Simon City Royals

This history has been updated 12/10/25

The creation of the Simon City Royals is a story to truly be marveled as it is a story of some of the toughest and most charismatic greasers coming together to create a solid organization that had some of the toughest warriors on the streets that many look up to in awe and many girls flocked to.

We will first begin with the story of “Simon City,” the origin of the first two words of the Simon City Royal name. 

The “Simon City” part of the name part of the story begins in the year 1956 when a group of teenage greasers from West Humboldt Park got together and started a club named after the park they lived and hung around. This park is Almira Simon’s Park (1640 N. Drake Ave.) at the intersection of Drake and Wabansia. These young greasers were approximately 14 years old in age and the first leader and founder was Joe Parisi who named the club “Simon City” after the park. Joe Parisi lived right at the corner of Drake and Wabansia. The original members began hanging out and moving into the neighborhood in 1952; hence, why the year 1952 is often affiliated with Royal history but the Simon City club was not assembled in 1952. West Humboldt Park was still very much an Italian neighborhood back then but there were other nationalities in the neighborhood and multiple nationalities joined Simon City. The rumor was that original Simon City was all Italian but that isn’t true even though the founder was Italian it still doesn’t mean they were all Italian. Simon City colors were black and white, and they wore dagos and white hats with black brims. Their symbols were 2 dice with a “4” and a “3” showing, top hat, curved cane, and gloves. The boys also hung out at Joe’s Pizza that was located on St. Louis Street right near Drake and Wabansia. The boys were into softball, horseshoes, basketball and weightlifting.
Soon after Simon City formed more greaser gangs formed in the neighborhood like the Jokers or Hirsh Street Lords that started in the same year. As more greaser clubs started Simon City found themselves fighting more of them establishing themselves as the toughest outfit in the area.

Simon City did not form for the purpose of fighting racial battles etc…they formed strictly for something to do and to have a comrade with each other.

Simon City first encounters with Latin Kings

Simon City was one of the first gangs to encounter what would later become the notorious Beach and Spaulding Latin Kings.  The year was 1959 and Puerto Rican migration first came to the nearby northern East Humboldt Park community.  As soon as this migration happened Simon City noticed a decline in the Humboldt Park area as prostitutes, drugs and higher crime soon ushered into the Humboldt Park area that just so happened to occur at the same time scores of Puerto Rican migrants arrived.  Some of these migrants were straight from Puerto Rico and were used to a life of crime; therefore, Simon City began patrolling the streets seeking out undesirables.  A racial clash soon ensued, and the Puerto Rican youths of East Humboldt Park formed the “Noble Knights” street gang to defend themselves against Simon City and other mostly white clubs.  The Noble Knights would later become Latin Kings and by 1960 they were even hollering out “Latin Kings!” as it was more of a slogan/way of life back then for multiple Hispanic gangs in Humboldt Park and West Town areas.  By the mid-60s the Noble Knights would move to Division and Kedzie and become Latin Kings which started the notorious Beach and Spaulding Latin Kings. Simon City and the Jokers were the biggest enemies of the early Latin Kings.

Simon City second generation

In the year 1962, the second generation of Simon City came into the fold which brought in members like Al Granata, Rashad and Ahab Zayed and Andy Biedron who all became pee wee members in these years. The second generation fought much more with Puerto Rican gangs as Puerto Rican migration increased greatly in the early 1960s.
The Simon City gang made the news in October of 1964 when they were shot at by members of the C-Notes outside of their neighborhood with a shotgun. This incident was one of the first times Simon City was in the news. The shooting involved first generation Simon City members as the shooter was a 20 year old Simon City member.

Simon City in Logan Square

In the mid-1960s the first generation had basically retired, and Joe Parisi became a Chicago Police officer.  The second generation took over and brought great growth especially since there were many kids in the neighborhood that hated Latin Kings and various other Puerto Rican gangs.  Simon City allowed Puerto Rican members into the club, some of the first were Taco, Frank, and Ronald Ramos just to name some. 

In the year 1964, Andy Biedron and other second-generation Simon City took over the intersection of Cortland and Whipple in the Logan Square neighborhood which would now become Simon City focus. Even though there were not much in the way of Puerto Rican gangs in Logan Square in the mid-60s Simon City was fighting many greaser clubs and they were fighting with the earliest Latin Kings from Humboldt Park and Wicker Park, the Latin King nation formed in 1964.

Relations with the Bel Airs

In the year 1966, Andy Biedron oversaw Simon City and went to jail at that time.  In jail he met Crazy Tom from the rival gang the Bel Airs.  Andy and Tom became friends and little did they know they were in rival gangs to each other, they didn’t even know each other’s last names.  When they both got out of jail Crazy Tom wanted to fight a certain Simon City member, he heard about who was nameless to him not realizing this Simon City was his jail friend Andy Biedron.  Crazy Tom put the word out on the street for them to meet up and fight.  Andy obliged and went to the meeting spot even though both men had no idea who they were fighting until they met up at Armitage and Kedzie and were surprised that they were the ones that were supposed to fight each other.  After this encounter the two hugged it out and from that day forth Bel Airs and Simon City were allies and become very close.

In one incident in 1967, both Bel Airs and Simon City had problems with the Latin Kings and a big brawl of 150 gang members happened.  The police showed up to the fight and rounded up all the gang members and made them toss all their weapons into a pile.  There were several squad cars involved in this and they forced the Bel Airs and Simon City to run around in circles in the vicinity of Richmond Street, Humboldt Boulevard, Cortland Street and Bloomingdale Avenue.  The police then made the Latin Kings run in circles in the vicinity of Francisco Avenue, to Logan Boulevard, to California Avenue and up to the I-90 Expressway.  They had to keep running in circles for a very long time even when they were horribly out of breath while several squad cars supervised at each intersection until they let all the gang members go.  After this the Bel Airs, Simon City and Latin Kings all went to a bar together and got drunk and got along that night.

The rivalry got worse between Simon City and the Latin Kings starting in 1966 because Latin Kings advanced north of Chicago Avenue by Beach and Spaulding, this is why they were fighting it out so much more in 66-67 and at that time Simon City was more focused on Logan Square.

The Root Coffee House incident

Another event of interest in 1968, was when Simon City founder Joe Parisi brought in Simon City and Bel Airs to the Root Coffee House at 3260 Armitage Avenue in Logan Square to the upstairs and downstairs parts of the buildings. Parisi worked with Reverend Johnson and his wife to allow youths from the gangs in there to help them stay out of trouble. A big brawl happened at this club house in 1968 which caused the club house to close, Simon City and the Bel Airs were involved in the fight.

The Royals of Ashland Avenue

While Simon City was at its peak of existence in 1968, the “Royals” from Ashland Avenue and Irving Park Road were just starting out in the Lake View community. Lake View high school had heavy gang activity in the 60s, by 1968 there were Puerto Rican gangs like the Puerto Rican Stones who were just starting out in the neighborhood. The Latin Eagles were in Lake View since 1964 but it would be 1968 when they started getting big. The guys that would eventually form the Royals were getting into fights with Latin Eagles and Puerto Rican Stones. These 7 guys formed their own club that they called the “Royals” and they were going to run the corner of Ashland and Irving right outside Lake View High. One of the main issues the Royals dealt with Puerto Rican Stones and Latin Eagles harassing white girls at the high school. They dealt with this issue by beating the hell out of many Eagles and Stones until they submitted and agreed to leave the girls alone.

There were only 7 original Royals but each of these guys were tough as nails. Wayne “Bottles” Kowalski founded the Royals. Another original member was “Batman” who was a Cuban and was highly respected because of his confidence and his toughness. Batman’s first name was also Wayne. Batman was not the only Cuban original member there was another original Cuban member. Another original member was Mexican and another original was Puerto Rican. Another original member was middle eastern. Most of the original Royals were not white, only two were white, one of them was the founder and leader Wayne Kowalski. The other white original member was Paul Brammer. They formed the Royals at the very beginning of the 1968/1969 school year. The Royals chose the colors of royal blue and light blue as their colors and a cloud was one of their symbols.

One thing to clarify, “Ashland Royals” is just a nickname, they were just the “Royals.”

Horner Park

At some point between 1968 and 1970, the Royals began hanging out in the Irving Park community back when there were no serious gangs on those streets. The Royals made Irving Park and California their home and it was their second section. Royals could be seen hanging out in Horner Park very often. In later years Horner Park became a big time Simon City Royal hood.

1969, the breakup of Simon City

In the year 1969, Andy Beidron and Rashad Zayed went to Vietnam. Shortly after Andy Biedron went off to war he was killed on his 20^th birthday on April 19, 1969. Biedron’s death was devastating for Simon City and their numbers rapidly declined after Biedron’s death until they were declared pretty much extinct by the start of the 1969/70 school year. Some of the Simon City still had the spirit for it like Ahab Zayad, the younger brother of Rashad Zayed.

For a short amount of time in 1969 a African American member named “Stokes” became the leader but by the end of the year he flipped to a Conservative Vice Lord, Simon City then went inactive. Many members of Simon City were killed in Vietnam and this was mentioned in Rising Up Angry 1970 issues.

The return of Simon City

I had located a few issues of Rising Up Angry from 1970 that I would need to dig back up and will post them in here eventually. In these articles it describes how Simon City was coming back together and they became active at Kosciuszko Park in Logan Square and by 1971 they were heavily active again with hundreds of members.

Departure of Bottles

Bottles was still running the Royals into the 1969-1970 school year. At the end of the school year in 1970 he was shot by accident in his thumb which needed to be surgically reattached. Wayne Kowalski then decided to leave the gang life and retire, afterward he was married. The Royals were left with no leader after Bottles left.

Rashad Zayed and Ahab Zayed

On the streets of Logan Square, Rashad Zayed and Ahab Zayed were legendary second generation Simon City members. After Rashad went to fight in the war Ahab’s gangbanging days were mostly over in 1969. The Zayed family was from Palestine but they chose to be Christian. While Rashad was off fighting in Vietnam in 1970, Ahab Zayed and the family moved to Lake View at Addison and Southport. Ahab was now attending Lake View high school and he befriended the Royals. When Ahad came to the scene Bottles had already departed and the Royals were still looking for a leader. The Royals tried to recruit Ahab but Ahab felt loyal to Simon City and declined the offer but would continue to hang out with Royals.

When Rashad Zayed returned from Vietnam in the summer of 1971, he moved in with the family and Ahab introduced Rashad to the Royals. The Zayed family had become acquainted with the neighborhood and Mr. Zayed owned a liquor store in the neighborhood since before the family moved to Lake View, Mr. Zayed moved the family near the liqour store in 1970. The Royals highly respected the Zayed brothers and now wanted Rashad to lead them especially since he was a Vietnam veteran. Rashad Zayed would also turn down membership into the Royals; however, he still wanted to be in the same club as these guys but not as “Royals.” Rashad even befriended Bottles even though Bottles was retired, he still hung with the club.

The Simon City Royals

When Rashad turned down membership in the Royals he did not say no to being in the same club as these guys but he would need to do a negotiation for them to be in the same club in order for Rashad to lead. Rashad Zayed lead in the decision of a name for this new club but for now the Royals agreed to change their club name while letting Rashad lead the way. Rashad came up with the name “Simon City North” and before he told the rest of the guys about the new name he had cards printed and began passing them out around the neighborhood. When the Royals found out about this name they strongly objected and got angry with Rashad. Rashad then offered another name change choice and this was the “Simon City Royals.” This name was accepted and it combined Simon City concepts with Royal concepts. The new club was invented early in the 1971-1972 school year at Lake View high school and now the school had many members of the Simon City Royals. The year the Simon City Royals was started was 1971.

Rashad Zayed became the first leader of the Simon City Royals and he was highly charismatic. Rashad Zayed began to be referred to as “Arab” or “Richie.” Ahab never joined the Simon City Royals and remained loyal to Simon City.

Simon City Royals were a much larger presence at Lake View high school than the Royals ever were, before and after school many Simon City Royals were gathered near the school and they fought viciously with Puerto Rican Stones, Latin Eagles and Latin Kings. Simon City Royals often gathered at a restaurant that was right at the corner of Irving Park and Ashland.

After orchestrating the merger between the Simon City and the Royals from Lake View Arab is accredited with founding the “Simon City Royals.” Shortly after the founding Arab established Irving Park Road and Ashland as the main hangout of the Simon City Royals, as they frequented a restaurant at that intersection. After inception they recruited heavily from Lake View High School in 1971.

The Simon City Royals would also make Horner park their hood as they absorbed everything the Royals once had. Simon City Royals were party animals and knew how to put together serious parties. Arab was highly influential and several people admired him and wanted to party with him. This got the Simon City Royals popular with many small neighborhood gangs in the early 70s and one gang after another joined the Simon City Royals making the club bigger and bigger. Simon City Royals mainly fought with Puerto Rican Stones and Latin Eagles in the early 70s and Latin Kings when Latin Kings would migrate in from Lincoln Park or Uptown. Latin Kings were always big at Lake View high school because many Uptown and Lincoln Park youths went to school at Irving and Ashland which meant many gang fights went down before and after school.

The earliest Simon City Royals loved to establish sections in Lake View that were in front of public areas like Hamilton school at Paulina and Cornelia, Juniper Park at Waveland and Greenview and Miss Cue Pool Hall at Ashland and Cornelia and at Wimpy’s Burgers at Ashland and School.

By the end of the year 1971, the Simon City Royals were now running the area of Lake View between Irving Park Road to Belmont Avenue and from Racine Avenue to Lincoln Avenue.

The White Power Organization

In the year 1971, the “White Power Organization” or “WPO” formed as a mutual agreement between mostly white gangs to engage in a cease fire effort between all these mostly white gangs. Although the name of the agreement sounds racist it was mainly meant to preserve their neighborhood by keeping most Hispanic and African American gangs from other neighborhoods from taking over. The WPO also made efforts to curtail African American and Hispanics from moving in very heavily from other neighborhoods or other countries. The WPO represented all the old ways of the community by preserving tradition. Crime and poverty tended to follow migrating African American and Hispanic families moving in from other areas of the city. The Simon City Royals agreed to honor this cease fire and the earliest Royals had no problems with other mostly white gangs. Many original Royals were not white; therefore, this was not a white supremacist program for the Royals or anyone else in it. The Royals even had good relations with the Gaylords in these early days but Royals would grow the closest with Insane Popes that were known as the “Almighty Popes” in the early 70s.

North Center

As the Simon City Royals were first getting started in late 1971 they quickly advanced over the Ravenswood border into the North Center community. The Royals would be found in North Center from Irving Park Road to Waveland Avenue and from Western Avenue to Ravenswood Avenue. Within no time the Royals were congregating at Paulina and Cornelia in North Center and this section became one of the hardest Royal sections in the city, many heavy hitters came from (PC) like the Fender brothers, Agim Hotza, Beeper, Mike Brewer, Randy Brewer and Todd Brewer. This section started other sections in later years.

In the mid-80s a Simon City Royal section formed in North Center around Alexander Graham Bell School at Waveland and Oakley and these Royals were known as the “Bell School Yard” Royals or “BSY” Royals. These Royals had a hell of a section in the mid and late 80s until it mostly closed by the earlier 90s.

Avondale

In the year 1971 the Royals landed in the Avondale neighborhood and opened Drake and Wolfram (DW) by Joe Karta. This section was once a flourishing section and fought bloody wars against Insane Deuces. Before long the Royals expanded all over Avondale and became one of the biggest gangs in Avondale. The Simon City Royals were in Avondale sooner than Gaylords, Latin Kings and Maniac Latin Disciples. Avondale Royals started in 1971 and have been in this neighborhood for decades since. Avondale is one of the deepest SCR neighborhoods with multiple legendary sections.

A big time legendary SCR section started in 1979 that was also branched from Drake and Wolfram. Mike and Patrick Dayton started a new branch of Royals at Albany and School known as the “Insane Royals.”  This group of Royals did not honor Folk nation concepts and had a “white power” stance, and they really weren’t even Simon City Royals.  These were also some of toughest of Royals and they often got involved in violent gang activity as they tangled with several rivals.  The Insane Royals would colonize the West Ridge neighborhood at Campbell and Lunt where they established an alliance with the Brazers and were at war with Latin Kings and Gaylords. In the year 1983, the Insane Royals section was visited by the Simon City Royals and Maniac Latin Disciples.  The Insane Royals had no choice but to flip to Simon City Royals and the Dayton brothers became legendary. 

Kildare & Thomas

In the year 1972, a group of Simon City Royals started in the West Humboldt Park community but not near Drake and Wabansia which is where this whole story began. These Royals formed in an area of West Humboldt Park that was still mostly white in the early 70s. Gaylords, Playboys and Ventures were also guarding this area of the neighborhood from Bloomingdale Trail to Chicago Avenue and from Kolmar Avenue to roughly Central Park Avenue/ Pulaski. These white gangs were hostile toward people of color and they fought Latin Kings viciously. Simon City had gone extinct out of West Humboldt Park and they were no longer congregating at Elmira Simons School by the early 70s; therefore, these guys at Kildare and Thomas were the Simon City of the neighborhood. These Royals were hostile and an old gang card from the early 70s says a racial slur on it which is the notorious “N” word. These Royals lasted until 1975 when all the white people moved out of this part of West Humboldt Park.

Origins of the Simon City Royal and Gangster Disciple relationship 1973

In the year 1973, the Simon City Royals encountered the Black Gangster Disciples for the first time.  The Black Gangster Disciples needed help from organizations that were not African American like they were, so they summoned the Ashland Vikings, Simon City Royals and Ambrose to do favors for them and the BGDs would, in turn, do favors for these groups, this started a new alliance. This arrangement allowed each group to hit enemies of the other group in their neighborhood and the fact the hit squad’s race didn’t match the demographics of the neighborhood, alleviated suspicion and the paying gang pulled it off. I first heard of this from the founder and former leader of the Ashland Vikings; therefore, this story is 100% legit and explained to me how the Royals got so close with the GDs.

The Insane Deuces

In the year 1971, the Insane Deuces were founded in the Lathrop projects in the North Center neighborhood. In 1973 the Insane Deuces started congregating with a sports team called “Hamlin Park” that wore black and green. The Paulina Barry Community always wanted Hamlin Park and used to play sports against Hamlin Park, their relationship was on and off. When Hamlin Park turned Insane Deuces in 1973, the Paulina Barry Community and Simon City Royals went to all out war with the Deuces. This war became very nasty and murderous as the Royals adopted a new arch rival they hated as much as Latin Kings. The Latin Kings and Insane Deuces were tight with each other from the early 70s until the late 80s.

The Aces

In the year 1973, an organization called the “Aces” flipped to become Simon City Royals.  The Aces were strong allies of the Royals and drew very close to them after a temporary truce with the Insane Deuces.  The Aces would then flip to Simon City Royals. The Aces were from North Center area and their leader and founder was Mike Brewer. The Aces were specifically from Paulina and Cornelia. In 1973, the Aces flipped to Simon City Royals but it wasn’t big news in the neighborhood as Mike Brewer wanted it that way.

Arab

On July 10, 1974 Rashad Zayed A.K.A Arab was shot and killed around the 1900 Block of West Melrose Ave in the North Center neighborhood by two 17 year Insane Deuce gang members that deserted the U.S. Marine Corps around that time (Chicago Tribune July 13, 1974 P.23).   Arab had a new girlfriend that lived in this area and he would not let Deuces and Latin Kings get in his way of love.  On that Wednesday July 10, 1974, Arab had just pulled into his girlfriend’s garage when the two gang members jumped out and shot him as soon as he exited the vehicle.  Even though the shooters were arrested and charged, the charges did not stick and the two were freed; therefore, I cannot say for sure these two did it but the streets knew the Insane Deuces did it.  The great leader and founder of the Simon City Royals had lost his life, but his legacy is still honored today.

Bimbo

After the death of Arab, Timothy “Bimbo” Gilfillan (Hagedorn, The Insane Chicago Way P. 246) took over leadership of the Simon City Royals in 1974 and brought them into a new chapter.  Bimbo was charismatic and knew how to smooth over problems and was well liked, he was also able to open new sections.  Bimbo was good at keeping relations with allies tight which was one of his strong suits. Bimbo was an original Simon City Royal and was the best replacement for Arab at the time.

Koz Park

Since 1970, Simon City ran Kosciuszko Park in the Logan Square community. Simon City came to Logan Square in the mid-60s and after they died out for a few months between 1969 and 1970 they came back with a vengeance in Logan Square and grew into the hundreds in the neighborhood especially Koz Park. After Arab was killed in the fall of 1974 the Simon City Royals went over to Koz Park and talked to Simon City about turning Koz Park Simon City Royal. At that time Simon City was ready to hang it up anyway especially since white flight was ramping up in the area. Simon City then approached a group they were real cool with called the “Unknowns” from Wicker Park at Leavitt and Schiller. Simon City sold their black and white sweaters to the Unknowns and shortly after the Unknowns became the “Insane Unknowns” that still exist today.

Koz Park was a strong section for the Royals until 1992. A Simon City Royal by the nickame of “Johnny Yonkers” was one of the last Royals left at Koz Park. Yonkers hung out with Spanish Cobras a lot and he decided to flip Spanish Cobra and gave the park to the Cobras and Orquestra Albanies. After this the Royals disowned Yonkers and war started with the Spanish Cobras.

Return of Simon City 1974

In the year 1974 Bob Biedron, the younger brother of Andy Biedron started back up Simon City calling the group “Old Simon City.  This group fought with groups like the Latin Kings in the mid-1970s and gained quite a bit of strength.  The Latin Kings were down the street at Cortland and Whipple now and Old Simon City was at Mozart and Cortland and Albany and Armitage in Logan Square. In 1977 Old Simon City began to decline in numbers and in 1978 they were no longer active.  After Simon City disbanded Spanish Cobras arrived in 1978 immediately followed by the YLO Cobras.

Motto and the next stage of the Royal and GD relationship

A Black Disciple named Michael Motten A.K.A Motto (currently serving a life sentence for murder) moved to the area into Simon City Royal territory and began hanging out with Royals, Maniac Drifters and Insane Unknowns and, before you knew it there was a circle of friends that had Unknowns and Royals hanging out regularly.  It was also at this time in 1975 that the Simon City Royals first got involved in the weapons business which armed more members and brought income into the organization.  This took the relationship between Simon City Royals and Black Gangster Disciples to another level. Even though Motto is a dedicated Black Disciple, back when he hung with the Royals he was BGD.

Central Park & Wilson, Leland & St. Louis

In the early part of 1975, Bimbo began expanding the Royals as this was one of his specialties. The Albany Park neighborhood was once a mostly white neighborhood that had many hippie groups and several groups of youths that just hung out in parks. I Read old articles of Rising Up Angry from 1972 and 1973 and those articles painted this picture of the neighborhood. Albany Park dramatically changed between 1973 and 1974. Encyclopedia of Chicago quoted, “The suburban exodus led Albany Park into economic and social decline. Population decreased, homes and stores lay vacant, and property values plummeted. In the 1970s, 70 percent of the commercial property along Lawrence Avenue stood vacant. Empty buildings attracted illegal drug trade, prostitution, and gangs.” (http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/36.html).

The white kids that remained in Albany Park were often from single income families, alcoholic households and had all around rough lives, hence, why their families could not afford to leave Albany Park. The Latin Kings got real big in Albany Park along Lawrence Avenue, the main vein of Albany Park as the Kings took Lawrence and Kedzie in 1975. Bimbo brought the Simon City Royals to these mostly white youths along Lawrence Avenue and before you knew it a Simon City Royal section formed at Lawrence and Kimball. Royals quickly became more interested in Leland and St. Louis which was just around the corner from Kimball and Lawrence and soon the Leland section became stronger and Lawrence and Kimball closed by 1979 and went to the Puerto Rican Stones.

In 1979, Royals came in from Leland and Kenmore in Uptown and gathered at Central Park Avenue and Wilson which became the notorious “CPW” section. CPW became one of the hardest and craziest Royals sections in SCR history for multiple decades to come. Royals became overall very strong in the Albany Park community as they viciously battled Latin Kings, Puerto Rican Stones, Future Stones, Familia Stones, Gaylords, Spanish Cobras, Spanish Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords and Four Corner Hustlers. More notorious sections of Royals developed over time in Albany Park like Lawndale and Wilson (Jensen Park).

Keystone & Glenlake

Chicago’s North Park neighborhood has always been an unlikely neighborhood for Chicago gangs because of how historically safe these streets are; however, back in the mid-70s North Park became an outpost for some of Chicago’s hardest greasers. North Park is very close to Albany Park. Albany Park sits just south of the wavy shaped border near Foster Avenue. Bimbo first colonized this land in 1975 and made it what it became. The Insane Popes joined the Royals and both clubs took over this neighborhood. Animosity was not only with gangs like Latin Kings from Albany Park, the Royals and Popes also battled the C-Notes from this neighborhood and from Jefferson Park. This area had so many public parks like La Bagh Woods, the Budlong Woods and North Park Village. In these parks greasers drank heavily, smoked dope, tagged the area up and partied hard, then they would bop heads with the C-Notes when they would come around.

The Death of Bimbo

According to court documents, on Saturday April 12, 1975 Bimbo and his friends were hanging out in front of the apartment buildings on the street corner of Leland and St. Louis in the Albany Park neighborhood.  These Royals had just finished cleaning up gang graffiti a while ago and were admiring their work when a group of Latin Kings came by and started causing problems.  A little while ago Bimbo was trying to bring peace with Latin Kings but it only lasted a couple weeks due to Latin Kings still trying to steal Simon City Royal sweaters.  One of the Latin Kings known as William “Pothead” Lewis had a gun on him.  The Royals then went and got paint sticks from inside the buildings to use as weapons and chased the Kings down and that is when Pothead fired his gun causing the Royals to Scatter, he ended up shooting Bimbo 4 times, killing him on that Saturday night on St. Louis and Leland.  William Lewis was later convicted of the shooting but since there were circumstances that could point to self-defense, he was only given 20-25 years for the murder (People V. Lewis, June 24, 1981).

Tuffy

Bimbo was murdered in the streets and not too long after his brother Jeff “Tuffy” Gilfillan was killed on Paulina Street by Latin Eagles.  Both brothers were leaders and now both lie dead in the same year.  Now that these brothers were gone the Royals were left without a leader for the next few years.  At the same time in 1975 Larry “Larkin” Morris of the Insane Popes was gunned down by Gaylords in the streets.

War with the Gaylords 1975

In the year 1975 the Gaylords and Royals started to feud and it quickly escalated to the point when the Simon City Royals killed a Gaylord leader as they killed him execution style by some railroad tracks behind Kilbourn Park in the Hermosa neighborhood.

Now Almighty Insane Popes and Simon City Royals both hated Gaylords, Latin Kings and Insane Deuces with a passion.  With the hate of the Gaylords soon followed a hatred of the entire U.F.O unity which brought the Royals to war with C-Notes.

Fullerton & Southport and the war with Insane Unknowns

Cornelia and Wilson Simon City Royals Frank Fender, William Fender, Beeper and “Lil Kool” moved to the Lincoln Park neighborhood and formed at the intersection of Fullerton and Southport. Royals congregated in Wrightwood Park at Ashland and Wrightwood (2534 N Greenview Ave, Chicago). Insane Unknowns hung out in Wrightwood Park too and became tight allies with the Royals. This chapter was opened successfully and there was even a clubhouse that had a business sign out front that read “Simon City Royals.”  This clubhouse had about 50 members hanging out at a time as they would party hard.  Sometimes two preachers would come by and ask the Royals to be quiet since it was a church and senior living area, the Royals always put out the joints and complied out of respect.

The Simon City Royals were always tight with the Insane Unknowns going back to the Simon City days.  The two gangs would hang out all the time and even play baseball matches against each other.  In 1976, the Royals would invite the Unknowns to play ball at the park. Both groups hung together at Wrightwood and Wayne.

On a warm day in 1976, Royals and Unknowns were hanging out while drinking beers together and listening to music having a good time at Wrightwood and Wayne.  A Halsted and Wrightwood Insane Unknown named Jose “Mr. Capone” Arroyo, who was 16-years-old at the time was hanging out by his car. Frank Fender was agitated that day and could not have a good time. Fender hated Capone to the core for no reason. Fender approached his Royals on the side and asked them to shoot Capone but all of them thought he was crazy and declined and didn’t totally take it seriously. All of a sudden frank pulled out a small 25 caliber pistol and shot Capone to death without saying a word and in a stone cold manner.  Even William Fender had no idea his brother was going to shoot Capone, it seemingly was a spur of the moment action, and this started the war.  The rest of the Royals were left in utter shock and many thought Fender was always joking about starting a war.  Fender just did not like Arroyo for some reason to the point he wanted him dead. This was not against the Unknowns as an organization, just a personal animosity one Royal had against this particular Unknown and that is it. Any other parts of the story that have floated around for decades are not accurate, it was just a spur of the moment thing and that’s it but it started a permanent war between Unknowns and Royals. Frank was later arrested and convicted of the murder and given 4 years in prison.  Frank was a legend on the streets and was very much feared by enemies and even fellow Royals. His brother William “Shadow” Fender also had a reputation and was feared among many as he was known to be a stone-cold killer type that was rumored to possibly have over 30 cold murder cases out there that he committed. It was also said Fender worked for murder-for-hire jobs and he was considered an assassin.  William eventually passed away in prison in 2014 and Frank moved to Kentucky where he kept chapters of the Royals out there alive. (Source: Chicagohoodz:Chicago Street Gang Art & Culture).

Some Insane Unknowns like Clown flipped to Simon City Royals and this did not help relations either.

The Simon City Royal presence lasted until 1989 or 1990 after another messy shooting with the Insane Unknowns that brought the death of a Simon City Royal, the Royals left the neighborhood because issues with the police were too hot, the Unknowns stuck around until the end of the 90s. I went to Depaul University for some time between 2002-2003 and by then the Ashland and Wrightwood Insane Unknowns were driven out by gentrification. I used to eat at the Burger King at Fullerton and Southport during this time and I didn’t know at the time that, that Burger King used to be a big time Royal hangout in the late 70s and 80s. I once met a few Royals during this period from the Lake View area at a party and they were really cool with me, later that night I found out one of the guys that shook my hand stabbed someone later in the night, the victim lived.

Touhy & Ridge/The West Ridge and Rogers Park legacy

In the year 1975, Simon City Royals grew into the Rogers Park and West Ridge communities when they opened turf at Touhy and Ridge which was turf that sat on the border of Rogers Park and West Ridge. I don’t know how long this section lasted but when Clark and Farwell opened I stopped hearing about these Royals.

Clark and Farwell was formed in 1979 by members of the Touhy and Ridge Royals. The Farwell and Clark Royals were legendary as they battled Latin Kings and Vice Lords heavily. These Royals could be found at Silver Sue’s gaming room that opened the same year Touhy and Ridge Royals started, the gaming room stayed open until sometime in the 80s. Farwell and Clark Royals were on good terms with Gangster Disciples, Brazers and in later years La Raza. Farwell and Clark didn’t go extinct until 1998. A war with the Ashland Vikings was costly between 1996-1998 and this led to Clark and Farwell’s extinction, the Vikings also went extinct in that area but La Raza lived on.

When the Insane Royals first started in 1979, they immediately began congregating in the West Ridge community at Indian Boundary Park (Campbell & Lunt). The Insane Royals recruited at the park and by 1983 they were official Simon City Royals branched from Albany and School in Avondale.

Stone Royals

In about 1975 or 1976 Simon City Royals settled the suburb of Stone Park. These Royals would become known as the “Stone Royals.” Stone Park was a suburb full of corruption and Italian Mafia presence. The Chicago Outfit presence was still strong in the suburb in the 70s and 80s and the Stone Royals knew the Outfit members and did business with them supporting Stone Park’s infamous gentleman club and porn shop industry. These Royals soon faced off with Latin Kings from Maywood, Melrose Park and Franklin Park that arrived in 1976. The Royals had all of Stone Park at the time and had a strong presence until the late 1980s. These Royals went on until the early to mid-90s and then the Latin Kings completely took over as white flight ran its course.

Bellwood Royals

The suburb of Bellwood began to change racially in the mid-70s from white to African American. Bellwood was unlike Maywood in the sense that Maywood had a African American presence on the south side of the suburb since the 1950s. By the mid-70s African American and Mexican families began to move into northern Maywood and this brought a racial clash that was worse than before. This brought the Latin Kings to Maywood in 1976 and these Latin Kings fought back against a lot of racism but they also went too far and many bullied African Americans from Maywood and whites from Maywood, Melrose Park and Bellwood. West of Mannheim Road was a part of Bellwood that was sacred to the white man and some Mexican families that moved in there by the early 80s. The first major Chicago gang to own these streets west of Mannheim were the Bellwood Simon City Royals that laid claim to this area starting between 1975 to 1976. I am not sure exactly where these Royals were in Bellwood besides that they were west of Mannheim. I have seen a Bellwood Royals card as evidence that this group existed but I will need more info to tell more of the story. I wanted to tell this story because this is an ancient suburban outpost and it was established before Latin Counts, Maniac Latin Disciples, Latin Kings and Unknown Assassins carved up this part of Bellwood. I believe these Royals likely faded when the Stone Park Royals began to leave by the late 80s.

Franklin Park Royals

At some point between the early to mid-1980s another Simon City Royal chapter started in Franklin Park at Belmont Avenue and George Street. These Royals were founded by “Cicero Red” and James “Hollywood” Macecari. Macecari was the leader of these Royals and did pimping and gambling rackets along Mannheim Road. Many other Royals from Franklin Park and Stone Park were drug dealers and this soon cost them their freedom.

In the late 1980s many Franklin Park and Stone Park Royals began to face legal issues and white flight began in Stone Park in the late 80s that hurt the Stone Royals. Members of the Stone Royals moved alongside the white flight pattern which allowed Latin Kings into Stone Park in the late 80s. In the early 90s both groups of Royals were burnt out and many were in prison or leaving with white flight. In 1993 James Macecari became a 1% biker and these Royals shrunk in size but never closed shop. Franklin Park still has these Royals presently but they operate quietly. The Stone Royals last days were around the mid-90s and the chapter closed completely by the late 90s.

The leaderless era

1975-1980 was a time of great expansion, but it was a hasty expansion and often unauthorized for certain sections to pop up.  Many of times a large group of youths would get together and just start claiming Simon City Royal even though no one heard of any of them from any sanctioned sections; nevertheless, many of these sections became official later on because these guys proved themselves.

By 1976, the Royals were now taking in many members of the Almighty Insane Popes because Popes were left without a leader after the death of Larry “Larkin” Morris in 1975.  The difference was the Royals functioned better without a leader than the Popes did and Popes appreciated that and flipped to being Royals.  It was also at this time in 1976 that the Royals began heavy arms trades with the Black Gangster Disciples from the south side.  An all-black street gang dealing weapons with a mostly white street gang, it was crazy thing to see back in 1976.

Leland & Kenmore

In the year 1976 a Paulina and Cornelia Royal and a Keystone and Glenlake Royal opened Leland and Kenmore in the Uptown neighborhood, their one and only section in the Uptown community to exist.  The founder of this section in Uptown was “Frenchy” a sawed off European who was hard as nails. In this section Royals were in a heavy state of war with Latin Kings from Ainslie and Winthrop which resulted in many shootings and police presence.  There were two shooting incidents between Royals and Latin Kings at the Aragon Ballroom parking lot then the police became fed up and started harassing the Royals to death.  Many times, police would come by with paddy wagons and pack them full of Royals.  In this section Royals were heavily outnumbered by Latin Kings and often called upon the assistance of the Lawrence and Rockwell Insane Popes to assist or Keystone and Glenlake Popes. In 1979, Leland and Kenmore suffered too much police harassment and had to close especially after several members had to flee to other states or other countries to avoid prosecution from law enforcement.

Fist City Royals

In 1976 or 1977 the “Fist City Royals” came about.  This project never worked out, but the name possibly comes from the idea that this group wanted some kind of fighting training, mainly boxing.  Royals would train at the Saint Andrew’s Gym (1658 W Addison St) at Paulina and Addison, here Royals would learn how to box.

War and more war

During the late 1970s the Simon City Royals were on a war path smashing on other gangs with a wild, untamed fury.  They went up against Latin Kings, Puerto Rican Stones, Future Stones, Insane Unknowns, Insane Deuces, Gaylords, C-Notes, Taylor Jousters and Chi-West.  It was at this point that Royals ran into Spanish Lords over in Logan Square and war ensued right away.  Somehow the Royals came into contact with the Latin Brothers out of Belmont-Cragin and they went at it hard. In the late 1970s the Simon City Royals were at the pique of their power as this was the point in history when Royals were the strongest in Chicago.

Folks

As I previously covered, the Simon City Royals became allies with the Black Gangster Disciples starting in 1973 and this relationship was developed further after the connection with “Motto” was established in 1976. In the mid-late 70s Royals became tight with BGDs behind prison walls especially since the big boss of the BGDs Larry Hoover was locked up in Stateville prison in Crest Hill, Illinois. BGDs soon realized this mostly white gang was not all that racist and were real gangsters that had many goons in their squad, these were features BGDs respected. Many BGDs were killers, drug dealers and some of the most sawed off gangsters from the south side of Chicago. The differences and similarities between Royals and BGDs was exciting for both organizations and behind bars they especially celebrated these relations. By the late 70s big time Royals like Frank Fender and Beeper were locked up and able to connect with BGDs.

On April 18, 1978, Larry Hoover, the BGDs, and their closest allies and even rival gangs organized a work stoppage strike in Stateville prison that was short lived and successful with no blood shed. In the aftermath, two unofficial coalitions developed out of this and the BGDs and Royals grew closer. In 1979, the Royals whispered into the BGD’s ears and told the BGDs the coalition should call themselves “Folks.” The BGDs and all the allies loved the name and before you knew it Black Gangster Disciples, Black Disciples, Ridgeway Lords, Saints (only in prison), Maniac Latin Disciples, Satan Disciples, Ambrose, Two Six, Two Two Boys, Orquestra Albany, Spanish Cobras, Latin Lovers, Harrison Gents, Imperial Gangsters, Ashland Vikings, Insane Popes, Insane Dragons, Latin Eagles, Milwaukee Kings and Latin Jivers would all call themselves “Folks” even decades later. The name “Folks” is very much originated by the Royals in 1979.

In the summer of 1980, the Simon City Royals and Black Gangster Disciples attempted to increase their alliance and their power in the city by calling for a meeting.  They wanted to take over the drug and weapons trade and help each other bring supplies to each other to fuel their individual gang wars.  91 members of both gangs met on a Saturday afternoon in a warehouse located at 642 E. 47th Street in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood.  Concerned residents called the police and the police raided the meeting.  This meeting was in wake of the officialization of the Folk alliance in 1980, this meeting was the beginning of such negotiations.

Behind prison walls the Simon City Royals were pivotal with getting the Folk alliance official in the year 1980 alongside the Black Gangster Disciples, the Royals would be especially tight with Insane Popes and Latin Eagles.

In the year 1981, Folks was full blown on the streets as it was fully authorized and released on the streets but the Royals were already ahead of the game and already knew they were Folks.

Almighty

In the year 1979, the “Almighty” alliance was created on the streets which was a loose alliance between Imperial Gangsters, Latin Eagles, Insane Popes (North side) and Simon City Royals.  This is when Simon City Royals became tight allies with Latin Eagles and the war was completely stopped.

Interesting story

An interesting story to share about from 1979/1980 was a murder incident between Insane Deuces and Simon City Royals. One night while a group of Fullerton and Southport and Paulina and Cornelia Royals were out driving around, they were suddenly stopped by a police patrol car as the siren lights could be seen right behind them. Once pulled over the officers immediately demanded the Royals get out of the car and face their own car with their hands pressed against the car (typical police search procedure). The officers then began digging through their pockets removing knives and drugs. One of the Royals named Pablo got nervous about this and decided to turn around to face the officers before they were going to get around to searching him. Pablo turned around and was shocked to see one of the officers was no other than “Zep” from the Insane Deuces. The moment Pablo recognized Zep he pulled out his gun and shot Zep dead. It turns out, all those “police officers” were Insane Deuces and not cops at all. The Insane Deuces got a hold of a Ford LTD and converted it into a NARC car with the spotlights and sirens and all. They impersonated police officers which is a severe crime; therefore, when Pablo went to court the whole case was dropped and the shooting was considered justified given the severe circumstances.

Cicero

I want to clarify a rumor about Simon City Royals in the suburb of Cicero. I used to hear about this as a kid in the 90s and I knew some guys from Cicero that lightly mentioned Royals. There were some members that lived in the suburb through the years but they never numbered more than 2 or 3 guys but they still tried to be active. The main Simon City Royals of Cicero started in 1980 and lasted a few years, this was an actual section and is what truly fueled these rumors in later years. These Royals were along 14^th Street between 50^th Avenue and 49^th Court.

Dillinger

By the year 1980, the Simon City Royals had become one of the largest street gangs in the city of Chicago with now thousands of members, they were only a little smaller than the 4^th largest gang the Gaylords.  It was now finally time that the Royals had some leadership after 5 years of being wild.  A new leader stepped forward, his name I will leave out due to a specific request, his nickname was “Dillinger.”  This new leader was able to bring all the sections together and prevent them from functioning with that “renegade” mentality.  His reign was short lived and on November 20,1982 (those that know this leader can probably get the hint of who this man was) he was shot to death by the Puerto Rican Stones in the Albany Park neighborhood. The P.R. Stones were now gunning for Lawrence and Kimball and this brought a vicious war with these Stones.

Hotsa and Fender

In late 1982, Agim Hotsa took over as the new leader throughout the rest of the decade until 1990 then Frank Fender took over leadership

The East Side

In the year 1984, the East Side neighborhood became freshly populated with gangs from other parts of Chicago. The Latin Kings and Latin Counts became especially strong in the East Side neighborhood as white flight converted much of the neighborhood Hispanic. Simon City Royals came to the Wolfe Park area around 106^th and Burley. Many of the residents living in their area were mostly white and did not like Latin Kings and Latin Counts invading; therefore, the Simon City Royals recruited heavily and had a rather strong mob on these south side streets in the 80s until white flight swept Wolfe Park by 1991 and these Royals went extinct. The anti-Latin King sentiment did not leave Wolfe Park and the Spanish Vice Lords took it over that rivaled the Latin Kings then eventually Latin Counts.

The beginning of the decline

By the late 1980s Simon City Royals began having issues with key incarcerations of older and higher up members.  Alot of heat was on Hotsa and Greg Behzad which lead both men to be taken down in drug raids. This drastically shrunk the organization and resulted in a loss of territory over the course of the late 1980s up to the mid-1990s.  White flight and gentrification was growing in the city in the 1990s which also hurt the Royals as members could no longer afford to live in these now pricey neighborhoods, yuppies were taking over.  The Royals also began engaging in bloody interalliance wars with other Folk Nation gangs eventually, and by the early and mid-1990s wars stated with gangs like Spanish Cobras and Maniac  Latin Disciples.  These interalliance wars were very costly especially the war with the Spanish Cobras which became legendary that started in 1992.  The Simon City Royals were now throwing down the pitchfork gang sign that they had been waving around and tagging since 1981, now the fork was to go down.

Royals in Mississippi then nationwide

In the year 1988, Simon City Royals began forming new chapters in the south. I believe the first one was in the Boomville, Mississippi area. Chapters began to sprout up all over the southern states and Royals spread west into areas like Kansas City. Royals from Mississippi often have made the news multiple times for several crimes and murders; however, the majority of the Royals in other states are not hardened criminals or a liability to their communities, in fact, most Royals in the south are active in their communities and are positive influences. The issue with the southern states is the Meth and some members become addicted and act violently, hence, many of the news reports of violent gang members.

The final city years

In 1995, Frank Fender stepped down from leadership and it was said that Brian “Mouse” Nelson took over leadership of the whole nation, however, the real truth it was that Nelson was only running Stateville operations but he was pinned with so much more and transferred to Tamms supermax facility to be isolated from the world basically.  In Tamms Brian Nelson suffered terribly as he was locked in isolation even after being diagnosed with severe depression and mental illness.  He was even locked in a bathroom naked by an angry therapist that said, “You’re making me look bad!” (Source: Voices From Solitary June 24, 2012). After release from prison Brian Nelson retired from gang life and began working for prison rights advocacy until his work cost him his life from becoming so heavily involved in his work, he was found dead on April 19, 2021, at his desk at the Uptown People’s Law Center.  Nelson was so traumatized by his twelve years in supermax that he suffered from severe depression, sleeplessness, and anxiety.  He had to work overnights in an isolated office because other people gave him anxiety. He was heavily dedicated to his work until his life left him while doing his work at age 56.  He died while reading letters from prisoners.

Most of the presence of Simon City Royals vanished in Lake View and Lincoln Park but that had a lot to do with gentrification in the late 1990s/early 2000s.  The CPD along with gentrification pushed out the main Royals out of Avondale eventually.  The Royals had expanded into the suburbs of Lyons and Brookfield in the mid-1980s but eventually were pushed out by suburban police activity by the early 21^st century.  The Royals did; however, spread in other states especially Mississippi where there are thousands of members.  The Royals in Chicago were eventually only holding territory in northern Logan Square, Albany Park, Irving Park and Avondale.

This is a nation that has a hell of a legacy to be respected that had many legendary street warriors that fought valiantly on the streets so much that the spirit of the organization still lives on even in the retired old schoolers. 

Known sections of the Simon City Royals past and present

Albany Park neighborhood established 1975-present years

Sections of Albany Park

Lawrence to Montrose, Lawndale to Central Park Ave

Wilson & Central Park Ave Established 1975

Lawndale & Agatite

Montrose & St. Louis

Argyle & Keeler

California from Montrose to Irving Park Road (Horner Park, Cal Mont Royals)

Cullom & Whipple Established 1979

Lawrence and Kimball Established 1975

Lawndale & Wilson (Jensen Park)

Leland & St. Louis Established 1975

Montrose & Whipple

Sunnyside & Kimball

Montrose & Bernard

Kimball & Cullom

Montrose & Drake

Wilson & Hamlin

Leland & St Louis

Monticello & Leland

Sunnyside & Bernard

Montrose & Francisco

Avondale neighborhood established 1971-2000s decade

Sections of Avondale

Belmont to Wellington, Milwaukee to Springfield (Murda Ave)

George & Ridgeway

Barry & Avondale

California & Fletcher Established 1971

Drake & Wolfram Established 1971-1979

Kimball & Avondale

Lawndale & Roscoe

Albany and School Established 1980-1990s

School & Avers

Wellington & Christiana

Barry & California 70s

Francisco & Fletcher 70s 80s 90s

Allen & Kimball 70s

Belmont & Kimball 70s

Avers & School 90s 2000s

George & Christiana 90s 2000s

Dunning neighborhood Established 1982

Sections of Dunning

Waveland & Odell

East Side neighborhood established 1984-1991

Sections of the East Side

106^th to 110^th, Burley to Ave O (Wolfe Park)

Edison Park neighborhood

Sections of Edison Park

Olympia & Avondale (Olympia Park)

Irving Park neighborhood  Late 60s As Royals-present years

Sections of Irving Park

Collum to Bertau, St. Louis to Kimball (KC Royals) 90s-present years

Irving Park Road & Bernard

Irving Park & California (Horner Park) Established late 60s

Lawndale & Grace

Lake View neighborhood Established 1968 as Ashland Royals, Established 1971-1990s as Simon City Royals

Sections of Lake View

Cornelia & Paulina

Grace & Marshfield

Irving Park & Ashland Established 1968 as Royals, Established 1971-1990s as Simon City Royals

Newport & Lincoln

Waveland & Greenview Established 1970-1990s

Paulina & Cornelia Established 1971-1990s

Lincoln to Racine, Irving Park to Belmont Established 1971-1990s

Lincoln Park neighborhood established 1975-1990

Sections of Lincoln Park

Fullerton & Southport Established 1975-1990

Ashland & Wrightwood Established 1975-1990

Little Village neighborhood 90s

Sections of Little Village

28^th & Kildare 90s

Logan Square neighborhood established 1964 as Simon City

Sections of Logan Square

Diversey from Pulaski to St. Louis (Kosciusko Park)

Cortland & Whipple Established 1964 as Simon City, re-established by Old Simon City 1974-1978

Albany & Armitage Established 1974-1978 as Old Simon City

Mozart & Cortland Established as Old Simon City 1974-1978

North Center neighborhood Established 1971-1990s

Sections of North Center

Waveland & Oakley (Bell School Yard)

North Park neighborhood 1975-present years

Sections of North Park

Bryn Mawr & Spaulding

Bryn Mawr & Kimball

Carmen & Bernard

Carmen & Drake

Glenlake & Keystone

Peterson & Central Park Ave (Peterson Park)

Bryn Mawr & Pulaski (Brynford Park)

Norwood Park neighborhood

Sections of Norwood Park

Bryn Mawr & Harlem

Portage Park neighborhood 2010s-present years

Sections of Portage Park

Addison & Knox 2010s-present years

Rogers Park neighborhood Established 1975-2010s

Sections of Rogers Park

Clark & Farwell Established 1979-2010s

Greenleaf from Clark to Ravenswood

Sheridan & Albion

Touhy & Ridge Established 1975-1990s

Paulina & Lunt Established 1979-1990s

Uptown neighborhood Established 1976-1979

Sections of Uptown

Leland & Kenmore Established 1976-1979

West Humboldt Park neighborhood Established 1956 as Simon City until 1970, 1972-1975 as Simon City Royals

Sections of West Humboldt Park

Drake & Wabansia (Simons Park, Simon City gang) Established 1956-1970Kildare & Thomas (As Simon City Royals) Established 1972-1975

West Ridge neighborhood Established 1979-2000s

Sections of West Ridge

Lunt & Campbell (Indian Boundary Park) 1979-2000s

Suburbs

Brookfield

Cicero 1980-mid-80s

Crestwood 80s

Des Plains 1989-1992

Franklin Park 80s-present years

Lyons

Peoria

Springfield

Stone Park 1976-2000s

Miami

Ft. Lauderdale

Batesville, Mississippi

Jackson, Mississippi

Gulfport, Mississippi

Boloxi, Mississippi

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Booneville, Mississippi

Jumpertown, Mississippi

Tupelo, Mississippi

Ponca, Oklahoma

Memphis, Tennessee

Millington, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Knoxville, Tennessee

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

West Virginia