Gangs of New York: Earth Bet

Some world-building for A Friend in Need, expanding on the list of groups operating in New York City in Interlude 12.

Gangs of New York: Earth Bet

The gangs with significant super-powered members tend to be flashier, more theatrical, and have more of a theme than a real-world street gang. There are a lot of gangs in a lot of neighborhoods, but these are the ones with the most prominent parahuman presence. Some are more properly collections of smaller gangs that united behind a powerful leader or formed an alliance for common defense.

Adepts
The Adepts have a supernatural theme, either genuinely believing that their powers are magic or that reaching certain states of consciousness enhances those powers. Given that parahuman abilities register as magic to Twilight’s senses, both views may be correct.

The Adepts are organized and structured with 15 parahuman full members and connections to a loose but widespread community of parahuman cult leaders and “normal” occultists, plus the usual criminal contacts. The leader, Epoch, is considered to be fairly high powered and an effective leader and planner. Their criminal activities are, in some ways, a side effect of their occult focus, such as drugs (also used for “expanding consciousness”), smuggling (of occult artifacts as well as items for sale), and prostitution (with a side of tantric rituals). They are probably the least violent of the prominent gangs, having a strict no-killing code.

The Adepts are strongest in East Village Manhattan, but they own properties scattered throughout the city. They seem to be less interested in territory of the conventional sense than in claiming what they see as key locations. Examples include the Fred F French building, Grand Central Terminal, and other landmarks with occult imagery worked into the design, locations connected to the spiritual awakenings of the 1960’s or the spiritualist movement of the late 1800’s, and places some member decides are important based on drawing a pentagram on a map or geomancy or ley-lines or feng-shui. This leads to conflict with whoever holds the territory around that location. One of the events leading to the expulsion of the Teeth from Hell’s Kitchen was the beating they took from the Adepts over a place associated with Madame Blavatsky’s Theosophical Society. The Adepts keep showing up at Chinese apothecaries looking for ingredients or “mystic lore of the orient” and then come into conflict with the Black Hands. And so on. They are also drawn to libraries, universities, and other centers of learning, and are responsible for a few museum robberies involving “relics of power”.

They have ambitions for larger-scale influence, somewhat like the Elite with occult trappings. So, their larger goals and plans tend to be hidden, which is appropriate considering the original meaning of “occult”. There aren’t specific colors for this group, but pentacle pendants and other arcane trappings are the standard, with the Goth look still in fashion amongst them.

Black Hands
The Chinatown gang, or rather, gangs. There are at least nine separate but significant Chinese enclaves across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. The Black Hands is an overall name that the associated Chinese gangs unite under, to some extent, while maintaining their own identities. They are not fans of the ABB as they are specifically Chinese. This is more of a confederation united by shared interests than a centralized organization, and the chapters of this gang tend to be divided along language and ethnic lines within the Chinese community. They have little interest in expanding very far outside the Chinatown areas, but are very aggressive in defending their turf and will clash with gangs in neighboring territories. They do, to some extent, embrace the kung-fu stereotype in their choice of weaponry, clothing, and fighting styles, though each individual gang has its own focus and trademarks. None of which should be taken to mean they don't also have guns.

Dingos
A notorious motorcycle club. The original branch of the Dingos is found in Australia, but the US branch is essentially a separate organization, centered in the Bronx and New Jersey, but with smaller chapters spread from North Carolina to Maine. They make most of their money as suppliers and transporters of drugs and other illicit substances, as well as running protection rackets near their bases of power. They have spent the last few years clashing with the Teeth in the Bronx, and have managed to outlast them and drive them into Brooklyn by having a wider network to draw upon and by forming a temporary alliance with the Bronx Protectorate team. Now their attention is likely to turn to the upstart Moonrunners who took over the Bronx’s east side while everyone else was busy with the Teeth. The Dingo’s “look” is that of most motorcycle clubs, with leather jackets featuring their name and logo, along with motorcycle riding leathers or more high-tech riding gear that also doubles as light armor. Several of the Dingo capes have costumes along these lines incorporating extra decorations and unique helmets.

Easy Aces
Based out of Yonkers, and getting their start by controlling the gambling interests of the raceway and casino there, they have recently expanded by acting as middlemen and brokers for the gangs of New York and Connecticut. As such, they tend to be neutral parties offering neutral territory for meetings and the like. They also offer money laundering services along with their activities as bookies and general gambling. Debts will be collected, one way or another. Members “flying the flag” will wear things like playing cards in hat bands or a necklace of dice and poker chips. There may be some sort of code involved in what is worn and how it is displayed.

Elite
A nationwide organized group. They are tied to organized crime, but aiming higher to become the power behind the scenes across North America. They target politics, entertainment, and big business, as well as being aggressive in their recruitment of rogues and other independent parahumans. They have been trying to gain ground in NYC for some time, as it is a hub of the sort of power that interests them, but they are up against Legend and Protectorate HQ.

Fastballs
Based out of the warren of junk and scrap yards of Willets Point and the dominant gang in Flushing Queens, their members usually wear modified baseball jerseys and hats and are fond of using baseball bats when sending a message to those who have crossed them. Their habit of distributing a portion of the gang’s take to the poorer residents of the neighborhood as well as their distinctive clothing has earned them the reputation as a modern day band of Merry Men. The loyalty of the neighborhood ensures that they have an extensive network of lookouts and informers, ensuring that home field advantage is alive and well when dealing with them. Regardless of their charitable acts, they have been implicated in extortion, protection, murder, and ruthless intimidation of anyone that does not toe their line. They defend their territory with a ruthlessness that is nearly unmatched in the New York area.

Hoplites
Based out of East-Harlem, the predominantly Puerto Rican gang is led by a thinker and tinker duo that supply strategy and armor for the gang’s members, in recent years they have clashed with a branch of the Black Hands trying to establish themselves in the growing Chinese community in the neighborhood, as well as repelling one attempt by the Teeth to move in. They tend to be better equipped, disciplined, and use better tactics than most gangs and have held their own in one of the more sought after territories in the city.

Judas Bunch
Centered in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan, this gang eschews casually apparent colors and tags and tends to avoid open confrontation with the law and other gangs. Information brokers, bookies, and blackmailers, they tend to slip under the radar, which is just how they like it. They are far from harmless, however, and more than one person has disappeared weeks after their last thought of the gang.

Moonrunners
Holding territory in the Pelham area of the Bronx, this group has recently risen to the level of deserving a place on this list. This is due partly to a campaign of aggressive tagging and actions intended to draw attention and promote themselves. They are still limited in fighting strength, but have effective teamwork among their core parahuman members, smart planning, and good networking. They are particularly effective at burglary and have escalated to using blackmail to shield themselves from interference. By their location, conflict with the Dingos is likely to escalate in the future. The Moonrunners seem eager to draw attention and announce their presence by wearing sliver-blue jackets with their name and tag on the back, or silver moon-themed jewelry.

Stonebreakers
The biggest gang in Staten Island with a name originally taken from Graniteville Quarry Park. With extensive ties to the unions and construction industry, it is rumored that there isn't a job site in the city that doesn't have at least one member around, their signature weapon, hammers, going unnoticed by the uninitiated as they hang from their members’ tool belts.

Teeth
Noted for being particularly violent and crazy. They tend to be the group everyone hates, but also fears, due to the powers and nature of the Butcher. They have a long history, as parahuman gangs go, but have also moved around a lot due to concerted efforts by law enforcement and other criminal elements, sometimes in temporary alliance, to drive them out of wherever they set up. They tend to claim areas that are the worst off, socially and economically. Kind of like the Brockton Bay Merchants but with heavier hitters. Their anchor point in New York City has switched between Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan, Stapleton in Staten Island, Hunts Point in the Bronx, Morissania in the Bronx, and they are currently operating out of Brownsville in Brooklyn. They’ve tried to take root in sections of Harlem on two occasions, but were driven off by the Zulu’s the first time and by the Hoplites the second. Despite, or maybe because, of all this, the Teeth have a tendency to pop up at random anywhere in the city. Planning and organization is not this group’s strong point, as their leader is multiple flavors of crazy, so they tend towards crimes of opportunity.

Zulus
The most prominent African-American gang of New York, and likely the second largest group of capes in the city after the Protectorate. The Zulus started off as an attempt by the gang leader Mandlenkosi (Zulu name meaning “power of god”) to do for “African” gangs what Lung would pull off with “Asian” gangs in Brockton Bay later. Mandlenkosi was largely successful and held a place as a prominent and controversial figure in national African-American affairs for years. After his death and without his force of personality, the gang’s unity has strained, with infighting springing up among the various sub-chapters. Everyone is waiting for the match that will set off the civil war that has been brewing for years, but it has not happened...yet.

Adding to these difficulties is the fact that the various Zulu territories are spread out across the entire city and often separated by rival gangs. This leads them to sharing borders with more gangs than any other, and thus are forced to expend a large amount of resources defending their turf.

Years back, the hard-core Zulus would wear some version of the amaShoba armbands or leggings that are associated with the actual African Zulus and were part of Mandlenkosi’s costume. These days, they mostly wear whatever colors or accoutrements are associated with their particular chapter.