C-Notes

The C-Notes have one of the most interesting histories of any of the active Chicago street gangs.  The C-Notes are indeed the oldest organization on the streets today.  The C-Notes had their beginning in the year 1952 in the area known as “The Patch” which is located around Smith Park which is within the West Town neighborhood on Chicago’s west side.  When the C-Notes were formed they would settle at the intersection of Ohio and Leavitt in The Patch which is where notorious Chicago Outfit boss Joey “The Clown” Lombardo moved in with his family in the year 1951.  Sometime during the 1950s Joey The Clown became a made man and became a part of the Outfit.  Lombardo was well-know in the neighborhood and always had a good relationship with the C-Notes.  It is a coincidence that Right around when Lombardo moved here the C-Notes started up.  I don’t know exactly who founded the C-Notes but legend has it the founder liked $100 bills and always had them in his pocket, hence, possibly how the name was created.  It is possible the C-Notes were started by older guys at first that were a money making crew perhaps in conjunction with the Outfit.  Eventually the C-Notes would take in the youth in the area as long as they were worthy and tough.

The early history of the C-Notes’ existence is cloudy because of how far back in time the C-Notes’ began.  Many members of the C-Notes in the 1950s and 1960s graduated to Outfit associates as long as they were of Italian ancestry. Two such notorious mentors are Paul Koroluk and Albert “Albie The Falcon” Vena who were both C – Notes at one time (Vena was a C-Note back in the early 1960s to early 1970s, Korolouk was one in the 1970s).  These men made the news a few years ago when the authorities busted in on their burglary ring and other business.

From 1950 to 1958 the C-Notes were not a gang on the streets wearing sweaters etc..it was a club of older men that later became part of the Chicago Outfit for the most part.  It was in the year 1958 when C-Notes began taking in Italian youths and some Hispanic youths and a C-Notes gang was created.  To be honest I don’t even know if the C-Note name even existed before 1958 but if it did it sure wasn’t known on the streets very well and youths were not in the club.

By the late 1950s, the C-Notes were perhaps the largest gang in all the West Town area.  Their earliest rivals were the Gaylords from nearby Noble Square and the Simon City Boys from West Humboldt Park.  The C-Notes also got into it with Irish, Polish and German kids from Wicker Park and East Village, the fights with these youths in and around Wells High School (936 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60622) led to the creation of the Playboys street gang.  C-Notes would fight Playboys quite often in these early days.

In the early 1960s the C-Notes began to battle with Pulaski Park and the Sons of Satan Slaves (Later known as Ventures).  There was a deep rivalry between Italian gangs like C-Notes, Gaylords, Lazy Gents and Dominos against the Irish and Polish kids in gangs like Playboys, Ventures and Pulaski Park.  These were the greaser days when gangs battled over dances, girls and territory.

In the year 1964, Puerto Rican people were starting to flock into West Town and new Puerto Rican gangs were popping up all over the place.  The most notorious formation was the Latin Kings that were a combination of multiple Puerto Rican gangs that came together to fight against the greasers.  The C-Notes stopped fighting with Gaylords and Lazy Gents because of the growing Latin King and other Puerto Rican gang issues. This was the beginning of a brotherhood between Gaylords and C-Notes that would last a long time.  In the mean time the Polish and Irish gangs got together and created the “P.V.P” alliance as the Playboys, Ventures and Pulaski Park came together as one.  Althought C-Notes remained enemies with the P.V.P in the mid-60s that rivalry continued to cool down over time and by the late 60s they hardly had any conflict with each other.

The Gaylords were a tough gang but they also had large numbers while the C-Notes operated with smaller numbers but were known to be one tough gang to fight against.  Back in the 1960s the C-Notes were on guard at the southern border of their neighborhood, and even in small numbers, the African American street gangs such as the Vice Lords from the Henry Horner projects just south, would not dare cross the railroad tracks by Kinzie Street on the south.  The black gangs heavily outnumbered the C-Notes but that did not matter because the C-Notes were so vicious they would fight them bloody until every last one of them was gone.

The area was mob controlled by the Grand Avenue Crew but the main threat was the C-Notes because they were the guardians of that neighborhood south of East Village.  Even when the Martin Luther King riots of 1968 stormed the west side, the thousands that marched would not cross those tracks at Kinzie Street because there was fiery hell waiting on the other side, it was always understood to never cross those tracks and not a single Vice Lord or any one else from that area ever would.

In the year 1969, the Puerto Rican gangs continued to grow in numbers and impoverished Puerto Rican families kept moving into West Town, Logan Square and Humboldt Park as the neighborhoods declined into severe poverty, filled with drugs and prostitution.  It became decided that enough was enough and the Gaylords, C-Notes and Lazy Gents created an official unity known as G.C.G or Gaylords, C-Notes and Gents and squashed their differences with P.V.P coming together as allies to battle side by side against the Puerto Rican clubs.  This was the beginning of a tight relationship between Gaylords, C-Notes, P.V.P, Chi-West and Taylor Jousters.

The origins of the C-Notes becoming allied with the Insane Familia has roots that go back to the year 1970.  In the year 1970, the Ashland Vikings were an up and coming gang in the Noble Square community.  16 year old founder “Puncher” of the Ashland Vikings began meeting with older members of the C-Notes to discuss keeping relations in tact.  Puncher described these C-Notes as tough guys but even minded and very decent guys.  He remembers them as respectful and treated him like an adult.  After this C-Notes and Vikings didn’t have much rivarly and if they did diplomacy soon followed.

In the year 1971, the alliance of the white gangs was taken further as more white clubs all over the northern part of the city were fed up with their neighborhoods falling apart after white flight and Puerto Rican gangs multiplying in number.  Now Puerto Rican gangs were at times, victimizing young white youths in changing neighborhoods as now the white youths were becoming the minority.  The P.V.P and G.C.G extended their alliance over a broader network and connected with all the white gangs including enemies like the Almighty Popes and Simon City Royals.  This new alliance was called the “White Power Organization,” or “W.P.O.”  The W.P.O did not necessarily mean these gangs were like brothers, it just meant they had a major cease fire between white gangs and if they chose they could back each other up against Puerto Rican and black gangs.

In the year 1973, the Gaylords, C-Notes, Taylor Jousters, and PVP all got together at a meeting on the corner of Damen and Milwaukee in the Wicker Park neighborhood to discuss a merger between these five gangs that would be known as the “United Five Organization” or UFO.  This was an alliance within the W.P.O that was more of a brotherhood.  This meant these five gangs wore white arm bands and roved around the city together fighting rival Puerto Rican gangs, therefore, this was more than a simple cease fire, this was a true brotherhood and this is the story of how the C-Notes got so close with Gaylords, Jousters and P.V.P for a period of time.  This closeness is still felt with old schoolers that were in these clubs in the 60s, 70s and early 80s.

In the year 1975 Gaylords and Insane Popes left this part of West Town as Hispanic migration intensified on these streets.  This brought in Maniac Latin Disciples, Harrison Gents, Satan Disciples and Milwaukee Kings.  Milwaukee Kings completely moved their headquarters here as MLDs and SDs established a stronghold here.  Harrison Gents flipped many Lazy Gents into their ranks and now the C-Notes had four new rivals to deal with but the C-Notes fought them all heavily.  The C-Notes were not intimated by these gangs and went at all four of them hard.

In 1976, the C-Notes opened up in the Jefferson Park neighborhood.  This section was opened by the “Hobo Brothers” who actually were members that were Hispanic.   Eventually the C-Notes took Argyle and Lavergne, Central Ave and Giddings and Elston and Leclaire. Around the same time the Jefferson Park chapter opened.  C-Notes also opened in the suburb of Elmwood Park “Spaghetti Hill.”

In April, 1978 the Folk and People Nation alliances were drawn up in the prison systems and this brought the Simon City Royals and Almighty Insane Popes into the Folk Nation alliance with Spanish Cobras, Latin Disciples, Imperial Gangsters, Orquestra Albany, Latin Eagles and others.  The People Nation was no lessor of the evils because they had the C-Notes’ worst enemies the Latin Kings under that alliance.  The UFO declined to join either side of the new alliances, but soon they would feel the pressure by 1980 when several key members of the Gaylords found themselves incarcerated and outnumbered because the UFO was not as strong in the prison system.

The Gaylords along with the Insane Deuces decided to join the People Nation in 1980 while behind bars but the alliance was not blabbed about in the streets.  Latin Kings and Gaylords were now within the same alliance and this caused wars to die down in the early 1980s (except in the Lincoln Square neighborhood), the C-Notes were still all about war with the Latin Kings and this was the beginning of differences building between C-Notes and Gaylords.

In 1982, a new chapter would start in the C-Notes legacy that started with a conquest for more territory outside of southern West Town and Smith Park.  The C-Notes now opened turf at Beldon and Normandy in the Montclaire neighborhood and Addison and Harlem in the Dunning neighborhood.  The Sayre Park Gaylords were right nearby these two neighborhoods at Grand and Harlem.  Then the C-Notes opened turf at Olcott and Roscoe in the Dunning neighborhood which is also where Gaylords were colonizing at the same time.  After almost 20 years of a strong alliance between C-Notes and Gaylords was now down the drain as these two gangs were now infringing on each other’s turf which caused an all out war.  The war was bloody but never became deadly.  The favorite spot for Gaylords and C-Notes to duke it out was at the Axel Skating rink in the suburb of Norridge, IL at 4510 N. Harlem Ave (now closed down since Halloween 1985).  At this skating rink the two gangs would beat each other bloody in legendary gang brawls between 1982 and 1983.

The C-Notes would also expand into new neighborhoods in the 1980s that they never had turf in before.  The Notes colonized the Roscoe Village section of the North Center neighborhood at Leavitt and Grace.  The Notes would also advance into the Bucktown section of the Logan Square neighborhood at Medill and Oakley. From the Jefferson Park section the C-Notes would open in the nearby Forest Glen neighborhood at Cicero Ave and Gunnison and Carmen and Lavergne.

Beginning in 1985 there became a rising star in the C-Notes known as Stanley “Lucky” Brock.  Lucky was 20 years old at the time and had been a C-Note at least 5 years.  Lucky was charismatic, was good with numbers and always had backup plans.  He was also a great negotiator and even had friends that were in rival gangs that respected him.  Many feared and respected him even rivals.  Lucky took over in 1985.

In the late 1980s, Some C-Notes had family members that happened to be from the rival Harrison Gents street gang this lead to some Cocaine deals with the Harrison Gents but it did mean there was an alliance between the two.  Lucky’s main contact was a Harrison Gent named “Coco” who Lucky began moving kilos of Cocaine with.

In the year 1992 dealings with Harrison Gents went sour and in the midst of it Lucky was sent to prison.  Lucky was still the leader of prison operations for the C-Notes and now wanted the C-Notes to join the Folk alliance but the application was denied especially since the Harrison Gents raised grievance that Lucky ripped them off on the sour drug deal.

After Lucky went to prison in 1992, a Puerto Rican member named “Joey Bags” took over leadership of the C-Notes.  Joey Bags wanted nothing to do with the Harrison Gents and let war ensue, instead bags had some friends that were Insane Dragons.  It was now at this point that the C-Notes were reconsidering joining the Folk Nation and joining the “Insane Familia” which was a alliance of Latin Folks gangs that consisted of the Spanish Cobras, Insane Dragons, YLO Cobras, Orquestra Albany, Ashland Vikings and at that time the Harrison Gents were members.  The war with the Harrison Gents would stall the C-Notes’ application to get into the Insane Familia.

The C-Notes had also broken out into a massive gang war with the Satan Disciples who were aggressively colonizing the C-Notes’ neighborhood.  The two worst enemies and arch rivals of the C-Notes were now Latin Kings and Satan Disciples.  The SDs sat at one of the top seats of the Folk Nation and La Tabla so this complicated the C-Notes’ application even more.  The Insane Dragons were waiting at the helm for when the C-Notes would be accepted.

In the year 1995, the C-Notes finally got into the Folk Nation alliance and the Insane Familia now that the Harrison Gents left the Insane Familia and the fact that the Insane Dragons were avid sponsors.  There were complications as I explained earlier about the Notes getting on SGD because of interalliance wars.  In the mean time the Insane Familia got to take advantage of the fact that the Notes were heavily connected to the Italian Mafia, this especially made the Spanish Cobras happy.  In prison, on of the former C-Notes turned Chicago Outfit was sharing a cell with Francisco “Pimp Daddy” Garcia, who was a high ranking member of the Maniac Latin Disciples.  Since former C-Notes were now Italian Mafia members they acted as the go between guys tying C-Notes, Outfit business and the Folk Nation together by communicating with Pimp Daddy.

After joining the Folk Nation, things were getting bad by Ohio and Leavitt as Satan Disciples and Latin Kings were moving in fast and ready to take the neighborhoods over.  Now that Lucky was in prison, the Jefferson Park C-Notes cleared out and moved back to Ohio and Leavitt to protect it from invaders.  The C-Notes completely re-solidified O-L once again.  Now that this neighborhood was secure and as the later 1990s ushered in, the C-Notes would find better ways to make money and deal with enemies while staying jail free.

The C-Notes hooked heavily into the ecstasy business, selling thousands of dollars worth all over the city and suburbs.  Before long the C-Notes became the main supplier of the ecstasy business and they had several runners all over the city.  One of the biggest investments the C-Notes made was in a crew called the “X-Men.”  They supplied these guys with the ecstasy and these guys knew exactly how to spread it out.  The C-Notes were turning over about 240 pounds of ecstasy a year.  They would get the ecstasy from Las Vegas and bring it back to Chicago and even distribute it in between.  The drug was undetectable by police dogs so the Notes got away with it (Hagedorn, The Insane Chicago Way, P. 174). Law enforcement was still new to the drug back in the 1990s so they did not have complex law enforcement methods to take down the dealers yet.

The C-Notes also opened nightclubs around the city and city suburbs to move their ecstasy and invest in their legit businesses.  The C-Notes were moving ecstasy in these clubs: Zero Gravity, The Mission and Nitro.  Any of those sound familiar?  Did you ever buy X at any of those clubs when you were a teen?  If you did you bought it from the C-Notes whether it was directly or indirectly.  Ever heard of the nightclubs XTC in downtown Chicago, or The Industry in North Lake?  If you did or if you ever partied there in the late 1990s or early 2000s, you were in a nightclub owned and controlled by the C-Notes street gang (Hagedorn, The Insane Chicago Way, P. 176).

The C-Notes stayed out of a lot of messy and costly gang wars in the later 1990s and into the millennium by using the internet to their advantage.  In the earliest days of the internet in the late 1990s gang members would hop into chat rooms and net bang on each other.  No one would ever actually know who was talking shit to them, all they would see is that a user was on there representing a rival gang.  The C-Notes would go buy a lap top and go to an internet connected establishment.  They would hop into one of those chat rooms and act as if they were a member of a rival gang and taunt another rival.  For example, since the Notes hated Latin Kings and Satan Disciples, and both of those rivals were trying to encroach on C-Note turf, they would hop on the chat room and represent as a Latin King from the neighborhood and taunt the SDs on there, then in the same chat or another chat on another day they would act as a Harrison Gent and taunt Maniac Latin Disciples (Hagedorn, The Insane Chicago Way, P. 180).  Once everyone was fired up, the trash talk would cause a real life shooting in the streets.  Going with my example let’s say the C-Notes go into the chat and say they are a Latin King from Huron and Hoyne and they begin taunting a SD from Huron and Wood.  The Notes then challenge the SDs to come to Huron and Hoyne and fight.  Later that night SDs show up at Huron and Hoyne and start shooting up a house of a known Latin King gang members killing two members inside, then the C-Note members that are police officers are tipped off and show up to arrest 3 members of the SDs for murder, and there you have it, 5 enemy gang members are out of the picture and C-Note operations can run smoother.  That is just a hypothetical example of how this happened, but in reality my fake story is extremely similar to what really happened.  This is a lesson that anyone should learn to never take the internet too seriously and that net banging is just net banging and you never know whom you are talking trash back and forth with on the other end and if you get fired up and go get revenge for how their words hurt you, it could bring you into a trap!

The C-Notes stayed out of jail by bribing police officers and public officials just like the Italian Mafia.  When the Notes found out they were about to get busted, thanks to their uniformed C-Note members in law enforcement’s tips, the Notes would agree to give up stock piles of guns to the police by telling them exactly where to pick up the guns.  The cop would go get the guns, brag he got guns off the streets, become a hero, no one was arrested and the deal was done.

The C-Notes would eventually get accepted onto the SGD board in 1999 but within months after their acceptance the SGD disbanded due to the shooting death of a high ranking Maniac Latin Disciple at a peace conference between Maniacs and Insanes in the Logan Square neighborhood.  Many high ranking members of the C-Notes went to prison in the 1990s and Bags left the C-Notes in 1996 leaving Mo Mo to run things until he eventually got out.  The C-Notes still retained most of their West Town original turf including Ohio and Leavitt going into the 21^st Century.

In the mid 90s Lucky was let out of prison but carried on as an advisor to the C-Notes as he had good relations on the streets.  In 2002 Lucky left the C-Notes and went into construction until he passed in 2011.  At his funeral services hundreds of people paid respects including rival gang members.

For a great read that provides lots of C-Note stories and history and the connection to the mob, pick up the book “The Insane Chicago Way: The Daring Plan by Chicago Gangs to Create a Spanish Mafia” by John Hagedorn.  I hate reading and never read but I read this one cover to cover.

Please send in old school pics.   1950s or 1960s pics will be especially appreciated!

Questions:

1.  Who was the founder, what happened to him?  If it needs to be a secret, a nickname will be ok
2. Who were the leaders in 1950s and 1960s and what years did they lead?  Nicknames are ok
3. What caused the war with the Gaylords back in 1982?

Known sections of C-Notes past and present

Albany Park neighborhood

Sections of Albany Park

Elston to Lawrence to Edens Expressway (Jefferson Park C-Notes, JP Notes)

Bucktown neighborhood 80s, 90s

Sections of Bucktown

Medill & Oakley 80s, 90s

Fullerton & Western 80s, 90s

Dunning neighborhood

Sections of Dunning

Harlem & Addison

Roscoe & Olcott

Jefferson Park neighborhood Established 1976-present years

Sections of Jefferson Park

Elston & LeClaire 1976-2000s

Cicero & Gunnison 1976-present years

Carmen to Argyle, Leclaire to Laramie (Jefferson Park C-Notes, JP Notes) 1976-1995

McKinley Park neighborhood 2000s-present years

Sections of McKinley Park

33^rd to 34^th, Leavitt to Damen 2000s-present years

Montclare neighborhood Established 1979-late 80s

Sections of Montclare

Belden & Normandy Established 1979-late 80s

North Park neighborhood 70s, 80s

Sections of North Park

Grace & Leavitt

Foster & Keeler (Gompers Park)

Portage Park neighborhood 70s, 90s

Sections of Portage Park

Lockwood & Hutchinson 90s

Central & Giddings 70s

Wilson & Milwaukee Ave 90s

Southern West Town neighborhood Established 1952-present years

Sections of Southern West Town

Chicago to Grand, California to Western (Smith Park)

Chicago to Grand, Western to Damen (Money Side, Ohio & Leavitt is O/L) Established 1952-present years

Ohio & Noble

Wicker Park neighborhood 70s, 90s, 2000s

Sections of Wicker Park

Hirsch & Western (H/W) 70s, 90s, 2000s

Suburbs

Bensenville

Elmhurst

Elmwood Park

Villa Park