reducing crime and recovering weapons that the mayor and other politicians would later disband them for being too good. What a joke! But this would happen after my retirement.

I really don’t know where I got the innovative ideas, more to come, but I always credited the Brothers at my High School, Monsignor McClancy, with my succesS.

Most of my 6th squad members would eventually join me in the Anti-Crime unit or the Detective Division. I don’t want to blow my own horn, but at later retirement parties these officers would thank me for giving them the opportunity. As one later Chief would say, “in the police department there are many chiefs but only one Capo”.

Note, besides being assigned in unmarked cars and street clothes most males would grow the Anti-Crime beard, even the Capo. In my last 14 years I very rarely wore my uniform.

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IMAGE NOTE:To the right of the flag pole is the entrance of the Precinct, to the left is the firehouse.The top floor had the Borough command which supervised all the precincts in Patrol Borough Brooklyn North, and also the precinct Detective division. Address 211 Union Ave.

Around the corner was E 8 truck, the emergency services division.

Sergeant

Another brainchild of the NYPD was to replace the Desk Officer Lieutenant with a police officer. This was not accepted well by the senior lieutenants who now had to go on patrol duties. After about 5 years I was assigned as a SHO and responsible for making necessary notations in the large precinct blotter. These blotters were stored in the precinct basement and it was rumored that President Abraham Lincoln had visited the precinct and signed the log book.

I was able to check the entries for December 7,1941 and there was no mention of Pearl Harbor. I think I worked steady 4x12 tours with Ralph M as the 124 man and Kenny Mac as the TS operator. We had a good team and this would prepare me for my next assignment: Sergeant.

It is reported that most police officers get burnt out after 2 years as they respond to the same conditions on a daily or weekly basis. I first went upstairs and asked a decorated detective how I could become a detective. He said if you don’t have a Rabbi you got to find the door.

A rabbi, or in police jargon a hook, is someone who can influence your status in the department. He may be someone politically connected with city hall or a high ranking officer or chief who can get you a good assignment. It can be an assignment to the detective division or a transfer to a better precinct. It was almost impossible to get into the aviation unit, harbor patrol or mounted police. Often it took only a phone call.

Next I decided to study on a daily basis for the upcoming sergeants exam. Well, I scored high and me and 31 other officers were selected. We went to the police academy and after lunch we were told that only 16 would be promoted as a result of the NYC fiscal crisis. I had missed by 3 numbers and would have to wait about 5 years to get my Stripes.

After many delays I was informed that the City would allow the promotions to sergeant to begin again. I think that the 16 who had been sent back to commands would now be attending the BMOC, basic management orientation course. This would be two weeks before assignment to a new command or Precinct.

Before attending I went to my old friend in the 30th Precinct, Louie the tailor who wanted to be the one who would sew my stripes on my uniforms. My partner and I always checked on Louie at his store on w157 st and Broadway. He was a good source of information and a trusted friend. 

Louie had told me that during WW2, he had survived numerous Nazi concentration camps by telling the infamous Dr. Josef Menegle, “the Angel of Death,” that he was a tailor. He remembered that a fellow inmate had told him to say those words that would save his life. Mine were sewn on perfectly as he had learned this skill sewing on insignias on the Nazi uniforms.

Before I left I asked a veteran sergeant what to expect in my new assignment. He replied you have been a sergeant running this precinct for the last 4 years. Really, I had had very good Lieutenants and sergeants who would prepare me for my next step. The clerical officer told me that I was the first officer to be promoted to sergeant from the 30th, in as long as he could remember.

As soon as you arrive at the BMOC, you are handed your new gold shield and addressed as sergeant thereafter by the instructors, usually detectives and special police officers assigned to the police academy. One of the first things you learn is that you are no longer just responsible for your actions but rather the actions of those you supervise, a vicarious liability.

Second, if you go looking for trouble you will probably find it, and third get yourself a veteran chauffeur as he knows which jobs are important. Sometimes you just have to let the boys play as they do in basketball.

During these two weeks, you eventually find out what precinct you are going to be assigned to. I was lucky to have an old sergeant friend now in Personnel. He told me you are going to the 90th in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Be careful with the Hasidim and you will be alright. Next stop: the 90th located on 211 Union Ave., about 5 miles from my residence in Maspeth, Queens.

On January 31,1979 I was promoted to Sergeant and issued the gold shield with the number 1604 and assigned to the 90th precinct in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. My last partner Connie K’s favorite # was 604. He was a US Navy veteran in the mold of Bumber Morgan. He often made meal money on the precinct basement pool table. A fellow 30th police officer, now a sergeant in personnel, he arranged for my new assignment, He was my Italian Rabbi.

Note: I would carry 1604 for the next 14 years and I always believed Connie 604 was my guardian angel. Sadly, he died shortly after his retirement.

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