Favorite Old Media Concerning New York Drug Trafficking

I thought I would kick off this site with a review of some of my favorite old media concerning drug trafficking in New York. While I’m sure many of you have heard of Carlito’s Way, the 1993 Brian DePalma film starring Al Pacino, you might be surprised to learn that the movie is based on two books written by Edwin Torres, Carlitos Way and After Hours. In addition to being a remarkable author, Edwin Torres is a Supreme Court Justice representing the Twelfth Judicial District in New York City. He says his life growing up in El Barrio then working as an assistant district attorney before becoming a judge has provided him with considerable fodder for his novels. He claims that most of the characters were based on people he grew up with in East Harlem and people he came in contact working in the Judicial System. The 1993 movie is based on the second novel After Hours, while the first novel Carlitos Way covers Carlitos’s early involvement with the mafia and subsequent incarceration. Carlitos Way the novel is the basis of unfortunately bad 2005 straight to video release called Carlitos Way: Rise to Power starring Diddy. I know that this post reeks of privileged voyeurism, but to really understand American history you have to look at all segments of society. But also I will be honest, the books provide a lot of exciting crime drama. If you’ve seen American Gangster you might be interested to know that the producers of the film are being sued by several DEA agents claiming that the film grossly misrepresents the truth about Frank Lucas’s role in testifying against corrupt cops. The film is based on the story told by an August 2000 New York Magazine article by Mark Jacobson about Lucas and his supposed connect with the golden triangle in Southeast Asia.