Chicago

North America

Quote

At Death's Own Wake...
Chicago, favored city of the Damned, is not as it once was. The streets, which have tasted blood time and time again, feasted as never before during the attack of the savage werewolves. Decades of effort fell in less than a month. That which had been immortal is no more. Crowning this pile of despair is the torn corpse of the prince, the last vestige of immortality ripped out by red-stained claws.

The Dead Can Dance!
The city has become a swirling vortex, pulling in fresh victims from every direction. From across the world the undead swarm, drawn in by Chicago's suffering. Who can resist its desperate call?

Lodin's Laws

Prince Lodin may have met his final death, but his laws live on. Whether out of habit or good sense, most of Chicago's Kindred still abide by these dictums. As new blood flocks to the city, however, this is sure to change.

1. None in my city shall kill and leave behind evidence of their feasting. If your slaying causes an investigation among the Police, or worse, among the Press, then I shall track you down and extinguish you--or, if others speak for you, exile you. You must lick all your wounds, and dispose of all those you kill. I hold the Fourth Tradition in strong regard and do not take such violations of the Masquerade lightly.
2. Do not harm the travelers to this city, for its wealth is based upon its status as a center of commerce and travel. You may feed from such, but do not leave any evidence of your feast. You should not test me on this, for these folk are the basis of the wealth of my realm.
3. Have nothing to do with any of those among the Press. They are to be strictly ignored. They are my Domain. Neither should you attempt to enslave or manipulate the Police of the city. They are my Domain as well.
4. Keep the Sanctity of Elysium, for that is our place of rest and recreation. No act of violence or struggle shall be tolerated therein. You may attend my court there, as all in my city are free to do, but you must not carry your conflicts into the sanctity of its ground.
5. Do no hold commerce with my enemies or those who seek to usurp my rightful authority. I shall repay treachery with treachery, rebellion with iron might. Let me caution you, I know all that happens within my realm. Do not think you can keep secrets from me.

Appearance

Population

• City ((2,695,598 within the city limits) - Dated census
• Metro Area Chicagoland (9.5 million) - Dated census

Bars and Clubs

Blue Velvet
Succubus Club
The Cave

City Government

The mundane government of Chicago is still controlled by the old political machine--a political machine unrivaled in any other city in the nation. Though it was overthrown for a time by the extraordinary black politician, Mayor Harold Washington, the manipulations of the Kindred allowed the machine to take over again a few years later.

To this day the machine permeates down to the neighborhood level. Ward bosses look out of the voters in their neighborhoods and pass out political favors to those who aid them. Vampiric dominance of this process no longer exists. Lodin's death freed many of these bosses to act on their own, without the undead to say yes or no. Individual vampires have seized individual wards, and even Lodin's former ghouls are rumored to be involved.

The prime powers of the city--mayor, aldermen, city attorney, congressmen, etc.--used to be under Lodin's influence. Cainites are still jostling for control of these individuals, but the mortals are beginning to fall into the different camps and, without a prince, may well turn the city's government into even more of a gridlock than it is today.

Churches

The Orthodox Temple of Akhenaton
The Temple of the Fanum

Crime

Crime in Chicago is mostly run by "The Outfit".

Pre-Prohibition

The early years of organized crime in Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were marked by the division of various street gangs controlling the South Side and North Side as well as the Black Hand organizations of Little Italy.

Big Jim Colosimo centralized control in the early 20th century. Colosimo was born in Calabria, Italy, in 1877, emigrating to Chicago in 1895, where he established himself as a criminal. By 1909 he was successful enough that he was encroaching on the criminal activity of the Black Hand organization.[5] Since its founding, the Chicago Outfit has been operating in order to keep and expand its status and profit throughout the Chicago area, among others.

His expanding organization required the procurement of extra muscle. This came in the form of Colosimo's nephew Johnny Torrio from New York. In 1919, Torrio brought in Al Capone, thus providing Capone's entrance to Chicago. In time, Colosimo and Torrio had a falling out over Torrio's insistence that they expand into rum-running, which Colosimo staunchly opposed. In 1920, Colosimo was killed on Torrio's order. Torrio reportedly brought in New York colleague, Frankie Yale, to murder Colosimo. Al Capone has also been suspected as Colosimo's assassin.

Torrio brought together different parts of Chicago criminal activity, with a lasting effect on Chicago in general, and Chicago crime in particular.

Al Capone's empire

During the Prohibition era, Johnny Torrio, competed with other gangsters in Chicago for the bootlegging business. Despite this, Torrio was able to reach a truce with the Dean O'Banion, the leader of the Irish North Side Gang. The Chicago Outfit operated in South Chicago while Dean O'Banion operated out of the North Side. Torrio also had allied with the Sicilian Genna crime family that operated out of Little Italy in the city's center. The truce with the North Side fell apart and on November 10, 1924, Dean O'Banion was killed by Frankie Yale and two Genna gunmen. Hymie Weiss took over the North Side Gang and on January 24, 1925 Torrio was severely wounded in an assassination attempt. After recovering in the hospital and serving a one year jail sentence, Torrio handed off control to Capone and retired. In 1926, Capone had Hymie Weiss killed. Capone's accession led to a bloody war for control of the bootlegging rackets in Chicago during the 1920s. This accumulated to the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The war was widely covered by the press and turned Capone into a national figure.

Raking in vast amounts of money Capone and his men were largely immune to prosecution because of witness intimidation and the bribing of city officials. They also paid of numerous cops to avoid arresting his men. By the end of his reign, Capone had successfully expanded the Chicago Outfit throughout metro Chicago. One of the prime areas of interest was in Canada, the main source of alcohol which the Outfit was smuggling into the States. This illicit alcohol was then distributed to all the brothels of Chicago. During prohibition, this was one of the greatest sources of income for the Outfit. The boss controlled the heads of various divisions of the Outfit through a system of subordinates placed throughout the various levels of the organization. Anyone who betrayed the honor of the organization was executed. Unable to convict Capone of any meaningful criminal activity, Treasury agents had him arrested for tax evasion and he was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 1931.

From Nitti through Accardo

Capone's hand-picked successor, Frank Nitti, nominally assumed power. In truth, power was seized by Nitti's underboss, Paul Ricca, who was acknowledged as "boss" by the leaders of the growing National Crime Syndicate. Ricca would rule the Outfit, either in name or in fact, for the next 40 years.

Over the next decade, The Outfit moved into labor racketeering, gambling, and loan sharking. Geographically, this was the period when Outfit muscle extended its tendrils to Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin, Kansas City, and especially to Hollywood and other California cities, where The Outfit's extortion of labor unions gave it leverage over the motion picture industry.

In the early 1940s, a handful of top Outfit leaders went to prison because they were found to be extorting Hollywood by controlling the unions that compose Hollywood's movie industry, and the manipulation and misuse of the Teamsters Central States Pension fund.[6] There were also allegations that The Outfit was involved in strong-arm tactics and voter fraud at polling places, under Salvatore Giancana in the 1960 presidential election. In 1943, the Outfit was caught red-handed shaking down the Hollywood movie industry. Ricca wanted Nitti to take the fall. However, Nitti had found, years earlier while in jail for 18 months (for tax evasion), that he was claustrophobic, and he decided to end his life rather than face more imprisonment for extorting Hollywood. Ricca then became the boss in name as well as in fact, with enforcement chief Tony Accardo as underboss—the start of a partnership that would last for almost 30 years. Around this time, the Outfit began bringing in members of the Forty-Two Gang, a notoriously violent youth gang. Among them were Sam "Momo" Giancana, Sam "Mad Sam" DeStefano, Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio and Fiore "Fifi" Buccieri.

However, later in 1943, following the "Hollywood Scandal" trial, Ricca was sent to prison for his part in The Outfit plot to control Hollywood. He, along with a number of other mobsters, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Through the "magic" of political connections, the whole group of Outfit mobsters was released after three years, largely due to the efforts of Outfit "fixer" Murray "The Camel" Humphreys. As a condition of his parole, Ricca could not associate with mobsters. Accardo nominally took power as boss, but actually shared power with Ricca, who continued behind the scenes as a senior consultant—one of the few instances of shared power in organized crime.

Accardo joined Ricca in semi-retirement in 1957 due to some "heat" he was getting from the IRS. From then on, Ricca and Accardo allowed several others, such as Giancana, Alderisio, Joey Aiuppa, William "Willie Potatoes" Daddano and Jackie "the Lackey" Cerone to nominally serve as boss. Most of the front bosses originated from the Forty-Two Gang. However, no major business transactions, and certainly no "hits," took place without Ricca and Accardo's knowledge and approval. By staying behind the scenes, Ricca and Accardo lasted far longer than Capone. Ricca died in 1972, leaving Accardo as the sole power behind the throne.

1960s-1970s

Along with the voting allegations, The Outfit was involved in a Central Intelligence Agency-Mafia collusion during Castro's overthrow of the Cuban government. In exchange for its help, the Outfit was to be given access to its former casinos if it helped overthrow Fidel Castro in (Operation Mongoose or Operation Family Jewels).[7] Having failed in that endeavor, and facing increasing indictments under the administration of President John F. Kennedy (JFK), the Outfit is the subject of conspiracy theories regarding the JFK assassination and that of JFK's brother Robert Kennedy.

The Outfit reached the height of its power in the early 1960s. With the aid of Meyer Lansky, Accardo used the Teamsters pension fund to engage in massive money laundering through the Outfit's casinos, aided by the likes of Sidney Korshak and Jimmy Hoffa. The 1970s and 1980s were a hard time for the Outfit, as law enforcement continued to penetrate the organization, spurred by poll-watching politicians. Off-track betting reduced bookmaking profits and illicit casinos withered under competition from legitimate casinos. Replacement activities like auto theft and professional sports betting did not replace the lost profits. The Outfit controlled casinos in Las Vegas and "skimmed" millions of dollars over the course of several decades. Most recently, top mob figures have been found guilty of crimes dating back to as early as the mid-1960s. It has been rumored that the $2 million skimmed from the casinos in the Court case of 1986 was used to build the Old Neighborhood Italian American Club, the founder of which was Angelo J. "The Hook" LaPietra.

Operation GAMBAT proved to be a crippling blow to the Outfit's tight grip on the Chicago Political Machine. Pat Marcy, a made man in the Outfit, ran the city's First Ward, which represented most of downtown Chicago. With the help of Alderman Fred Roti and Democratic Committeeman John D'Arco, Sr., close Outfit associates, Marcy and company controlled the circuit courts from the 1950s until the late 1980s. Together, the First Ward fixed cases involving everything from minor traffic violations to murder.

Attorney and First Ward associate Robert Cooley was one of the attorneys who represented many mafiosi and associates in which cases were fixed. As a trusted man within the First Ward, Cooley was approached and asked to take out a city police officer. Cooley, who was also an addicted gambler and in debt to certain undesirables, approached the U.S. Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force, declaring he wanted to "destroy Marcy and the First Ward."

Cooley was soon in touch with the FBI and began cooperating as a federal informant. Through the years, Cooley kept close with Marcy and the big shots of the First Ward. He wore a wire, recording valuable conversations at the notorious "First Ward Table", located at "Counselor's Row" across the street from Chicago City Hall. The results in Operation Gambat (Gambling Attorney) were convictions of 24 corrupt judges, lawyers, and cops.

Accardo died in 1992.[8] In a measure of how successfully he'd managed to stay out of the limelight, he never spent a day in jail (or only spent one day, depending on the source) despite an arrest record dating to 1922. Compared to how organized crime leadership transitions take place in New York City, Chicago's transition from Accardo to the next generation of Outfit bosses has been more of an administrative change than a power struggle.

21st century

Higher law enforcement investigations and general attrition led to the Outfit's gradual decline since the late 20th century. The Old Neighborhood Italian American Club is considered to be hangout of Old Timers, as they live out their golden years. The Club's founder was Angelo J. LaPietra "The Hook", who at the time of his death in 1999 was the main Council. On April 25, 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice launched Operation Family Secrets,[9] which indicted 14 Outfit members and associates under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel presided over the Family Secrets trial. The federal prosecutors were Mitchell A. Mars, T. Markus Funk, and John Scully.

As of 2007, the Outfit's size is estimated to be 28 official members (composing its core group) and over 100 associates. Other references report that the Outfit has around 50-60 made members, and then more associates

Neighborhoods

The Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago defined seventy-five community areas during the late 1920s. At the time, these community areas corresponded roughly to neighborhoods within the city. In the 1950s, with the city's annexations for O'Hare International Airport, a seventy-sixth community area was added. Other than the creation of the seventy-seventh community area in 1980 (by separating #77 Edgewater from #3 Uptown), boundaries have never been revised to reflect change but instead have been kept relatively stable to allow comparisons of these areas over time.

Although many community areas contain more than one neighborhood, they may also share the same name, or parts of the name, of some of their individual neighborhoods. Community areas often encompass groups of neighborhoods. In some cases, the character of the community area is independent of that of the individual neighborhoods it comprises.

Community areas by side

Central

The city center area covers a little more than Template:Convert, lying roughly between Division Street (1200 North) on the north, Lake Michigan on the east, 26th Street (2600 South) on the south and Halsted (800 West) on the west. This area is city's commercial hub. The three branches of the Chicago River meet in this area.

The area known as the Loop is a section within downtown, surrounded by elevated tracks of the rapid transit network. Many of downtown's commercial, cultural, and financial institutions are located in the Loop. Today, the Loop is also used to identify the larger downtown area.

River North contains the Magnificent Mile, a concentration of high-end retail. The central area is home to Grant and Millennium Parks, skyscrapers, museums, and shopping; and is the site of the city's largest parades: the annual Christmas, Thanksgiving and Saint Patrick's Day parades. The Chicago Bears play in Soldier Field on the Near South Side.

Number	Community area	Neighborhoods
08	Near North Side	Cabrini–Green The Gold Coast Goose Island Magnificent Mile Old Town River North River West Streeterville
32	Loop	Near East Side West Loop Gate
33	Near South Side	Dearborn Park Printer's Row South Loop Prairie Avenue Historic District

North side

The city's North Side (extending north of downtown and the Chicago River) is the most densely populated residential section of the city,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with considerable middle and upper-class residents. It also contains public parkland (such as the huge Lincoln Park) and beaches stretching for miles along Lake Michigan to the city's northern border. It includes Eastern European and other ethnic enclaves. Residential highrises line the eastern side of the North Side along the waterfront. The North Side is noted as the home of the Chicago Cubs, based at Wrigley Field.

North Side

Number	Community area	Neighborhoods
05	North Center	Horner Park Roscoe Village
06	Lake View	Lake View East Graceland West South East Ravenswood Wrigleyville
07	Lincoln Park	West DePaul Old Town Triangle Park West Ranch Triangle Sheffield Neighbors Wrightwood Neighbors
21	Avondale	Belmont Gardens Chicago's Polish Village Kosciuszko Park
22	Logan Square	Belmont Gardens Bucktown Kosciuszko Park Palmer Square

Far North side

Number	Community area	Neighborhoods
01	Rogers Park
02	West Ridge	Arcadia Terrace Peterson Park West Rogers Park
03	Uptown	Buena Park Margate Park Sheridan Park
04	Lincoln Square	Ravenswood Ravenswood Gardens Rockwell Crossing
09	Edison Park
10	Norwood Park	Big Oaks Old Norwood Park Oriole Park Union Ridge
11	Jefferson Park	Gladstone Park
12	Forest Glen	Edgebrook Old Edgebrook South Edgebrook Sauganash Wildwood
13	North Park	Brynford Park Hollywood Park River's Edge Sauganash Woods
14	Albany Park	Mayfair North Mayfair Ravenswood Manor
76	O'Hare	Schorsch Forest View
77	Edgewater	Andersonville Edgewater Glen Edgewater Beach Magnolia Glen Lakewood/Balmoral

Northwest side

Number	Community area	Neighborhoods
15	Portage Park	Belmont Central Władysławowo Six Corners
16	Irving Park	Avondale Gardens Independence Park Kilbourn Park Little Cassubia Old Irving Park Merchant Park The Villa
17	Dunning	Belmont Heights Belmont Terrace Irving Woods Schorsch Village
18	Montclare
19	Belmont Cragin	Belmont Central Hanson Park
20	Hermosa	Belmont Gardens Kelvyn Park

West side

The West Side (extending west of downtown) is made up of neighborhoods such as Austin, Lawndale, Garfield Park, West Town, and Humboldt Park among others. Some neighborhoods, particularly Garfield Park and Lawndale, have had long-term socio-economic problems. Other West Side neighborhoods, especially those closer to downtown, have been undergoing gentrification. The United Center, the home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, and University of Illinois at Chicago are located on the Near West Side.

Major parks on the West Side include Douglas, Garfield, and Humboldt Park. Garfield Park Conservatory houses one of the largest collections of tropical plants of any U.S. city. Attractions on the West Side include the Puerto Rican Day festival, the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen, and Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios near the city center.

Number	Community area	Neighborhoods
23	Humboldt Park
24	West Town	East Village Noble Square Polish Downtown Pulaski Park Smith Park Ukrainian Village Wicker Park
25	Austin	Galewood The Island
26	West Garfield Park
27	East Garfield Park	Fifth City
28	Near West Side	Greektown Little Italy Tri-Taylor
29	North Lawndale	Lawndale Homan Square Douglas Park
30	South Lawndale	Little Village
31	Lower West Side	Heart of Chicago Heart of Italy Pilsen

South side

The South Side is the largest section of the city, encompassing roughly 60% of the city's land area, and much was annexed in the late 19th century. The section along the lake is marked with public parkland and beaches. The South Side has a higher ratio of single-family homes and also contains most of the city's remaining industry. Historically it was the location of the stockyards, and its industries attracted hundreds of thousands of European immigrants and African-American migrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. More recent immigrants have come from Mexico and Latin America. Its U.S. Cellular Field, formerly Comiskey Park, is home to the Chicago White Sox.

Along with being the largest section of the city in terms of geography, the South Side is also home to one of the city's largest parades: the annual Bud Billiken Day parade. Held during the second weekend of August, it celebrates children returning to school.

The South Side has two of Chicago's largest public parks. Jackson Park, which hosted the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, is the site of the Museum of Science and Industry. The park stretches along the waterfront, situated between the neighborhoods of Hyde Park and South Shore. Washington Park sits slightly west of Jackson Park and the two are connected by a strip of parkland known as Midway Plaisance, which runs parallel to the University of Chicago.

Number	Community area	Neighborhoods
34	Armour Square	Chinatown Wentworth Gardens Bridgeport, Chicago
35	Douglas	Groveland Park Lake Meadows the Gap Prairie Shores South Commons
36	Oakland
37	Fuller Park
38	Grand Boulevard	Bronzeville
39	Kenwood
40	Washington Park
41	Hyde Park	East Hyde Park
42	Woodlawn	West Woodlawn
43	South Shore	Jackson Park Highlands
60	Bridgeport
69	Greater Grand Crossing	Grand Crossing Parkway Gardens Park Manor

Southwest side

Number	Community area	Neighborhoods
56	Garfield Ridge	LeClaire Courts Sleepy Hollow Vittum Park
57	Archer Heights
58	Brighton Park
59	McKinley Park
61	New City	Back of the Yards Canaryville
62	West Elsdon
63	Gage Park
64	Clearing	Chrysler Village
65	West Lawn	Ford City West Lawn
66	Chicago Lawn	Lithuanian Plaza Marquette Park
67	West Englewood
68	Englewood

Far Southeast side

Number	Community area	Neighborhoods
44	Chatham	East Chatham West Chatham West Chesterfield
45	Avalon Park	Avalon Park Marynook Stony Island Park
46	South Chicago	The Bush
47	Burnside
48	Calumet Heights	Pill Hill
49	Roseland	Fernwood Rosemoor
50	Pullman	Cottage Grove Heights London Towne
51	South Deering	Jeffrey Manor Trumbull Park
52	East Side
53	West Pullman
54	Riverdale	Altgeld Gardens Eden Green Golden Gate
55	Hegewisch

Far Southwest side

Number	Community area	Neighborhoods
70	Ashburn	Beverly View Mary Crest Parkview Scottsdale Wrightwood
71	Auburn Gresham
72	Beverly
73	Washington Heights	Brainerd Longwood Manor Princeton Park
74	Mount Greenwood	Mount Greenwood Heights Talley's Corner
75	Morgan Park	Beverly Woods Kennedy Park West Morgan Park

Vampires of the City

	Chicago Brujah		Chicago Caitif		Chicago Gangrel		Chicago Malkavians		Chicago Nosferatu		Chicago Toreador		Chicago Tremere		Chicago Ventrue

--Maxwell

--Michael

--Prias

--Sabbat in Chicago

Websites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago