NEW YORKSTREET GANGS

 

Overview

During our many investigatons we have had  occassion to document graffiti commonly used by some street gangs operating within the confines of New York City.  We refer to this graffiti as "gang tags or tagging up."  Some street gangs documented here claim or "represent" affiliation to larger street gang nations by utilizing symbols within their graffiti also used by the larger gang nation's.  These symbols are commonly known as gang identifiers.  Street gang nations operate nationally as loose knit alliances of smaller gangs which for the most part operate independant of one another. The major gang nations are People Nation, Folk Nation, Bloods, Crip, La Gran Laraza and La Gran Familia.  There are also street gangs operating in New York City which claim no affiliation to the major gang nations and do not utilize the major gang nation's symbols within their graffiti.  These street gangs appear to operate as independant criminal organizations, street crews or block crews, some even claiming their own gang nations or gang families. Some New York City street gangs that do not claim affiliation to the major gang nations are Neta, KBC a.k.a. Killa Bronx Committee  (recently broken up by the combined efforts of the N.Y.P.D. and B.A.T.F.) and Dominican Power to name a few.  These independant operators do not include traditional oranized crime elements or outlaw motor cycle gangs. The purpose of our posting this graffiti is not to promote the street gangs or thier activities but rather to make the public aware of which street gangs might be operating in their communities. 

Click on the links below to view New York Street Gang Graffiti

Bloods & Crips

Latin King & Vicelords

La Primera & Kent

Mexican Street Gangs

MS 13 (Mara Salvatrucha)