agingrebel.com
New York City police threw a temper
tantrum this week because members of the local charter of the Hells
Angels Motorcycle Club don’t want to talk to them.
The police are investigating the
shooting of man named David Martinez last Sunday morning. The Angels
don’t know anything. The police insist they do and insist they should
cooperate.
Martinez was shot as a result of a
parking dispute outside the Angels East Village clubhouse on East Third
Street. When the Angels moved in in 1969 the neighborhood, about six
blocks from New York University, was down on its luck. Over the years
the block has become increasingly fashionable.
Street Parking
Finding a place to park has always been
an ordeal in Manhattan. So for years the New York Angels have blocked
off six parking spaces in front of their club house with traffic cones. A
sign on the front of the clubhouse reads, “No Parking, Except for
Authorized Hells Angels.” The Angels have a reputation for aggressively
defending what they see as theirs so for years the sign has been enough.
Five days ago, at about one in the
morning, Martinez moved one of the safety cones. He was a passenger in a
Mercedes caught in traffic on the narrow street in front of the
clubhouse. According to multiple news reports, a hired car was blocking
their way. Someone who has not yet been identified told him to put the
cone back. Martinez’ three companions exited the Mercedes and an
argument turned into a fist fight. Then someone shot Martinez in the
stomach. Police allege the gunman was a Hells Angels prospect. In the
absence of a cooperating witness, police hope to identify Martinez’
assailant using DNA removed from Martinez’ boot.
Harassment
Monday the police seized the traffic cones, threw them in the back of a cruiser and drove off. According to the New York Post, the cop made a woman at the scene cry and a club member shouted “It’s harassment! This is harassment!”
The cops returned Tuesday and inflicted
more mayhem on the club. A couple of bikes parked on the street while
wearing motorcycle covers, in December in the Northeast, were ticketed
for “failing to display license plates.” The cops stole a park bench the
club had installed outside their front door and ticketed the Angels for
blocking the sidewalk with a couple of planters. They also dismantled
and stole a bike ramp.
A police source told the New York Daily News,
“It was done just to fuck with them. They’re not cooperating with the
investigation. If they’re gonna give us a hard time, we’re gonna give
them a hard time.”
“We want them to feel our presence and
to let them know we are here,” the police source said. “They don’t own
that block and they have no right to block parking spots for themselves.
It’s a public street.”
Wednesday, the city forced the Angels to
move their bikes from in front of their clubhouse so that a film crew
for the television show Madame Secretary would have a place to
park. “In order to facilitate filming, we will need to hold parking for
our production vehicles,” the film crew explained in a written
statement. The film crew lined the block with about 30 traffic cones.