IN GOWANUS, AMONGST COCAINE FIENDS (1914)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** Cocaine abuse truly became a “thing” in the United States starting in the early 20th century. Although it existed here earlier than that, it wasn’t until the early 1900s that states began to prick up their ears to the threat and counter its effects on society. In 1910, President William Taft declared the white powder “Public Enemy No. 1,” and in 1914, where our story begins, Congress passed the Harrison act, which tightly regulated the distribution and sale of cocaine. That year, an unassuming brownstone in the less-than-glitzy Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn became the target, first, of wealthy cocaine users and then, second, the police. SAY WEALTHY FOLK GOT COCAINE HERE “Detectives Asip and Dowd, of the Bergen street station, made a raid at the two-story and basement brownstone house at 666 Degraw street late yesterday afternoon,” noted the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, “and arrested a man and a woman for selling and dealing in cocaine, heroin and opium. “The attention of the police had been called to the place by some neighbors. The frequent presence of automobiles, carriages and other vehicular equipment of well-to-do persons at the front door aroused suspicion. “Detectives Asip and Dowd got a tip which led them to believe that the occupants of the house were dealing […]
THE KING OF SKATS IN SARATOGA PARK (1904)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** Starting around 1904-1905, Saratoga Park began to develop a sinister reputation, as young men began using it for the purposes of selling illegal narcotics, assaulting park-goers, and simply loafing about and insulting anyone who walked into the park. This was a new phenomenon to the people of the district who did not understand how or why the neighborhood children had begun to disrespect their elders in such a way. One article of the time blamed the parents as much as the boys. They interpreted the occurences as the acts of disaffected sons of respectable families who had little to do with their time, were not forced to take responsibility for their actions, and could not be held chargeable by the police because their parents, who were influential, did not want their sons’ names in the papers: “These young men were night hawks. Sons of respectable, but indulgent, parents, they did about as they liked. They worked always in small groups and gloried in the thought that they could lick any cop which came their way. The groups would assemble on some street corner near the park and use insulting language to girls and women passing.” An indication of what was to come played out in the newspapers between 1905 and 1909, […]
