Decepticons (gang)

Last updated
Decepticons
Named after Decepticons from the Transformers franchise
Founding location Brooklyn, New York, USA
Years activeLate 1980s – early 1990s
ActivitiesRobberies
Notable members Sticky Fingaz, Fredro Starr, Rock, Sean Price

The Decepticons, or Decepts, were a Brooklyn street gang active from the mid-1980s into the early 1990s. Originating as a bond of "brotherhood" and naming themselves after the main antagonists of the Transformers franchise, the gang soon escalated into one of the most notable gangs of their era, noted for their flash-mob style attacks and muggings.

Contents

History

The Decepticons were a street gang or street organization that thrived from the mid-80s through the early 90s. Their members were teenagers and young adults ranging from the age of 15 to early 20s. The gang was most prominent in Brooklyn, but at their peak the group consisted of multiple branches all across New York City. The original group of Decepticons started in Brooklyn, with three boys from two different schools; this original group was named Megatron, while members from Bushwick had the names Rumble and Cyclonus. [1] One of the schools is believed to be Brooklyn Tech High School. [2] From there, the gang quickly expanded and multiplied in different ways independently of the original group: lacking a formal structure, many of the divisions formed would claim membership without any connection to, or formal approval from, the original group. Such divisions expanded at first through the various neighborhoods of Brooklyn (in particular Clinton Hill, Flatbush, East Flatbush, and Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn), and later into Queens and The Bronx; these offshoots, in contrast to the ones in Brooklyn, consisted primarily of Latinos. [3] [4]

Female members were referred to as Deceptinettes. According to former member Isis Sapp-Grant, membership was earned through violent hazing rituals that varied by gender: male initiates were subjected to the "jump in", where they would be beaten by several chapter members at once, while the women were subjected to being "sex[ed] in" by multiple male members in one night. [5]

Notable members and musical legacy

As their presence began to fade in the early 1990s, a few members transitioned into music: former Decepticons and associates include Sticky Fingaz, Fredro Starr, Rock, Dallas Penn and Sean Price. Artists such as Necro and Jay-Z have made reference to the Decepticons in their music, the latter referring in particular to their flash-mob style muggings: "Wasn't safe on the A-Train, D, G or the F / Decepticons, Lo Life niggas snatch the Polos off your chest." [6]

Methods

Acts of violence would most frequently come in the form of robberies. The gang would converge on the subways and from there hang out on the corners of streets by neighboring schools. If a physically weak looking target approached them, the gang would surround them and swiftly mug them, defining themselves by the particular speed and swiftness of their muggings. [7] The subways themselves, being cramped, crowded and noisy, were a particularly popular target: in a typical Subway mugging the Decepticons would rush into a train car, robbing people of whatever they could before making a swift getaway. [8]

Besides muggings, Decepticon members (primarily the Deceptinettes) would play games such as "One Punch Knockout": seeing if they could knock out a random, unsuspecting person with one punch. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4 (New York City Subway service)</span> New York City Subway service

The 4 Lexington Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the A Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored forest green since it uses the IRT Lexington Avenue Line in Manhattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2 (New York City Subway service)</span> New York City Subway service

The 2 Seventh Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the A Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored red since it uses the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line through most of Manhattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midwood, Brooklyn</span> Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded on the north by the Bay Ridge Branch tracks just above Avenue I and by the Brooklyn College campus of the City University of New York, and on the south by Avenue P and Kings Highway. The eastern border consists of parts of Nostrand Avenue, Flatbush Avenue, and Coney Island Avenue; parts of McDonald Avenue and Ocean Parkway mark the western boundary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatbush</span> Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park to the north, East Flatbush to the east, Midwood to the south, and Kensington and Parkville to the west. The modern neighborhood includes or borders several institutions of note, including Brooklyn College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nevins Street station</span> New York City Subway station in Brooklyn

The Nevins Street station is an express station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Nevins Street, Flatbush Avenue, and Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn, it is served by the 2 and 4 trains at all times, the 3 train all times except late nights, and the 5 train on weekdays only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bergen Street station (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)</span> New York City Subway station in Brooklyn

The Bergen Street station is a local station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line of the New York City Subway, located at Bergen Street and Flatbush Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It is served by the 2 train at all times, the 3 train at all times except late nights, and the 4 train during late nights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Army Plaza station</span> New York City Subway station in Brooklyn

The Grand Army Plaza station is a local station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line of the New York City Subway. It is located in Park Slope, Brooklyn, underneath Flatbush Avenue at its intersection with Plaza Street West and St. Johns Place, on the northwest side of Grand Army Plaza. It is served by the 2 train at all times, the 3 train at all times except late nights, and the 4 train during late nights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winthrop Street station</span> New York City Subway station in Brooklyn

The Winthrop Street station is a station on the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located in Brooklyn at the intersection of Winthrop Street and Nostrand Avenue. The station is served by the 2 train at all times and the 5 train on weekdays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College station</span> New York City Subway station in Brooklyn

The Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College station is the southern terminal station on the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is located at the intersection of Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues in Flatbush, Brooklyn, locally called "The Junction". The station is served by the 2 train at all times and the 5 train on weekdays. It is also the closest subway station to Brooklyn College and Midwood High School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Flatbush, Brooklyn</span> Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the Long Island Rail Road's Bay Ridge Branch to the south; and the neighborhood of Flatbush and New York Avenue to the west. East Flatbush is a predominantly African American neighborhood and has a population of 135,619 as of the 2010 United States census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DeKalb Avenue station (BMT lines)</span> New York City Subway station in Brooklyn

The DeKalb Avenue station is an interchange station on the BMT Brighton Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of DeKalb and Flatbush Avenues in Downtown Brooklyn. It is served by the Q and R trains at all times, the B train on weekdays, and the D and N trains during late nights. During rush hours only, a few W train trips also serve this station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMT Franklin Avenue Line</span> New York City Subway line

The BMT Franklin Avenue Line is a lower capacity rapid transit line of the New York City Subway in Brooklyn, New York, running between Franklin Avenue and Prospect Park. Service is full-time, and provided by the Franklin Avenue Shuttle. The line serves the neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, and allows for easy connections between the Fulton Street Line and the Brighton Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic Terminal</span> Long Island Rail Road station in Brooklyn, New York

The Atlantic Terminal is the westernmost commuter rail terminal on the Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) Atlantic Branch, located at Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. It is the primary terminal for the West Hempstead Branch, and a peak-hour terminal for some trains on the Hempstead Branch, Far Rockaway Branch, and the Babylon Branch; most other service is provided by frequent shuttles to Jamaica station. The terminal is located in the City Terminal Zone, the LIRR's Zone 1, and thus part of the CityTicket program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Five Points Gang</span> 19th-century street gang in New York City

The Five Points Gang was a criminal street gang of primarily Irish-American origins, based in the Five Points of Lower Manhattan, New York City, during the late 19th and early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ditmas Park, Brooklyn</span> United States historic place

Ditmas Park is a historic district in the neighborhood of Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York City. The traditional boundaries of Ditmas Park, including Ditmas Park West, are Ocean Avenue and greater Flatbush to the east, Dorchester Road and the Prospect Park South neighborhood to the north, Coney Island Avenue and the Kensington neighborhood to the west, and Newkirk Avenue to the south. The name Ditmas Park is often used as a shorthand for the several neighborhoods that comprise the larger area of Victorian Flatbush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center station</span> New York City Subway station in Brooklyn

The Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center station is a New York City Subway station complex shared by the BMT Fourth Avenue Line, the BMT Brighton Line and the IRT Eastern Parkway Line. Named after Atlantic Avenue and the Barclays Center arena, it is located at Fourth and Flatbush Avenues' intersections with Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The complex is served by the 2, 4, D, N, Q and R trains at all times; the 3 train at all times except late nights; the 5 and B trains on weekdays during the day; and a few rush-hour W trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastman Gang</span> New York based organized crime group

The Eastman Gang was the last of New York's street gangs which dominated the city's underworld during the late 1890s until the early 1910s. Along with the Five Points Gang under Italian-American Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli, best known as Paul Kelly, the Eastman gang succeeded the long dominant Whyos as the first non-Irish street gang to gain prominence in the underworld during the 1890s. Its rise marked the beginning of a forty to fifty-year period of strong Jewish-American influence within organized crime in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utica Avenue</span> Avenue in Brooklyn, New York

Utica Avenue is a major avenue in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States. It is one of several named for the city of Utica in Upstate New York. It runs north–south and occupies the position of East 50th Street in the Brooklyn street grid, with East 49th Street to its west and East 51st Street to its east for most of its path. The south end of Utica Avenue is at Flatbush Avenue; its north end is at Fulton Street, beyond which it is continued by Malcolm X Boulevard in Bedford–Stuyvesant. Malcolm X Boulevard continues to Broadway, where it terminates on Broadway between Lawton Street and Hart Street.

The IRT Eastern Parkway Line is one of the lines of the A Division of the New York City Subway. Built for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), it stretches from Downtown Brooklyn south along Flatbush Avenue and east along Eastern Parkway to Crown Heights. After passing Utica Avenue, the line rises onto an elevated structure and becomes the New Lots Line to the end at New Lots Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn. The west end of the Eastern Parkway Line is at the Joralemon Street Tunnel under the East River.

Shanduke McPhatter is a community leader based in Brooklyn, New York City. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Gangstas Making Astronomical Community Change (GMACC), a non-profit organization that focuses on gun violence prevention and social justice issues. He is a reformed Bloods gang leader.

References

  1. ↑ "The Decepticons: History Of The Legendary NY Street Gang By General Steele - DoggieDiamondsTV". DoggieDiamondsTV. 2016-07-13. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  2. ↑ http://www.nycmagicgarden.com/September03_invite.htm
  3. ↑ "The Decepticons: Gangs Of New York (Full Interview) - I AM NOT A RAPPER". I AM NOT A RAPPER. 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  4. ↑ Decepticons. Legendary Brooklyn Street Gang, 2007-09-11, retrieved 2018-10-09
  5. ↑ "ONE-WOMAN GANGBUSTER – FORMER TEEN TERROR TRYING TO STEER KIDS AWAY FROM CRIME". New York Post. 2000-08-17. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  6. ↑ JAY-Z (Ft. MC Lyte) – BK Anthem , retrieved 2018-10-09
  7. ↑ Terry, Don (March 1989). "A Gang Gives a Name to Students' Fear: Decepticons". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  8. ↑ https://nypost.com/2000/08/17/one-woman-gangbuster-former-teen-terror-trying-to-steer-kids-away-from-crime/
  9. ↑ https://nypost.com/2000/08/17/one-woman-gangbuster-former-teen-terror-trying-to-steer-kids-away-from-crime/
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.