Zorro Gang

There were lots of gangs in East New York and Brownsville and all over Brooklyn. There was New Lots Boys (some of whom were portrayed in Goodfellas),  El-Tones, Roman Lords, Chaplins, Rockaway and Fulton, S&V, ClevelandStreetBoys, BarbeyStreetBoys, Ave. L Boys, the Baldies, El Quintos, Ellery St. Bops, Pigtown Boys, Years earlier there was the Amboy Dukes from Brownsville (they made a movie about them called City across the River with Tony Curtiss), Anyway, I'm going to talk about a  gang that was only around on Halloween. They only roamed the area around the projects and it was in 1959-61. They were called the Zorros.  The members were young, about 11-14 years old.  Some were tough, some werent, but we had weapons, Simple Halloween weapons. In East New York on Halloween the candy store sold pastel chalk. This Chalk was about an inch in diameter about  5 inches long came in about  8 colors, and cost a nickel. We  would  get long socks and put some chalk in it , tie the end in a knot, and stomp on it to crush the chalk. We would then  hit people with it, leaving marks on there clothes and it would sting. If you didnt crush it well, there would be chunks, if you hit someone on the head , OUCH that would hurt.  Did I mention, I was a member of the Zorros.  So Halloween 1959, we all met, every member had his sock full, and a spare.  The leaders Freddie and Tommy put Z's with the chalk on every members back. There was a scare in the neighborhood at that time that the Baldies were coming. The Baldies would run around with  scissors and cut peoples hair off.  I never really knew if that was for real or just a scarey rumor, like the bogeyman or somehting  because I never saw a Baldie. Anyway we ignored the scare, and set out to "bop" some  people with our socks.  There were about 30 of us in the Zorros.  We needed to find a place with alot of people so we'd have alot of action. So , what better place than the  Hebrew school at the Bnai Israel synagogue on Hendrix St.  It wasn't an anti-semetic attack it was just  the perfect place to attack.  So we set off on our raid.  The early class let out, we surrounded them , kinda like how the Apaches did it in the cowboy movies, we were boppin away, then we let up about  15 minutes later. and ran away, because the teachers were coming outside and yelling at us and threatening to call the cops.  So  an hour goes by and its around 5PM.  Well wouldnt ya know it, I had Hebrew class at 5PM, right at the scene of the crime. So i go to class, and  I walk in and go to my seat. Well the big Z on my back  stood out like a neon sign. The rabbi came over and grabbed me by the ear, threw me against the wall and was scolding me like crazy. I said , i dont know what he was talking about. He pointed to my Z, i said  " oh that". some kids did that to me. Well he was not stupid, and suspended me from Hebrew School until my parents came in to see him. My parents weren't thrilled with my extracurricular activities. Needless to say, it was a memorable Halloween