I wanted to state more on the difference activity wise. You have to remember history at play as well. Mainly East Coast & Midwest crime families were substantial in the labor racketeering before these current street gangs except a very few. Like SoCalGangs mentioned discrimination played a role in it as well. As time went by and feds applied more crackdowns to LCN related Unions , street gangs were expanding out through various means. Chicago having such a unique underworld is the closer case of a street gang related union in the process via Mickey Cogwell aka Chief Mick ( Mickey Cobras). By the time Crips/Bloods/Latin Kings/GDs/BPS made they're presence in NYC it's too late to be involved in that racket due to the years of LCN involvement. Presently the only unions I could see being involved with street gangs are predominantly minority base ones.