Ogletree, Kevin, 44–45
“older/lighters,” 228
Old-Timer’s Day, 165–167
180 Crew, 94
Oomz (player)
ambitions, 279
anger and, 281
ankle injury, 257
at annual banquet, 319
in a bad mood, 275–278
Big Oomz and, 145, 207, 301
with the Brooklyn Saints, 143–144
Donnie and, 282–283
at Erasmus Hall High School, 318
father at first game, 213
father’s absence and, 56–59, 73, 316
football aspirations, 4, 317–318
as a “football player,” 74
in Fort Greene charter school, 145–146, 147
future for, 159–160
as “Javuan,” 144–145
as a leader, 150–151
missing practice, 75
Mott Hall Bridges Academy and, 299–300
moving out of Brownsville, 160, 206, 263
in Park Slope middle school, 317
playing style of, 74
Poppa’s death and, 156–157
at PS 156, 58
quitting Mo Better, 71, 75–76, 99–100, 199
to remain on team, 306
return to Mo Better, 142–143, 144
school and, 262–264, 275
support for, 57
tackling and, 14–17, 175–177, 184–185
as valuable player, 73–75
as veteran on Junior Pee Wee team, 10
Operation Crew Cut, 113
Operation Tidal Wave, 95
oppression in Brownsville, 29
Oscar (coach), 134, 240, 285–286
overtime rules, 271
Pappy Mason’s gang, 90
Park Slope, Brooklyn, 171
partying, 280
P. Diddy (Sean Combs), 46, 47–48
Pee Wee team
confidence of, 226
first day of hitting, 175–179, 182–185
new talent on, 148–149
pensions, 266, 267–268
Peterson, Adrian, 246
Pitkin Avenue, 6, 103, 169, 172
Pittsburgh, University of, 36
playgrounds, 28
police
anti-gang task force, 90
at Betsy Head Park, 110, 114
harassment, 167, 291
presence in Brownsville, 28, 40, 191, 291
racism and, 42
stop-and-frisk and, 110–111
See also New York Police Department (NYPD)
police brutality, 29
killing of Eric Garner, 167
killing of Michael Brown, 178
killing of Richard Ross, 33
policing strategies, 112–114
Poly Prep Country Day School
Hart at, 309
Isaiah and, 101–102, 124, 127, 289–290
Mo Better games at, 55, 56
Mo Better links to, 23, 45, 99
Poppa. See Gravenhise, Nathaniel “Poppa”
Pop Warner Little Scholars
on Betsy Head Park, 55
concussions and, 181–182
decline in participation, 17, 180
Pop Warner Super Bowl, 15–16, 38, 188
Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, 298
Poster, William, 29
poverty, 31, 298–299
Pretty Boy Gang, 94
prison
Big Oomz and, 16, 58, 71, 75–76
Chris’s father in, 36
crack cocaine and, 37
crew violence and, 114
for drug possession, 111–112
fathers in, 153
former players in, 49
mandatory sentences for, 89
statistics, 155
Tyson and, 35
violence in, 266–267
visitation times, 57
wrongful convictions and, 40
Pritchett, Wendell, 30, 32, 34
private investment, 298
property values, 169–170
Prospect Plaza public housing, 32
public housing
crews and, 92–95
deterioration of, 32, 34
as failed experiment, 34
football and, 168
origins in Brownsville, 30–32, 168
pockets of poverty and, 31
shootings at, 114
time to end, 172
trespassing cases at, 111
See also individual buildings
Public School 125, 28
Public School 156, 53, 58
Public School 588, 106
Puerto Rico (player), 21, 241–243
Pup (former player), 20, 21–22, 49, 105, 280
quitting Mo Better, 68, 71, 75–76, 99–100, 199
racism
of housing policies, 42, 227
stop-and-frisk and, 111
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO), 90, 93
Ramsey (Marquis’s father), 186, 246, 247–249
Randolph, Willie, 34
Rap Brown, 34
reading, 195–197
real estate speculators, 169–170
Reddish, Brandon, 45, 217, 249
redevelopment zones, 169–170
redlining, 32
referees, 230, 232, 259, 260, 261, 316
resilience, 23–24
respect, crews and, 91–92
retirement, 267–268
revenge killings, 160, 161
Rice, Ray, 217
RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations), 90, 93
Riis, Jacob, 29
Rikers Island, 16, 62, 86, 95, 218, 266–267
riots, 33, 34
Riverview Correctional Facility, 58
Roberson, Erv, 38, 48
Robert Morris University, 180
Rojas, Angel, 113
role models, 235
rookie cops, 112–113
Roselle, New Jersey, 299
Ross, Richard, 33
Roxanne (Isaiah’s mother), 128–129, 130, 211
rugby, 126–127, 128, 289
running backs, 201
Samuel, Curtis, 39, 217, 315
sanitation department, Brownsville, 34
scholarships. See financial aid
school choice, 52–53
schools in Brownsville, 7, 52
charter schools, 53–54, 145–146, 147, 300
gifted-and-talented schools, 53, 122, 145–146
specialized public high schools, 101
See also specific schools
Schulters, Jamal, 45
segregation in Brownsville, 29–30
Seth Low public housing, 27, 32
Seven Crowns gang, 89
sexual abuse, 101
Shanker, Albert, 33
Shaquille (Isaiah’s brother), 129, 130, 211
Sharpton, Al, 202
Sheepshead Bay High School, 48
Shmurda, Bobby, 132
shootings. See guns and gun violence
Smoove Gang, 94
social media, crews and, 86, 93, 96, 114, 146
social pressures, 57–58, 86, 104, 146–147, 157–158
social services, cuts to, 34
South Ozone Park, Queens, 63
South Shore High School, 36
Specialized High School Admissions Test, 101
specialized public high schools, 101
sports
in Brownsville, 168
importance of, 212
Stack Money Goons, 113
standardized test scores, 52, 54, 122, 123
Stephenson, Lance, 173
stop-and-frisk, 110–111, 124–125
strikes, 33
student-to-teacher ratios, 54
subsidized housing. See public housing
suburban neighborhoods, poverty in, 298–299
Sunset Park, Brooklyn, 171
Swinson, Richard, 37
Sy
lla, Issa, 127
tackling, 13–15, 175–179, 184–185, 258
Tapscott public housing, 32
Tarell (player), 106–107, 108, 254–255, 286–287, 312
Tasha (Oomz’s mother), 57–58, 262–263
teachers, 52
teachers’ unions, 33
Teaneck, New Jersey, 199–203
tenements, 29, 30–31
Tilden public housing, 27, 32, 89, 168
Time Out (player), 61, 148
TJ (Brownsville boy), 157–158
Tottenville High School, 39
trespassing at housing projects, 111
Trump, Donald, 32
Turner, Beverly, 161
Twain Family, 113–114
1270 Gangbangers, 92
Twitter, crews and, 96
Tyson, Mike, 35–36
unemployment rates, 297
United States Department of Justice, 90
United States Senate Judiciary Committee, 90
upward mobility, 10, 63, 89, 266
urban, 41
Urraca, Nelson, 37–38
Vance, Cy, Jr., 93
Van Dyke I & II public housing, 27, 32
Vick (coach). See Davis, Vick
violence
Brownsville’s reputation for, 29
at the Castle, 107
crack cocaine and, 37
crews and, 9–10, 113, 146
drug dealing and, 91
exposure to, 21
football and, 151, 212, 258
incidences of, 171
kingpins and, 89
in prisons, 266–267
social service cuts and, 34
See also abuse; guns and gun violence
violence, domestic, 217–218
“waistline parties,” 168
Walker, Latrice, 217
War on Drugs, 40, 146
Warriors football program, 190
Washington, Pearl, 34
Wave Gang, 9–10, 94–95
weight limits, 194, 206–207, 228
welfare, Vick and, 77, 81, 241
West, Kanye, 269
White, John, 34
white flight, 32, 42, 227, 299
reversal of, 41, 169, 170
Williams, Cobe, 91
Williams, Fly, 35
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 170, 171
Woodson public housing, 32
WorldStar, crews and, 96
Xavier High School, 127, 289–290
YouTube, crews and, 86, 96
PublicAffairs is a publishing house founded in 1997. It is a tribute to the standards, values, and flair of three persons who have served as mentors to countless reporters, writers, editors, and book people of all kinds, including me.
I.F. STONE, proprietor of I. F. Stone’s Weekly, combined a commitment to the First Amendment with entrepreneurial zeal and reporting skill and became one of the great independent journalists in American history. At the age of eighty, Izzy published The Trial of Socrates, which was a national bestseller. He wrote the book after he taught himself ancient Greek.
BENJAMIN C. BRADLEE was for nearly thirty years the charismatic editorial leader of The Washington Post. It was Ben who gave the Post the range and courage to pursue such historic issues as Watergate. He supported his reporters with a tenacity that made them fearless and it is no accident that so many became authors of influential, best-selling books.
ROBERT L. BERNSTEIN, the chief executive of Random House for more than a quarter century, guided one of the nation’s premier publishing houses. Bob was personally responsible for many books of political dissent and argument that challenged tyranny around the globe. He is also the founder and longtime chair of Human Rights Watch, one of the most respected human rights organizations in the world.
For fifty years, the banner of Public Affairs Press was carried by its owner Morris B. Schnapper, who published Gandhi, Nasser, Toynbee, Truman, and about 1,500 other authors. In 1983, Schnapper was described by The Washington Post as “a redoubtable gadfly.” His legacy will endure in the books to come.
Peter Osnos, Founder
Never Ran, Never Will Page 37