Phillip Crawford Jr. – Medium

Phillip Crawford Jr.

Getting Tattooed with Gay (and Mafia) History: Author Phillip Crawford Jr gets tattoos of vintage…

For decades the Mafia controlled much of LGBTQ nightlife in many cities across the United States including New York and Chicago, and I…

Apr 23, 2024

Getting Tattooed with Gay (and Mafia) History: Author Phillip Crawford Jr gets tattoos of vintage…

Apr 23, 2024

Gay Man Flips The Script On NYC Cops Who Entrap, Extort Him

In June 1952 two New York City patrolmen attempted to shake down 35-year-old Frederick J. Ratzlaff after entrapping him on a morals offense…

Jan 11, 2023

Gay Man Flips The Script On NYC Cops Who Entrap, Extort Him

Jan 11, 2023

Gay Nightlife Mogul Robert N. DeBenedictis Was the Business Behind the Fun

For five decades Bob DeBenedictis was a financial powerhouse behind gay nightlife in New York City but few barflies or clubgoers recognized…

Dec 31, 2022

Gay Nightlife Mogul Robert N. DeBenedictis Was the Business Behind the Fun

Dec 31, 2022

The 1966 September Night A Gay Teen From East Harlem Was Killed On The Christopher Street Pier

For decades gay men have used Pier 45 at the end of Christopher Street in Greenwich Village as a cruising spot. Of course, the scene could…

Aug 26, 2022

The 1966 September Night A Gay Teen From East Harlem Was Killed On The Christopher Street Pier

Aug 26, 2022

The Mafia, the Gays & the Movies

The Mafia controlled many gay joints in New York for decades well into the 1980s, and it was such an open secret that Hollywood even…

Aug 15, 2022

Aug 15, 2022

Elaine Romagnoli Apparently Was Not the Owner of New York City Lesbian Bar Bonnie and Clyde

Elaine Romagnoli, a decades-long influence in New York City’s lesbian bar scene, died in October 2021. However, there has been some…

Mar 25, 2022

Elaine Romagnoli Apparently Was Not the Owner of New York City Lesbian Bar Bonnie and Clyde

Mar 25, 2022

The Mystique Private Club at 256 East 49th Street: “the club has the potential of becoming the most…

The Stonewall Inn may be the most famous Mafia-owned queer bar from the 1960s but it should not serve as a monolithic example of the social…

Mar 22, 2022

The Mystique Private Club at 256 East 49th Street: “the club has the potential of becoming the most…

Mar 22, 2022

Jersey Queens: A Thriving Gay Bar Scene In New Jersey During The 1950s And 1960s

In June 2021 the State of New Jersey released a series of enforcement decisions by which it targeted gay and lesbian bars during the…

Dec 6, 2021

Jersey Queens: A Thriving Gay Bar Scene In New Jersey During The 1950s And 1960s

Dec 6, 2021

Frank Sinatra’s Uncle Babe Garaventi Ran Hoboken Bar Which Lost Liquor License For Employing A…

In January 1953 the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control revoked the liquor license of the Sportsman Bar and Grill on the…

Jul 25, 2021

Frank Sinatra’s Uncle Babe Garaventi Ran Hoboken Bar Which Lost Liquor License For Employing A…

Jul 25, 2021

Grandparents of RHONJ Hubby Albert Manzo Ran 1950s Gay and Lesbian Bar

During the 1950s husband-and-wife Albert and Marion Manzo operated a bar in Paterson, NJ which had its liquor license suspended multiple…

Jul 19, 2021

Grandparents of RHONJ Hubby Albert Manzo Ran 1950s Gay and Lesbian Bar

Jul 19, 2021

Was FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover Gay?

M. Wesley Swearingen, an FBI agent from 1951 to 1977, writes in his memoir FBI Secrets: An Agent’s Expose about the long-standing rumors…

Jul 28, 2020

Jul 28, 2020

Railroaded: The Homophobic Prosecution of Brandon Woodruff for His Parents’ Murders

In October 2005 nineteen-year-old Brandon Woodruff was charged with murdering his parents in a rural northeast Texas town in the heart of…

Jul 23, 2020

Railroaded: The Homophobic Prosecution of Brandon Woodruff for His Parents’ Murders

Jul 23, 2020

FBI Files Reflect the Personal Life of Mafia Boss Carlo Gambino

For decades the FBI largely ignored Carlo Gambino but after local cops busted a meeting among the nation’s Mafia leaders on November 14…

Jul 22, 2020

FBI Files Reflect the Personal Life of Mafia Boss Carlo Gambino

Jul 22, 2020

Meyer Lansky In His Own Words

Throughout the 1960s the G-men eavesdropped on the private conversations of Meyer Lansky by bugging his personal residence where he lived…

Jul 22, 2020

Meyer Lansky In His Own Words

Jul 22, 2020

1962 Clamp Down On Rochester Gay Bars

In 1962 the State Liquor Authority cancelled the licenses of three gay bars in Rochester, NY — Patsy’s Grill licensed to Pasquale and…

Jul 21, 2020

1962 Clamp Down On Rochester Gay Bars

Jul 21, 2020

Real Life Mafia Story Behind “Dog Day Afternoon” Movie

On August 22, 1972 John Wojtowicz and his 18-year-old partner-in-crime Sal Naturale — a “slender, fair-haired youth” with a long history…

Jul 13, 2020

Real Life Mafia Story Behind “Dog Day Afternoon” Movie

Jul 13, 2020

When The Mafia Controlled Gay Bars

In The Mafia and the Gays author Phillip Crawford Jr. meticulously documents how the mob once had a near-monopoly on gay bars for decades…

Jul 9, 2020

When The Mafia Controlled Gay Bars

Jul 9, 2020

Phillip Crawford Jr.

Phillip Crawford Jr.

The Mafia and the Gays, Railroaded: The Homophobic Prosecution of Brandon Woodruff for His Parents’ Murders, Queer Joints, Wiseguys and G-Men & Jersey Queens.

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