[OOC] 1920's Gangsters

[Sterling]

Here we are! Here is the OOC. Please post up ideas, questions, answers, conversations. This is the place. Also please place your Char sheet in here until it's approved.

[Gunther]

"The Corrupt Cop"...

Benny La Guardia

Name: Benedetto Giovanni La Guardia "Benny" or "Johnny"
Age: 31
Description/Appearance: Benny La Guardia stands 5'6" tall and weighs 155 Lbs. He has short cropped black hair, brown eyes and a distinctive barrel chest along with an oversized nose, often referred to as his "Shnoz". He has dark bushy eyebrows and very Italian features. Benny is in decent shape, can be seen with a black eye or some other such injury as a result of fighting. He enjoys boxing.
Occupation: Police Officer, NYPD
Affiliation: Receives a regular stipend from The Scarpello Family in order to look the other way.
Skills:

- Small unit tactics from time spent in the Infantry (US Army)
- How to operate rifle (M1903 Springfield) and machine gun (Chauchat 1915 MG)
- .38 cal Revolver (NYPD)
- Criminal Law
- Constitutional Law
- Boxing

History: Benedetto Giovanni Laguardia grew up in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, what is commonly referred to today as "Little Italy", spending much of his youth on the ball fields playing baseball with the neighborhood boys. He received his secondary education at the New Utrecht Technical School where the students mockingly stated, "you have to be NUTS to go to New Utrecht Technical School." The school is located on 80th Street in Brooklyn.

Benny's cousin Fiorello Henry La Guardia was quite active in student government at New Utrecht School. The older cousin was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1917, but his term of office was interrupted during the Great War. While Fiorella went off to Caproni CA.5 bombers with the Army Air Service in Italy, Benedetto was drafted into the 308th Infantry Regiment of the 77th Infantry Division, a unit made up primarily of draftees from New York City.

The 308th acquired some notoriety while serving in the Argonne Forest in early October, 1918. Under the command of Major Charles Whittlesey, a Harvard Law Graduate, who practiced law in NYC. Benny's company along with five other companies of the 308th found them stranded behind enemy lines and fought a last stand battle for six days in the French forest. Their courage and determination earned them the moniker of "The Lost Battalion".

In 1920, Benny's cousin Fiorello was appointed as President of the New York City Board of Alderman. With an influential cousin and his status as a veteran and member of the famed, Lost Battalion, Benny found himself employment with the New York Police Department. He enjoyed his work on the Police Department and saw no problem in accepting free gifts from an appreciative constituent.

Benny earned a reputation as a scrapper, someone who dropped the gloves, using his fists to dole out punishments for misdemeanors instead of dragging the culprit before the courts. For felonies, he felt obligated to make an arrest. As time wore on, the act of taking "gifts" became lucrative for Officer La Guardia and he soon found himself making out pretty well economically by avoiding certain areas if the price was right.

In the world of syndicated crime, Benny was considered to be on certain gang's payroll, receiving a regular stipend for turning a blind eye or keeping other police officers away. There were more than a handful of NYPD officers in the 1920s who found additional income in this manner.

Benny's cousin, Fiorello was re-elected to the House of Representatives in 1923 and would later go on to be elected Mayor of New York City in the 1934. North Beach Airport in East Emhurst near the confluence of the East River and Flushing Bay was named after Mayor LaGuardia, Benny's famous relative in 1953.

[Sterling]

@Gunther As soon as we decide Gangs and you can in put that info in the according areas I'll be glad to move this over to the Char page. Thanks for getting this to me so qucikly

[HeySeuss]

Hello,

I realize I came out of nowhere, but I wanted to put in a character.

Little Tommy

Name: Tommaso "Little Tommy" Provenzano
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Ethnicity/Nationality: Italian, illegally emigrated to the US from Palermo region of Sicily.
Occupation: Delivery driver.
Physical Description:

Under average height and stocky, Tommy manages to blend in, especially in an Italian neighborhood. He has an aquiline, very Moorish look to him; olive skin and obsidian eyes, hair combed carefully down and back. He has scars and calluses on his hands from his work. He isn't expensively dressed. He's not making that much.

Skillset:

Tommy is a surprisingly good driver and mechanic. He was apprenticed to a butcher at one point and worked kitchens to make ends meet. Mostly, he's used to hard labor and doesn't complain about having to do work, and he's added some muscle from somewhat decent nutrition in the US. Speaks perfect Italian, working on his English so it doesn't stand out as much. He's got a little work to do, but it's mostly the accent now.

History:

Tommaso's father, Paul, was killed when he was little in a typically Sicilian way; vendetta. His mother didn't last long past that either. Rather than stay to die by the hands of the men that Paul had a vendetta with (as generational revenge is a Sicilian thing), Tommy and his brother Peter managed to jump onto a freighter and work their way across. When they got to New York, they jumped right off. Tommy worked a number of odd jobs all his life alongside Pete until Pete passed from the influenza outbreak of 1918. Then it was all Tommy. He had to live on his own in Brooklyn, sometimes without an actual place to live. He knew how to keep his mouth shut and his head down.

In the course of a number of odd jobs dishwashing and cooking, he became a butcher's apprentice in Bensonhurst and then a delivery driver, working for a meat packing plant, delivering to and from the plant to the Port and points in between. In the course of delivery driving, he took money under the table to deliver other things. It was a way to make sure that he had a place to live and enough food to eat.

One day, a couple of guys came to try and force Tommy to give up the goods. Tommy turned down their offer to take a small cut of the robbery. They implied that he needed to just play along or get hurt and it wasn't his problem is his boss lost some product; just the way of things. He knew that if he took that money, he'd lose the job and possibly his life -- that was the price of betrayal where he came from.

Instead of waiting for them to come for him with guns, he set up a meeting with both men to 'plan.' He took them both out with a lupara when they were in an elevator on their way to the meeting. There weren't any witnesses. The murders of Luciano Morello and Santino Navarro were part of a larger gang war, and the NYPD took interest. He didn't talk when the cops arrested him and there just wasn't any real evidence. He'd been too efficient in getting rid of the gun and establishing an alibi (because delivery drivers are seen a lot). A good lawyer turned up from nowhere, a Jew from Crown Heights that knew every move.

After that arrest, Little Tommy Provenzano had a reputation, or at least the start of one. He just went back to work and kept his head down. But, by then, he caught some people's attention.

And because nostalgia

Note the part where Clemenza takes a lupara to the guys in the elevator; you will see this material again.

[Gunther]

There there is, "Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

[HeySeuss]

'I left it noisy to scare away any pain in da ass bystanders...'

[Plank Sinatra]

Should have my profile up tonight.

[Blubaron45]

Making my char right now. Just have a question. What year does this take place exactly? I assume some few years after prohibition. Also, can we make more than one character? I'm contemplating also adding a Russian character in the mix.

[Sterling]

@Blubaron45 I am happy for you to make as many characters as you can keep up with, write regularly and really develop. I'd be really glad to see a Russian or any other. This does not need to be just Italians. :)

I believe the year should be 1922.

[HeySeuss]

@Blubaron45 I am happy for you to make as many characters as you can keep up with, write regularly and really develop. I'd be really glad to see a Russian or any other. This does not need to be just Italians. :)

I believe the year should be 1922.

@Sterling

Yeah, there were Jewish (many of them Russian Jews) gangsters as well, and I was thinking of playing one but Italian (well, Sicilian) felt right when I started writing. Between Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel and Dutch Schultz, there's lots to work with there...though of the three, Dutch Schultz is definitely the lesser.

Basically, the Italians survived a lot longer and were more prosperous than the other gangs, mostly due to organization and omerta.

[Blubaron45]

Jews, huh? I was also thinking of that. Maybe a character could be part of some Ashkenazi organization that originated from Poland/East Europe. Greeks and Irish also had their own organized groups so maybe a character associated with one of those groups could also be a good idea.

[Wade Wilson]

I could do a Polish gangster.

[HeySeuss]

Jews, huh? I was also thinking of that. Maybe a character could be part of some Ashkenazi organization that originated from Poland/East Europe. Greeks and Irish also had their own organized groups so maybe a character associated with one of those groups could also be a good idea.

@Blubaron45

Murder Inc.

Yeah, there were some really infamous New York City Jewish gangsters. Meyer Lansky kept on steaming for a good long time. Love the story about Lansky and associates stepping out of the usual role to make a meeting of the German-American Bund piss their lederhosen in the 1930's. That's some hilarious stuff.

[Sterling]

OKay Hi All!

I'm probably going to firm things up this afternoon after work. So if you have any votes for Gang names, or factions, or so on and so forth now is the time to let me know.

Obviously one of the Gangs is primarily Italian, I think mine will be Irish. That is not to say that there cannot be Polish, Jewish or anything else out there, just that at this is exact moment I'm thinking those two will be the big ones.

Does anyone want to play a high ranking member? Perhaps even a leader?

If so please PM me so we can work out those details.

I'm thinking the Irish Gang will be led by 3 brothers so right there that is 3 high up positions available. All that I ask for anyone really high ranking to do is run major moves/changes by me first before posting them up publicly and if something isn't quite right be willing to edit .

@Wade Wilson@HeySeuss@Blubaron45@Plank Sinatra@Gunther

[HeySeuss]

OKay Hi All!

I'm probably going to firm things up this afternoon after work. So if you have any votes for Gang names, or factions, or so on and so forth now is the time to let me know.

Obviously one of the Gangs is primarily Italian, I think mine will be Irish. That is not to say that there cannot be Polish, Jewish or anything else out there, just that at this is exact moment I'm thinking those two will be the big ones.

Does anyone want to play a high ranking member? Perhaps even a leader?

If so please PM me so we can work out those details.

I'm thinking the Irish Gang will be led by 3 brothers so right there that is 3 high up positions available. All that I ask for anyone really high ranking to do is run major moves/changes by me first before posting them up publicly and if something isn't quite right be willing to edit .

@Sterling

If we're doing NYC, there's black gangs too. The Harlem Numbers racket was extremely lucrative and well-organized. Historically, Bumpy Johnson cut a deal with Lucky Luciano, which was pretty landmark since it was the first time a black gangster managed to cut a deal with an Italian crime family. This was later in the Prohibition, around the time that Lucky Luciano (who had backing from Meyer Lansky among others) managed to organize the Commission, which was more corporate and less feudal than the old Sicilian mob model. Things were kept that worked, but things that didn't got thrown out.

Anyway, that's getting ahead of the game. 1922 is basically all out war because of how much money Prohibition is making people, allowing greater access to guns and more reasons to use them.

So beyond that tl:dr, my character is Sicilian, but that doesn't mean his employers are. But as a Sicilian, he's eligible to be made if it ever came to that.

[Jotunn Draugr]

Hey guys! Didn't notice that the OOC was up already!

[Sovi3t]

Is it possible that I can make a crime Family/A crew that forms into a crime family?

[Orlan]

I wonder how a rat for hire would fare in the prohibition era. An indvidual with the information policemen and criminals alike would like.

[Jotunn Draugr]

Wait, we're still making characters up, right? Not actual historical figures?
... Because mine's made-up, but based on a couple different people.

"The Liquor Man"...

"Hard-Stuff" McFinnegan

Name: James-William "Hard Stuff" McFinnegan; "Jimmy" to his friends, "Hard-Stuff", to his business associates

Age: 29

Description/Appearance:
Jimmy is a slightly smaller man, standing 5'7" in height, and is fairly slim in build. He's perpetually scruffy, sporting an unkempt, aged five-o'clock shadow. His hair is wavy, and messily slicked backward, more to keep it out of his face than to look good. His hair is darker in colour, but his eyes shine bright blue.
His hands are calloused and bony, and well suited for underground boxing. He wears a suit that was very expensive at one time, but is now well-worn and fraying at the seams.

Occupation: Alcohol Smuggler

Affiliation: He's loosely affiliated with (TBD Irish Gang), and cuts them a discount on his product, but trades openly with whoever's willing to pay enough.

Skills:

- Lockpicking
- Fluent in both English and Irish Gaelic
- Swimming
- Sailing
- Knife-Fighting
- Boxing

History:
McFinnegan was born in New York, to two Irish immigrants. He had a sister and two brothers. His father founded a successful ship-construction company out of New York, and he and his siblings worked together in the company. When his father was killed during a mugging, Jimmy became the new head of the company. During prohibition, however, the McFinnegan family found their business dwindling, as highways began replacing ships as the main mode of goods-transport.
Facing poverty, Jimmy convinced his siblings to move to Canada, where prohibition wasn't in effect. Jimmy himself stayed in New York, and used his siblings to establish a liquor smuggling business along the Atlantic coast. It started out small, with his siblings buying whiskey and beer, and sending it to him to resell at a premium. Within a couple years, they had saved up enough to start their own brewery in Newfoundland, and began mass-distributing "Hard-Stuff McFinnegan's Canadian Whiskey" and "McFinnegan Fine Ale" all across the West Coast.
Of course, as his business grew, so did his reputation. Soon enough, McFinnegan found himself paying off several police stations, and buying protection from various regional gangs. He soon found it more cost-effective to turn himself into a middle-man, selling only to established gangs, who would then deal with police and other competition for him.
In no time at all, Jimmy "Hard-Stuff" McFinnegan found himself tied up with (TBD Irish Gang) and (TBD non-Irish Gang)

[Jotunn Draugr]

OKay Hi All!

I'm probably going to firm things up this afternoon after work. So if you have any votes for Gang names, or factions, or so on and so forth now is the time to let me know.

Obviously one of the Gangs is primarily Italian, I think mine will be Irish. That is not to say that there cannot be Polish, Jewish or anything else out there, just that at this is exact moment I'm thinking those two will be the big ones.

Does anyone want to play a high ranking member? Perhaps even a leader?

If so please PM me so we can work out those details.

I'm thinking the Irish Gang will be led by 3 brothers so right there that is 3 high up positions available. All that I ask for anyone really high ranking to do is run major moves/changes by me first before posting them up publicly and if something isn't quite right be willing to edit .

@Wade Wilson@HeySeuss@Blubaron45@Plank Sinatra@Gunther

@Sterling

Heck yes! I'd be happy to make some edits to my character, to get him as one of the heads of this gang, if that's possible. Maybe it could be two brothers and a cousin, so he could keep the name and whatnot?