21. Harlem’s Most Notorious Gangster
Harlem’s most famous criminal is probably Frank Lucas (1930 – 2019) who was depicted by Denzel Washington in the 2007 blockbuster, American Gangster. The movie took artistic license with the facts, but it got the broad strokes right: Lucas was a big player in the heroin trade, and was one of America’s biggest drug dealers in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Lucas was born and raised in North Carolina, and after a few years of petty crimes such as mugging drunks outside bars, he got a job at a pipe company at age 16. His employment ended when his boss walked in on Lucas having sex with his daughter. In the ensuing fight, Lucas knocked out the outraged father with a pipe blow to the head. Then figuring in for a penny, in for a pound, he stole $400 from the company till, and fled to New York City.