The Chicago Way - The Al Capone Story Part I, Born in Red House Brooklyn

On November 4, 2008, America changed. On that day, the Chicago Machine went national with the election of Barak Obama to the Presidency of the United States. While the media largely failed to examine the implications of this, the Chicago Way style corruption of our core institutions once almost ripped the very fabric of our society apart.

This is a multipart series devoted to examining the adoption of Chicago style power practices nationally. While the Chicago Way is most closely associated with politics, it actually involves the corruption of multiple institutions. The Al Capone story focuses on the corruption of the American business model by one of the foremost practitioners of this method. Along the way, we will also take the opportunity to explore other aspects of machine style corruption and its influence on American life. This is the first post in this series

While looking into the matter, I had the same question about Red Hook so I spent a little time making sure that I got it right.

I am glad the song did not mention Red Hook because Al Capone did not grow up there and I wanted to use the red (brick) house imagery..

Interestingly enough, Brooklynites cannot even seem to agree on their own terminology.

A lot of work was put in confirming that the first Capone house was in the Vinegar Hill section of Brooklyn.

Due to the BQE (Brooklyn Queens Expressway) and numerous housing projects that have bisected, blighted the area. Locals have started calling it "Farragut" after the housing project in the neighborhood. Others seem to call it Fort Greene.

Researching the topic, I came across this humorous thread in the Brooklyn Paper:

Murder-suicide in Vinegar Hill!

Here are some excerpts:

Fourth Estate from DUMBO says: Brooklyn Paper's geographic fact checker must have been outsourced.

Sands Street is not in Vinegar Hill. It is in Farragut. You have also printed that parts of Vinegar Hill are DUMBO. Why can't you get your Brooklyn facts right? Is your staff so inept that they can't check simple facts? I mean you are supposed to be "The Brooklyn Paper", aren't you

Gersh says: Please provide examples, so we can verify your claim, which we take seriously. You should know, however, that The Brooklyn Paper does not recognize "Farragut" as a Brooklyn neighborhood.

GERSH KUNTZMAN Editor The Brooklyn Paper

milo fro m greenpoint says: fourth estate, are you high? look at google maps, genius. sands st. between gold and jay hosts two on ramps to the BQE. the map you link to only shows the part of vinegar hill that contains designated historic districts.

"In 1800, a John JACKSON purchased the land on which the neighborhood would later arise from the SANDS brothers, for whom Sands Street is named. Jackson hoped to attract Irish immigrants and named the tract Vinegar Hill after the site of a fierce battle in the Irish rebellion of 1798."

go to bed.

Born on President Street, how ironic.

Do you have an address?

I have read several sources researching his family's NY addresses and do not recall any mention of President Street.

That is one reason I like Freepers. You can post an article about anything and learn something new.

Currently, I am reading the highly regarded Mr. Capone by Robert Scheonberg. He really seems to be trying to separate out all the fiction from fact.

Mr. Capone: The Real - and Complete - Story of Al Capone

If you have other suggestions, they would be most appreciated.

It does not surprise me that Saul Alinksy studied tactics from Al Capone's Lieutenant.

It also does not surprise me that Al Capone borrowed freely from and cooperated with the Democrat Party. This is an element that I will start touching upon in part II.

The elites have been maintaining power and enriching themselves via corruption of our institutions for quite some time. Now they do it in the name of equality and diversity to cloak their nefarious intent.

Al Capone often seemed bewildered that he was being persecuted at all particularly because he was simply emulating techniques he had picked up from the elites.

Here are a couple of his quotes that capture his sentiment regarding our institutions and the elites that run them:

"This American system of ours, call it Americanism, call it capitalism, call it what you will, gives each and every one of us a great opportunity if we only seize it with both hands and make the most of it."

"When I sell liquor, it's called bootlegging; when my patrons serve it on Lake Shore Drive, it's called hospitality."

It is rather odd that we have a President who is/was up to his neck in machine politics and no one seems to care particularly the news media whose job it is to care.

One element of machine politics is their ability to get opposition candidates disqualified from the ballot for trivial reasons. Heck, Obama first got elected that way. Yet still no questions nor valid BC.

It came as no shock when the Chicago Election Board recently threw the Republican mayoral candidate off the ballot when they, the elections board, lost his Statement of Economic Interest form. despite the fact that Rahm Emmanuel remained on the ballot despite the fact that he was not a legal resident and filled out an incomplete version of the same form mentioned above.

William J. Kelly confronts Chicago Board of Elections Head
Kelly gives his closing argument against Rahm Emanuel

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