Party Players

The Party Players’ history can be told in two parts, the first part begins in the year 1976 when “Capone” organized a party crew that would be called “Party Players.”  Some other original members were Joe, Pete Gonzales, Lil Dice and Tiny P. The crew formed in the Marshall Square neighborhood at the intersection of 24th Place and Washtenaw.  The original Party Players were not a gang banging crew, instead these were guys that loved to travel around the south side and go to different parties, they especially partied with the K-Town Party People along 26^th Street in the Little Village neighborhood.

Even though the Party Players were surrounded by Satan Disciples from 24th and Washtenaw, 24th and Rockwell the SDs still permitted the Party Players to hang out at the corner because they were not about the gang life and they drew women to the area.  The Party Players loved to travel down 24th Street and party and this led them to hang out in the 24th and Marshall Blvd area which was Latin King territory.  By the later part of 1977 Satan Disciples found out about this and began gangbanging against the Players.  Since the Players were only a party crew they did not have the firepower or the organization needed to fight the bigger gang so they decided to mostly relocate to the Back of the Yards community at 48th and Racine.  After the Party Players moved Joe took over as the leader of the Players but they remained a Party crew.  Some Party Players remained on 24th street but I do not know how long but it may have lasted until the early to mid-1990s.  At some point the Party Players expanded into Little Village at 27th to 28th and Homan but I am not sure about the dates of this section.

In the year 1981 Joe became incarcerated for murder after he was defending someone he was close to against a drug dealer, after he went to prison the Party Players’ many of the original members and first generation left the organization once this original member was fully convicted in 1982.  While in prison Joe attempted to bring the Party Players into the Folk alliance but on the streets the Party Players rejected this but Joe himself aligned with the Folks.  I am not sure if any other incarcerated Party Players were Folks in prison in the 80s or not.

In the summer of 1982 the Party Players had relocated to 48th and Wolcott and were at heavy odds with the Saints street gang because the Saints were giving the older members a hard time in the streets.  The Saints had been a full fledged gang for decades at that point and were well equipped with guns and other weapons.  The Party Players then got together with the 47th and Damen Two Sixs who were an organization that was known to have lots of guns due to their connections with the Cartel.  Party Players were a more popular and larger group than this section of Two Six which made both gangs ideal to be allies to go against the Saints.  The Two Sixs would then supply the Party Players with firepower while the Party Players could provide back up to the Two Sixs with larger numbers.  This is when a historic alliance was built between the two organizations.  The Party Players then converted their crew into a full fledged gang in the summer of 1982; however, they did not join the Folk alliance mainly because they had family members that were Latin Kings.

During the 1980s Party Players would have temporary truces with the Saints due to their close proximity to each other but the Saints often broke these truces time and time again causing their resentment to grow toward one another.

In the fall of 1988 the Two Sixs and Party Players teamed up to shoot up members of the Saints which resulted in a murder that caused the leadership of the Two Sixs of the Back of The Yards to be incarcerated.  Shortly after that happened in 1989, the Two Sixs began applying pressure on the Party Players to flip their entire gang into the Two Six organization. At first it was just persistence but after some time the Two Sixs became demanding that Party Players flip and the Party Players weren’t having it, this is what started the war with Two Six. Party Players had too many family ties to Latin Kings; therefore, joining Two Six could not be done.

In the year 1990, Saints made peace with Latin Kings which brought the Saints into the People alliance on the streets.  Party Players also drew closer to the Latin Kings and both Saints and Party Players joined the People alliance in 1990. The relationship with the Latin Kings was much tighter making them actual allies while the set up with the Saints was just a cease fire that didn’t go well.

The Party Players were now able to spread their influence into the Marquette Park neighborhood at 65^th and Spaulding which became the Marquette Park headquarters.  As the 1990s would progress the Party Players expanded all over Marquette Park to 63^rd and Troy “Trigger Town,” 73^rd and Homan, 65^th and Sacramento, 63^rd and Whipple.  The Party Players also opened up in the Gage Park neighborhood at 57^th and 53^rd and Rockwell.  Party Players opened a section at 36^th and Seeley in the Mckinley Park neighborhood.

Eventually the vast majority of Party Player sections were shut down including all of their Gage Park and Mckinley Park operations.  The Party Players also closed almost all their territory in Marquette Park accept 65^th and Sacramento and 63rd and Troy.  They had set up in the suburbs of Burbank, Oak Lawn, West Chicago, Plainfield/Joliet and Rockford but they closed Oak Lawn, Rockford and Burbank.  The Party Players engaged in vicious gang wars with the City Knights of nearby 48^th and Wood and also the Satan Disciples.  The City Knights ended up flipping to Satan Disciples heavily and the Party Players then moved their headquarters down the street from Wolcott to 48th and Wood which was the original section of the City Knights.  Party Players always remained at odds with the Saints even after the Saints joined the People Nation.

The Party Players are still active on 48th Street at their newer headquarters of 48th and Wood.

Questions:

1.  What year was Gage park opened?
2. What years were the Marquette Park sections open?
3. What years were the Players in McKinley Park?
4. What years was 27th to 28th and Homan opened?

Known sections of the Party Players past and present

Back of the Yards neighborhood Established 1977

Sections of Back of the Yards

48^th & Wolcott Established 1982 (Player Town)

48^th & Racine Established 1977

48^th & Wood

East Side neighborhood

Sections of East Side

108th & Mackinaw (Wolfe Park)

Gage Park neighborhood

Sections of Gage Park

53^rd & Rockwell

57^th & Rockwell

57^th & Mozart

Little Village neighborhood 90s

Sections of Little Village

Homan from 27^th to 28th 90s

Marquette Park neighborhood 90s-present years

Sections of Marquette Park

65^th & Spaulding

63^rd to 65^th, Kedzie to Sacramento (Fin Town, Trigger Town)

73^rd & Homan

Marshall Square neighborhood Established 1976-90s

Sections of Marshall Square

24th Place & Washtenaw Established 1976-90s

McKinley Park neighborhood 90s

Sections of McKinley Park

36^th & Seeley 90s

Suburbs

Burbank 83^rd & Laramie

Lockport

Joliet

Oak Lawn

Plainfield

Rockford

West Chicago