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Learn The True Bronx Story Behind That Famous <em>Warriors</em> Scene
By
Scott Heins
Published Jan 21, 2016
Modified Jan 21, 2016
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By
Scott Heins
Published Jan 21, 2016
Modified Jan 21, 2016
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One of the greatest moments in Walter Hill's 1979 thriller The Warriors is the tense scene when Cyrus, leader of the Gramercy Riffs, climbs a scaffold and shouts out a new truce amongst the young and vicious gangs of New York City. As a film, The Warriors functions as both a parody and faithful chronicle of the gang-ravaged "bad old days," and Cyrus's speech captures the kind of boundless energy, creative style, and bitter violence of the times, all in two and a half minutes. It's also the moment that gave us "Can you dig it?!," a line that Shaq refuses to stop saying.
As we know, that massive Bronx gang summit actually happened, and in Shan Nicholson's documentary Rubble Kings, retired gang members who lived through the bombed-out era, when "crime was like the major income of the Bronx," recount the events of December 8th, 1971. On that day Ghetto Brothers member Cornell "Black Benjy" Benjamin was brutally murdered, but instead of a bloody war, what broke out across the boroughs was peace. Over forty gangs sent representatives to the Hoe Avenue Boys & Girls Club to work out a treaty, and now you can hear about the process in their own words, thanks to a newly-released clip from Nicholson's film.
When the fighting stopped, many gang members turned their free time and extra energy towards music, and it was at this very moment, one could argue, that hip-hop was born. Check out the clip below, which features Bronx hip-hop legends Afrika Bambaataa, Jazzy Jay and Kool Herc.
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Rubble Kings
Shan Nicholson
Sol Yurick
the warriors
Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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