Bumpy Johnson

Not many threads on the way Bumpy ran Harlem as such

1. How much money did he make from the neighborhood?
2. How much money would he kick up to guys like Tony Salerno?
3. Who was in his 'circle' as such?

Bumpy was the first real black gangster in american history. Ran Harlem for nearly 40 years.

1. Not sure exactly. I've read that he was the first black gangster to reach millionaire status. Dont quote me but ithought i seen 60k per month from his numbers operations not including his other activities.

2. This is up for debate. Ive read that he didnt kick up anything then others said he kicked up a small percentages so idk.

3. His crew included Nat pettigrew, Junie Byrd, Finley Hoskins, Steve Mitchell, Obidah, Georgie Ross, Hoss Cartraight, 6-8. Bub Hewlett was his associate. Bumpy worked for Madam St Clair before branching out on his own

I believe I've read somewhere that he also used to push narcotics for the family.

At first he brokered and financed the heroin trade in Harlem when Lucky started to ship it into Harlem. Italians didnt have the connects and didnt want to be seen in west harlem so they reached out to bumpy to find the dealers. And he got a kickback from dealers. But he was directl involved in the cocaine business in the 60's

In the american gangster movie frank Lucas that was his protegè said that bumpy was rich but not rich as a white.
Is right antsamuel the italians give the heroin to bumpy and he sell it in Harlem.

Yea Bumpy was the middle man kinda like a temp service hooks up a employer with employees then the temp service gets a cut of your check. Not the greatest example but you get my point

Bumpy knew lucky luciano, frank costello, albert anastasia and fat tony. He was respected among the mob. In fact you maybe reach as far as to say lucky n bumpy were friends. Pretty good accomplishment considering race relations in the 30-60's

well bumpy could never have operated in Chicago, giancana killed off all the black guys running numbers, teddy roe, and ran eddie jones out of the country, no kickback from the outfit, they just murdered them, and took the numbers for them selves.

Ed Jones & the Chicago Policy King's are equally impressive during the same time frame and Bronzeville's Policy Racket was more lucrative than Harlem's.

Also both cities mob families took a control through half or latter 50s but soon release it by the next decade.

Bumpy's story still fascinating from the south to NYC.

Uhm, it took years for Giancana to accomplish what he did with the blacks and their numbers policy. For one he was a snake, and got his real start with Eddie Jones, learning everything he knew about the policy racket from him. In the case of Teddy Roe, who was half-Italian himself, it wasn't that easy. Giancana tried I believe twice previously to kill Teddy Roe, and he failed. At one point, Marshall Caifano's brother was killed by Roe, after they attempted an ambush on Roe and Roe somehow got away and managed to kill Caifano's brother. There was a literal war between Roe & Giancana. And some sources would argue that Roe developed terminal cancer, and simply decided to give up, and let himself be killed. There was a thread I made on Roe on here a while back, and in it I posted numerous pages of a magazine article on Roe, one of the sources of that article I believe was Roe's own personal bodyguard, whom said that on the day Roe was finally killed, he refused any protection, and decided to drive himself that day. I don't know the true story of his death, but whatever the case, as BlackFamily said, those policy racketeer's, Roe in particular, deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as those Italians & Jews they stood up to.

yes, I agree, you seem to know much about the subject, I only know what I read in the book "the don" by William brashler he mentions giancana learning the racket from eddie jones while they were both in prison. while N.Y. bosses did have an arrangement with the black policy kings, Chicago I don't believe ever did because of giancana.

I actually recently read an article, essay, something on black organized crime in Chicago, and it's nothing like you might think.

They were pretty much always part of the organized crime fabric of Chicago, like Chicago was the capital of organized black mobs, but a lot of guys look at this shit eyes wide shut....

@ binnie

Did you see the post from awhile back on the Outfit and the BlackStones?

Has anyone else seen the documentary on Bumpy where he does a favor for Lucky in Prison, and when he got out, I think it was Fat Tony Salerno, might have been Coppola, it was like three Genovese heavyweights that told him the numbers were all theirs. Bumpy mentions the favor he did for Luciano, and when they checked in and confirmed, they let him retain control over, I forget his own numbers operation, somewhere in Harlem, it's been about 6 years since I saw it.

I'll try to find the link.....

Interesting I don't think Johnson did much junk with Fat tony. But I have no way of knowing that for sure Salerno did gambling and construction as far as I know. So maybe he did gambling with him.

I know heroin was sold up in Black Harlem by Italians in Italian Harlem. I had a friend who did that I once went to black Harlem with him. He was a crazy bastard he once beat up a black user in front of a whole group of blacks to show me he could and get away with it because they needed him.

On Frank Lucas I spent a lot of time in Harlem both Italian, Puerto Rican, Jewish and black Harlem I never even heard of him till I saw the movie. I did see Nicky Barnes there a lot well after Johnson was dead.

A big heroin supplier no one knows about was Philip Woo a Chinese kid who lived in Italian Harlem somewhere. He went to catholic school St.Ann's prison my pet name for that school with my brother he was 4 yrs older then I. I went there myself with my best friend in life the movie actor Roastbeef back then we called him Johnny GaGa.

Foots where in Harlem were you from?

A hun 7 and first Ave.

Lucchese turf, 107th street mob.

There was a guy about my father's age who was a furniture mover. I forget his name he would take all the people in my tenement to Jones beach in his moving truck. He also took a now friend of mine Lou with them. I was not friends with Lou back then became friends with him much later in life.

Besides being a furniture mover he collected bodies for disposal killed my Murder inc.

I heard so many stories about the 20s when I was a kid from my uncles Tony, and Joe.

There was one my Daddio told me about Vincent Mad Dog cole the inventor of the drive by.

He wanted to kill someone coming out of his tenement across the street from me with his Thompson sub machine gun with the round clip. He empty his gun and only shot the guy once in the leg before driving away. Bullet holes everywhere except in the guy. Bullet holes hit the second floor, in the street. The gun took cole for a ride.

Another story was Joe Volachie as a kid lived in a barn around the corner from me that was full of water rats from the east river. I guess that is how he became a rat. No one wanted him as a kid. The barn was from a scrape iron place used horse and carts then still used them when I was a hid. I would borrow one of my daddio guns and shoot the rats as a kid.

I ran away from home at 10 to get away from daddio. I came back to try and help mom after someone hung him when I was 15. Crazy mother still loved him even after he would burn here with cigs.

I became a theft to make money as a kid me and my then best friend Donnie.real first name was Donato was my partner. His mother falls for a guy who did not want him either.

In the 60s we had the riots in Harlem. Kids from the neighbor hood try to keep the rioters from getting past Lexington Ave. when they threw down a tenement also around the corner from me they found over 100 bodies in that basement.

no, sorry I missed it, will try to find a link and read it, ty for the info, appreciate it.

If I repeat something... don't whack me. Bumpy worked for Madame Queen. At the time the numbers racket was beginning to become very lucrative. The Dutchman began to encroach on black and latino operations in Harlem. Many folded to his will but the Queen never yielded. Fast forward and the Commission kills Dutch. Once he is dead Lucky sends an emissary with a message for Bumpy that he wants a 'sit down '. At the meeting Lucky tells Bumpy that the mob is taking over Schultz' interest and that Bumpy can remain independent but that he would also be the official Genovese representative in Harlem. He never paid tribute to the Cosa Nostra but I think he also functioned as an outlet for heroin distribution and as a farm team for 'off the record' hits.

I have a lot of info...

I thought Nicky Barnes was really the guy behind the heroin business in Harlem and Frank more or less had an inflated ego.....No?

I dont know about Bumpy Johnsons ending but for me Frank Matthews was the only black guy who was a real top criminal. Frank Lucas snitched, Nicky Barnes snitched,,,,, Alpo , Richie , all them other guys either died before their 30's or ended up in prison, Rayful Edmond is worth mentioning to that guy moved about a ton coke a week thats playing in the Ivy League.



Sorry if i fucked this thread up by changin the subject.

Sounds about right to me & from what little I know on this subject..it's on the nose.

Nicky barnes had a much larger drug trafficking operation than lucas.

There were quite alot of other guys from the 1960s and 70s such as Henry Marzette, Fatman Eddie Jackson, Linwood "Big Boy" Gray, Ike Atkinson and also I would definatley put certain black muslim sects like the philadelphia black mafia.

Baltimore and Detroit definately has what I would call high level kingpins involved in trafficking mass quantities of drugs. Baltimore city paper used to have really great investigative pieces on drug trafficking in bmore, very similar to the gangland column. Heres a guy who was targetted by the feds but was never charged.

http://www.citypaper.com/bcp-cms-1-1602397-migrated-story-cp-20131218-mobs-20131218-story.html

It's good to see blacks taking care of each other in their neighborhoods. That's been happening for ages. Black Lives Matter.

Red Dillard also bought drugs from Luciano. You guys should read about him.

It's no question that Bumpy was a top level criminal
Got his start as a Bodyguard/enforcer for Madaam Queen Stephanie St. Claire, 1920's policy boss.
Went to war in the 30's with DUTCH SCHULTZ (not the main reason but a contributing factor in Arthur's death)
Allegedly assisted with the prison break of inmates from Alcatraz lol
Had an association with the Genovese crime Family through some connect to Lucky Luciano
and had an on-going rivalry with notorious Harlem gangster Red Dillard.

IMO, this is why Frank Lucas, who was a minion for Johnson at one time, wanted to be known as being apart of Johnson's crew. Because it gave him validation to be associated with such a mob/gangster luminary.

Nicky Barnes said when asked who was bigger him or Frank Lucas: "Frank Lucas stood on the street and sold drugs, I never touched the product."

Frank Lucas is a fraud and his attorney has his own legal problems. Lucas was an illiterate drug dealer who took credit for others actions. That’s a fact, the movie is mostly fiction. Entertaining, I’m a big D. Washington fan but not close to reality. A few years before his death, Lucas was charged in a SSN check theft in Newark. Basically street crime stupidly because that’s what he was in reality a street thug who Hollywood made out to be something he wasn’t. Gang leader at best.