Crash Out: The True Tale of a Hell's Kitchen Kid and the Bloodiest Escape in Sing Sing History

Every April I Was At The Ceremony Near The Front Gate For CO Hartye And PO Fagan. Days I Worked From 1984 To 1999, My 15 Years As A CO At Sing Sing. The Book Was Excellent. I Knew Well The Authors Brother Ken, He Was A Sargeant When I First Arrived And An LT, The W/C or SS 9 When I Left. He Used To Call Me Flanagan And Was A Top Notch Guy. The Story Of The Background Of The Shopping Bag Gang, How It Was In The City, Just The Plain History Of It Kept Me Glued To This One. Having Been A Part Of The Facility For Such A Long Time And Being Able To Picture This All Helped Alot Too. If You've Ever Been A CO This Is A Must.

This book tells the tragic story of Whitey Riordan who was executed for murder after a murderous breakout from Sing Sing Prison in 1941, this book contends that he was not a killer and l agree with it. However the book is more than that it is a well researched and written historical book that brings to back to life for the reader a time, place and people and tells their story. The book is divided into three parts, part one tells the story of the lives of Whitey and the Shopping Bag Gang and gives a good overall perspective of life in Hells Kitchen of New York in the early 20th century. It even delves back to the history of the area pre Hells Kitchen to colonial times, with running streams and meadows and later farms. Whitey's family like many endured hard times and did as best as they could to survive. Whitey's gradual descent into a life of crime is well documented as are the lives of his fellow criminals. Part two deals with Whiteys time in Sing Sing prison and contains some details of the day to day operations of the jail and its interaction with the town of Ossining where it is located. Some history of Sing Sing prison, including the reforms of Warden Lawes is also described. It was a tough place to survive and prison staff were liable to deliver a boot or a fist to keep order. Also described is the pre breakout time and the planning and circumstances that gave rise to the break out. Part three deals with the breakout and what a botched, bloody and pointless breakout it was, innocent, decent people killed and one escapee killed though his own stupidity and the other two caught within 24 hours. This is a well written informative book and is ideal for the true crime history fan.

Author David Goewey has given us a detailed account of members of the so-called Shopping Bag Gang that prowled the Hell's Kitchen area on the west side of Manhattan during the 1930's. The book is divided into three sections. The first section is devoted to the heyday of the Shopping Bag gang and their antics. Part two tells us about the environment of Sing Sing prison under the revolutionary rule under Warden Lewis Lawes who was often accused of running a prison focused on rehabilitation rather than punishment. Lawes lasted longer than any other warden of the institution (over 20 years) and had his watch marred by this one breakout in 1941 which unfortunately killed two guards. Part three is devoted to the escape, capture, and execution of two members involved in the escape. I found part three to be especially riviting to read and very well done. Prisoners often feared the sound of bloodhounds coming after them and what the dogs would do to them when confrontations arose. In reality the dogs would playfully jump on the individual, slobber their faces with their tongue, and wag their tail. Mention of how the term "third degree" came into use is told when people applying for a higher position in the Masons would face severe questioning by other members. This, in turn, was applied to suspects, or in this case by escaped convicts, who were often physically beaten by authorities to extract confessions. I did find a minor error on page 188 which is really unrelated to the story. The author mentions the Washington Senators beating the Baltimore Orioles in a baseball game. The Baltimore Orioles didn't join the major leagues until 1954 when they moved from St. Louis. The game the author refers to had to be Washington defeating the St. Louis Browns, not the Baltimore Orioles. Despite this the book rates a strong five stars.

I loved this book. It is a gripping tale and Goeway does a great job of telling the story.He captures the desperation of the prisoners at the same time that he manages to evoke an important period in American history. Thank you, David Goeway!