‘Jefferson Avenue’ presents 1950s Bed-Stuy: The gangs, lives, loves and humor
Brooklyn BookBeat
In his new memoir, “Jefferson Avenue: Stories from a Brooklyn Boyhood, 1941-1958,” Dr. James O’Kane reveals the boyhood that launched a life in criminology. His career has spanned four books, 50 articles, and 40 years of teaching Drew University students in the classroom and on the streets of New York City.
O’Kane, a sociologist whose previous book was “Wicked Deeds: Murder in America,” is also known for his work in ethnic studies and urban problems. His passion was fueled as he came of age on the gang-ridden streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant during times that were both politically incorrect and colorful in a way he’s never been able to recapture living in suburbia. Old habits die hard, though, and he writes:
Even where I live in affluent, safe Madison, New Jersey, I often lock my front door as I bring out the garbage since I never know who might break in and jump me. Paranoia lingers.