{"id":12523,"date":"2018-09-04T10:21:04","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T14:21:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillyhistory.wpengine.com\/?p=12523"},"modified":"2018-09-25T14:17:39","modified_gmt":"2018-09-25T18:17:39","slug":"12th-and-pine-where-the-cisco-kid-became-the-big-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/2018\/09\/12th-and-pine-where-the-cisco-kid-became-the-big-man\/","title":{"rendered":"12th and Pine: Where \u201cThe Cisco Kid\u201d Became \u201cThe Big Man\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

By transferring Captain Frank Rizzo, a\/k\/a \u201cThe Cisco Kid<\/a>,\u201d from the station house at 39th and Lancaster to 12th<\/sup> and Pine in May 1952, Police Commissioner Thomas J. Gibbons hoped to solve two problems. He increased law enforcement in Center City and saved Rizzo from himself in racially charged West Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Police Station, 12th and Pine Streets, before demolition, June 8, 1960. (PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Pine Street, the gung-ho Rizzo immediately got to work with a campaign of raids on Locust Street strip joints<\/a>. And more. He ordered \u201ca 24-hour raiding spree . . . of vagrants and panhandlers,\u201d throughout Center City, sweeping more than 50 men off the streets. (Rizzo knew this “anti-mugger operation” would appeal to many law-abiding citizens.) His raiders turned eastward to Society Hill. \u201cPolice Seize 10 In Reefer Raid, last night at 2nd<\/sup> and Pine,\u201d read a headline. Then he doubled down on his favorite targets: after-hours clubs, this time venturing beyond the Locust strip.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Police Station, 12th and Pine Streets, before demolition, June 8, 1960. Detail. (PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a>According to biographer S. A. Paolantonio, Rizzo not only became \u201cthe frontline commander for the Center City officials who wanted Center City cleaned up,\u201d he also became \u201can intriguing and hotly debated political figure in his own right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rizzo’s raids sent a law and order message to the public, to law enforcement, to City Hall and to the media. Occasionally, his shenanigans backfired. In 1955, Rizzo and another officer chased down and arrested five carousing sailors. Then, back at the 12th<\/sup> and Pine Street station, they beat them with nightsticks. \u201cNavy asks full probe of brutality,” read a headline.\u201d Warrants were served on both Rizzo and the other officer, Robert O\u2019Brien, charging aggravated assault and battery. Meanwhile, the sailors were fined $10 each and released.<\/p>\n

The charges were soon dropped, but Commissioner Gibson knew full well Rizzo had beaten those sailors “for no reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rizzo\u2019s ire then turned to the coffee houses of Center City, popular gathering spots for gays, interracial couples, artists, intellectuals and \u201cfollowers of jazz music.\u201d \u201c\u2019Beatnik\u2019 Center Raided by Police\u201d read a headline the day after police descended on the Humoresque Coffee Shop at 2036 Sansom Street. Patrons “in traditional garb of chinos and sweaters” were\u00a0were charged with breach of peace and “released after brief interrogation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other targets included the Proscenium Coffee Shop and Experimental Theater at 2204 Chestnut Street, the Gilded Cage at 21st<\/sup> and Rittenhouse Streets, the Artists\u2019s Hut at 2006 Walnut Street, but Rizzo seemed to have a special interest in the Humoresque, which, according to the Inquirer<\/em>, was considered to be a “‘gathering place\u2019 for drug addicts” and a destination for “sex deviates” openly\u00a0\u201cflaunting . . . their sexual immorality.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the midst of one raid in February 1959, Rizzo stood before the gathering crowd, many of whom supported his actions, pointed to the Humoresque’s young owner, Mel Heifetz, and shouted: \u201cAre you going to allow that creep to operate that den of iniquity?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rizzo threatened Heifetz: \u201cIf you defy me, I\u2019ll hang you from the chandelier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heifetz, who much later would make a $16 million gift to The Philadelphia Foundation<\/a> to support LGBTQ-serving organizations, sued Rizzo and lost, but not before the captain was transferred again, this time to a new station in the Northeast,\u00a0far from Sansom Street.<\/p>\n

Stewart Klein<\/a>\u00a0of the Daily News<\/em>\u00a0(and later a prominent film, theater and television critic) felt sufficiently inspired to write a poem celebrating the occasion of Rizzo’s departure from Center City.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBetter than anything at the time” Paolantonio observed,\u00a0An Espresso of Sad Parting,\u00a0<\/em>captured “how much Frank Rizzo had become a folk figure\u2014hero to some, feared by others.\u201d Here’s an excerpt:<\/p>\n

In the Locust Street coffee parlors
\nThrough the doors he often tore
\nSay it softly no one hollers:
\n\u201cHe don\u2019t live here anymore.\u201d
\nDown Mole, Ranstead, Quince
\nThe streets the days of yore;
\nSly smiles instead of winces:
\n\u201cHe don\u2019t live here anymore.\u201d
\nSomewhere the hoods are crying,
\nSomewhere the dips are sore
\nBut expressoed lips are sighing
\n\u201cHe don\u2019t live here anymore.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ten years after he took the helm at the 12th and Pine, “Rizzo was at the forefront of the national debate over law enforcement. He recognized the political power of fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Paolantonio, Rizzo had become \u201cthe biggest of the big men in the Philadelphia Police Department \u2013 a big cop for all America.”<\/p>\n

“It was only a matter of time before he had the title to go with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Sources:\u00a0Joseph Daughen, “Center-City Booze Bistros Have Lost Their A-peal,”\u00a0Bulletin<\/em> June 14 1962; \u201cDrive on \u2018Muggers\u2019 Ordered by Captain,”\u00a0The Philadelphia Tribune<\/em>, September 2, 1952; \u201cPolice Seize 10 In Reefer Raid, last night at 2nd<\/sup> and Pine.”\u00a0Inquirer<\/em>, October 4, 1952; \u201c5 Sailors Accuse Rizzo of \u2018Vicious\u2019 Beating With Stick in Station,\u201d Inquirer<\/em>, August 24, 1955; “‘Beatnik Place Raided by Police,” Inquirer<\/em>, February 14, 1959; \u201c2 City Departments, State Agency Probe 4 Midtown Coffee Shops,\u201d Inquirer<\/em>, February 19, 1959; “Neighbors\u2019 Suit To Ask Closing of Coffee Shop,”\u00a0Inquirer<\/em>, February 25, 1959;\u00a0<\/span>“Coffee Figure Charges Rizzo Threatened Him,” Inquirer<\/em>, February 27, 1959;\u00a0<\/span>S. A. Paolantonio, Frank Rizzo: The Last Big Man in Big City America<\/em> (Camino Books, 1993, 2003).]<\/span><\/p>\n

More\u00a0PhillyHistory\u00a0posts on Frank Rizzo here<\/a>, here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By transferring Captain Frank Rizzo, a\/k\/a \u201cThe Cisco Kid,\u201d from the station house at 39th and Lancaster to 12th and Pine in May 1952, Police Commissioner Thomas J. Gibbons hoped to solve two problems. He increased law enforcement in Center City and saved Rizzo from himself in racially charged West Philadelphia. On Pine Street, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}