The Making of Scarface: Park Slope and the Early Days of Al Capone
The Brooklyn Roots of America’s Most Infamous Gangster
Nick Bello is a writer and photographer based in Park Slope. He loves to capture local scenery as well as research local history. Follow him on Instagram @nbello8 or on substack at:
How is Park Slope, known now for its charming brownstones and close proximity to one of the largest parks in NYC, responsible for producing one of the notorious criminals in American History? Many studies have been conducted to figure out what factors rely on determining whether or not someone will be a criminal. A few have concluded that if your family has criminals, then the statistical likelihood of you being a criminal is high. Another major factor is psychological makeup, with people who have narcissistic and psychopathic personality traits being the main culprits for crimes. A third factor is environment, where a theory called the Chicago Schools Theory, points to the neighborhood you grew up in, and the social disorganization you grew up in, as a factor in becoming a criminal.
The Early Days
Born Alphonse Gabriele Capone to Teresa and Gabriele Capone, Italian immigrants who came to New York from Sicily just six years before, Capone spent his early years on Navy Street near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Early on he joined a local youth gang called the Boys of Navy Street. When Capone was 8 years old, he and the gang went out one night to punish a group of Irish men who had been harassing Italian women. The gang of boys marched through the streets with Capone donning a washtub strapped to his chest that he used as a drum and beat a song that the boys chanted to. When Capone was 11, the family would eventually make the move to Park Slope, a once upper middle class neighborhood that was now seeing a heavy influx of working class Italian families like the Capone’s. The Capone’s lived in multiple residencies on Garfield Place, the first being 38 Garfield Place before eventually settling at 21 Garfield Place. While attending P.S. 133 on Butler Street and 4th Ave, Capone hit a teacher during a classroom brawl and was promptly expelled. Capone was a smart student but he had problems with rules, leading him to eventually quit school after this incident. This is where Capone would start his involvement in the Mafia world, joining small gangs like the Junior Forty Thieves, the Bowery Boys and the Brooklyn Rippers.
With nothing to do now, Capone resorted to hanging out at various neighborhood joints. In Frank DiMatteo and Michael Benson’s recent book, Red Hook: Brooklyn Mafia Ground Zero, it is said that Capone hung out at a place called Pop’s Poolroom and when the place was eventually sold many years later, someone came in and bought the pool table that Capone played on. Another club Capone reportedly hung out at was the Association Club on Union Street and 4th Ave on the second floor of where Brownstone Bagels currently is. This is where young Capone would get his start in New York’s underworld as the club was owned by Johnny “The Fox” Torrio, a revered gangster who also mentored another infamous Brooklyn gangster named Frankie Ioele, or Frankie Yale as he became known as since his last name Ioele in Italian sounded similar to Yale.
Scarface Gets His Scars
