[2] When they first drifted into the narcotics business, the gang originally acted only as "delivery boys" or "spotters" (i.e. lookouts) for local established Italian mafiosi involved with the drug trade.
The Purple Gang eventually began supplying heroin to infamous Harlem drug kingpin Leroy Barnes and his organized crime network.
[2] The Purple Gang became increasingly involved with murder, sometimes acting independently and sometimes as contract killers for the Mafia, and they became renowned for their "enormous capacity for violence.
[1] Many of the murders attributed to the Purple Gang were exceedingly grisly, with some involving decapitation, dismemberment, or multiple stab wounds.
Some members were invited to join the Mafia and became made men, including Angelo Prisco and Daniel Leo[9] who became the acting boss of the Genovese crime family in 2005.
[11] On November 13, 2013, Michael Meldish, a reported leader of the gang, was killed in Throggs Neck, ordered by Lucchese acting boss Matthew Madonna, and carried out by Christopher Londonio and Terrence Caldwell;[12] the three were sentenced to life in prison for the murder on July 27, 2020.
[13] Pleasant Avenue, a six-block stretch in East Harlem, is one of the incubators of the Italian Mafia in New York City.
[citation needed] Anthony Loria, Sr., a longtime partner of Vincent Papa who masterminded the "Who Stole The French Connection" corruption scandal, was born and raised on Pleasant Avenue.
In the film, the titular character (Al Pacino) refers to the gang as "The Pleasant Avenue bunch" when its members come to kill him.