Wednesday, November 23, 2011

In time for your Thanksgiving, the Hells Angels

Anyway, in case that you haven't seen it yet, someone has extracted a portion of the 1983 documentary "Hells Angels Forever" ... only showing footage around the clubhouse on East Third Street...



Per the message from the person who uploaded the clip:

I edited this film down from the full length feature, "Hells Angels Forever," to include most of the footage that was filmed on 3rd St., NYC. To be clear, I AM NOT THE ORIGINAL FILMMAKER. I lived across the street from the clubhouse for 10 years, from mid-1970s to mid-1980s. These are the guys I used to see on the block everyday.

The first guy speaking is Howie Weisbrod, who's apartment was directly across the street from mine. Next guy is Big Vinny Girolamo, who later lost his life in a knife fight with an Oakland Hells Angel, back in 1979. There's a plaque in his memory posted over the renovated clubhouse door to this day.

Most of the East Third Street scenes start just after the 2-minute mark... and an entertaining scene involving the 9th Precinct and an angry neighbor starts around the 6:59 mark...

16 comments:

  1. Good to see they had a bench out front even back then! The guy complaining to the police about them was great. "If something happens to me, you know who did it."

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  2. @Spike

    Ah! Yes! I should have noted that!

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  3. Great clip and cheers to Spike for the bench observation!

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  4. I heard a great story involving Big Vinnie, whose motto was "When In Doubt, Knock 'em Out." Seems that when Hilly Crystal was making some real dough over at CBGBs in the late 70s, he was visited by two Mafia goons, one of whom flashed a gun. They were demanding a piece of the action, or else.

    Hilly calmly told them he had to call his partner. A few minutes after he made his phone call, two Hells Angels, including Big Vinnie, arrived. Hilly pointed to the goons and Big Vinnie knocked one of them out with one punch. The second guy just dragged his partner away.

    Hilly never had a problem after that....

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  5. Overweight Diabetic thugs.

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  6. Big Vinny one of the most famous Hells Angel's mother was Jewish so that makes him a Jew ...so much for the theory that they are Nazi's.

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  7. BIG VINNY AFFA RIDE IN THE WIND RIP

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  8. Continuing on a motorcycle them, apparently some guy had his head split open by two motorcyclists who dismounted their bike around or in the bike lane on 6th St and 2nd Ave around 4pm today, beat him up, left him for dead (perhaps he is) and took off. Police arrived later (none on the scene at the time of course thanks to the budget cuts).

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  9. Awesome clip. The accents on everyone are probably the best part. That's what I miss about "New York"

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  10. I remember all those guys. Used to live on the block. The old-timer who was complaining about their behavior is awesome.

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  11. Big Vinny was a nice guy. I started hanging around the crew with my 65 triumph chopper age of 15 round 1971.
    Vinny looked out for me in fact he kicked some ass for me to protect me. In 1977 I went in to NYPD and never forgot vinny. He died in the hands of so called brothers. Rest in peace.

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  12. I met Vinny years ago when he was having his colors tattooed on his back. he was larger than life to me a 17 yr old kid.He lived what he believed. a true biker through and through!

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  13. Vinny didn't die in a knife fight. He was in Vancouver B.C. visiting a chapter there and ended up attacking one of them. They couldn't pull him off and so they hit him several times with a bat and it ruptured something, maybe his spleen, I'm not sure. Apparently there was no hard feelings after it was sorted, but I suspect he didn't know how bad hurt he really was. He caught the plane out of Van, either back to N.Y. or his next port of call and died shortly later.

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    1. I heard that same story, except that it happened in Oakland, Ca.
      Supposedly he got into it with a much smaller member so other members from the Oakland Chapter jumped on him and beat him up pretty badly. They ended up as you said rupturing his spleen and he died of his injury after getting back to New York.
      Same story, different location.

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    2. Vinnie didn't get jumped and it happened in Oakland. He got into a fight with Micheal(Irish) O'Farrell and was beaten up and later died. On the operating table of a ruptured spleen,when he was back in NYC

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  14. The first time I meet Vinnie I was about 6 or 7 . I use to help grate cheese at Nunzio's pizzeria which was around the corner from the club house. He came in and ordered 2 slices of pizza, which he doubled stacked and devoured. He then went over to the pinball machine in the back and called me over. He asked me if I wanted to play him. I said sure but wasn't tall enough, so he grabbed a milk crate, placed it in front of the machine, picked me up and said lets play. After the game was over he thanked me and ask me my name. He than ordered an Italian ice and left. From than on every time I saw he in the neighborhood he would call out my name and ask If I wanted to play another game at Nunzio`s. He might of been one of the baddest guys ever to walk the streets of L.E.S. but to me he was just my friend...

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