I’m writing about my late father, Paul Kornbluth (among many other topics!), over at my new online publication, “But Not Enough About Me.” In a post I’m working on right now, I’m recalling when he used to work as a social worker with a New York gang called the Bishops — who later upgraded their name to the Royal Bishops.

I have a yellowed copy of a neighborhood newspaper from that time called the West Side News. On the front page is an article by Jack Newfield (who would later find fame as a muckraking reporter for the Village Voice) that is, in part, about my dad’s work with the Bishops.

I thought I would share, in this space, scans of that article, as well as a transcript. If the Writing Gods are with me, sometime later today (or maybe, at the latest, tomorrow) I’ll be posting my piece in “But Enough About Me.” [Edit: I did post that piece; you can read it here.]

Transcript of Article

[From the West Side News, Thursday, February 7, 1963:]

“A Gang Finds a Clubhouse,” by Jack Newfield

A famous editor once said, “The news is like an iceberg, nine-tenths submerged.” And so it is that only the outcroppings of news — scandal, violence, death — become headlines, while the less climactic and dramatic events remain beneath the surface.

A teen-age gang makes headlines only when it “rumbles” in a park or playground. A Youth Board worker makes headlines only when he dies on the streets of East Harlem. This story deals with the submerged part of the news, the attempt of a handful of people to help a “bopping gang go social.”

* * *

Paul Kornbluth was the third Youth Board worker assigned to the West 80’s last summer. He worked 12 and 18 hours a day with a gang called the Bishops. He got them jobs, took them to his home, sat up all night talking to them. He began to do what the social worker’s paternalism and the policeman’s stick could not.

The members of the Bishops asked Kornbluth if he could get them a clubhouse or a headquarters. He said he’d try, but his superiors at the Youth Board said no. Their policy is to break up the gang. But Kornbluth persisted in his search for a clubhouse.

Rev. Charles Yerkes and Joe Cohen of the Planetarium Neighborhood Council began to work with Kornbluth and gang. Last week a clubhouse was found, and Kornbluth was fired by the Youth Board for “administrative weakness.” He spent so much time with the boys in the gang he failed to submit the required number of written reports.

* * *

Joe Lubell is 20 years old, has a 150 I.Q., and went to City College evening school for a while. He’s the leader of the Bishops.

“Paul is a straight guy,” he said. “Many times he sat up all night with us, explaining how important it is to have a job and finish school … With all the other Youth Board workers it was a nine-to-five job. But Paul used to take us to see his friends and one night he even let me sleep over [at] his place. He was different from all the others.” When Paul was fired, Joe wrote a petition asking for his reinstatement. So far he’s gotten 200 signatures.

* * *

Joe Cohen owns a house on West 83 Street, and he has opened that house to all the members of the Bishops. “These kids,” he said, “need a clubhouse desperately. They have no place to go. If they stand on the street corner, the cops come and chase them. The center at JHS [Junior High School] 44 is closed Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. And none of them have the kind of home where they can take their friends for the evening.”

Joe has no faith in organizational change. The police, the Youth Board, the Reform Independent Democrats, have all disillusioned Joe. So he does it all himself. “The Youth Board,” he said, “just wants to stop gang fighting. That’s dealing with the symptoms instead of the disease. There are drug pushers all over the neighborhood … The landlords exploit these people … Some of the kids can hardly speak English. Those are the problems that should be attacked, instead of worrying if Paul submitted enough written reports.”

* * *

The clubhouse the Bishops hope to move into is in the basement of the Hotel Endicott on Columbus Avenue. It consists of two large rooms and had been used until recently for the storage of rugs. Rent will be $150 a month. Fixtures, including a toilet and painting, will cost over $500. The Bishops would like to install a boxing ring and a juke box in one room, and use the other for studying, and possibly a reading clinic.

Kornbluth, though fired, will move into the neighborhood and help Cohen and Rev. Yerkes supervise the clubhouse. All three are now busy trying to raise the money needed for security and the first month’s rent. Contributions can be made by calling Joe Cohen, at TR4-4159.

David Schmidt owns a candy store on the corner of 82 Street and Columbus Avenue. “Paul Kornbluth,” he said, “is a man people have respect for. He prevented a lot of bloodshed around here. And if you’re putting this in the newspaper,” he added, “mention Joe Cohen’s wife, and how she takes the kids from public school on trips all the time.”