Film : 80 Blocks From Tiffany’s

So how gutter was the old NYC that we nostalgic New Yorkers talk about? Well let’s just say that it wasn’t a walk in the park. Now I know this is before my time, but I just came across the other day a documentary called 80 Blocks From Tiffany’s that I first discovered when i was in Junior High School. This film documents a summer(1978 or 1979) with two gangs, or clubs as they are called in the film, called The Savage Nomads & The Savage Skulls. Now anyone reading this who lived during the era know what I’m talking about already. These two “clubs” were among a slew of other groups that pretty much ran the city. I say this because in any neighborhood you would go to your neighborhood gang before you went or even thought about going to the police.

Now, I am only 21 years old, but when i first saw this film at 12, I was amazed to see the condition of the city as well as its gang presence (at the time i thought the current state of NY was bad, but i was way off). I have actually had the opportunity to talk to former savage skulls, and from what they shared with me, believe me ish was as real as it gets…lemme fill you in right quick…

Besides The Savage Skulls & Nomads, there existed other gangs throughout the Bronx such as the Javelins, Black Spades, Black Pearls, Flying Dutchmen, Ghetto Brothers, Seven Immortals, and the Reapers to name a few. To get into one of these gangs it wasn’t as simple as just wearing your colors…it was a membership set in blood and trust. The Javelins for example had one way of initiating a member in which they called an “apache line”. This “apache line” consisted of two rows of twenty guys with bats, chains and other weapons. At the end of the line was a gold genie painted on the floor of the 176th st. and Morris ave. schoolyard where this initiation took place. In order to be a member you had to make it through this row of armed guys and touch the genie at the end. If you were lucky enough to make it to the end you then received your colors which was a vest with your gangs named embroidered on the back.

This style of wearing your colors looks like it derived from biker gangs. This “style” was really evident in The Savage Skulls, who stitched swastikas and Nazi SS patches on their vests. Many who don’t know about the gang culture would think it was a sign of antisemitism but this in itself is wrong. The reason gangs like the Savage skulls wore swastikas and Nazi symbols was because it is a sign of rebellion against the powers that be.

I hope you enjoy this film and find it to be a slice of New York’s rich and dark history. I also believe that this film is a huge part of what would later become hip hop culture. It should be celebrated in the way Style Wars and Wild Style are because it is in this environment where Hip Hop was truly formed.

Oh, and if you want the other parts of the film, go to dude’s you tube profile to view the rest here

Peace & Love….Woof The Phonocator