Results tagged “newjackcity”

The drug dealer Kenneth McGriff, who was convicted last year for killing two rivals, was sentenced to life in prison "without the possibility of release" in federal court yesterday. McGriff led a violent drug crew, the Supreme Team, in the 1980s and then became a hip-hop world fixture, working with Murder Inc. While prosecutors were unable to prove that McGriff laundered money through Murder Inc., they did try to convince jurors that he deserved death for hiring a hit man to kill Eric Smith and Troy Singleton in 2001. A few weeks ago, the judge in the case told the federal prosecutors not to pursue the death penalty, saying that in his opinion, "there is no chance in the world there would be a death penalty verdict in this case."

Now, drug dealers are generally a crafty bunch, as what they do is illegal, but who knew that they would call themselves "The Dream Team" after figuring out that if they kept violence to a minimum, then they could "operate indefinitely"? It's like realizing, "Hey, let's sell addictive drugs so we can get repeat customers!" The NYPD, though, arrested 55 members of a drug ring that operated in Long Island City, and revealed that the "Dream Team that's not a U.S. Olympics basketball team marketing term" had a complex organization, with "street managers" and even a memorandum outlining how to make the drug organization a success. The drug buys were happening at shopping centers and even schools, so the NYPD is revelling in making a big bust that affects both the drug trafficking business and quality of life in Queens. This totally reminds us of New Jack City!

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Chris Foster, Bluesman

For a different era of Washington Square, read Washington Square by Henry James, made into the William Wyler film, The Heiress, with Olivia de Havilland, and later, Washington Square, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, directed by Agnieszka Holland (Gothamist prefers The Heiress). But our favorite New York drug movie is New Jack City.

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