Wire report

‘The Savage Skulls were the most dangerous gang in the Bronx’: Jean-Pierre Laffont’s best photograph

‘I’d read stories about gangs killing drug-pushers who targeted young people. Police would find their bodies at the bottom of five-storey buildings. I didn’t want to go looking for them alone’ The late 1960s and most of the 1970s were a difficult time for New York. I’d moved there from France in 1965 with a reporter friend and a plan to start a little agency, but soon found myself working alone. It could be a dangerous city, especially at night, but I enjoyed taking pictures of everyday life around me. In 1969, I became the first foreign correspondent for the Paris-based Gamma Agency, but always insisted on working on personal projects rather than assignments. Reading the New York Times in 1972, I would see stories about gangs in the Bronx that were killing drug-pushers who targeted young people in the area. The police would find their bodies on the kerb at the bottom of five-storey buil

Image from linked report: ‘The Savage Skulls were the most dangerous gang in the Bronx’: Jean-Pierre Laffont’s best photograph
Image from the linked report: ‘The Savage Skulls were the most dangerous gang in the Bronx’: Jean-Pierre Laffont’s best photograph.Credit: The Guardian Thumbnail shown with attribution and outbound source link; VINI does not claim ownership or republish the original article body. Image source Image shown with attribution and an outbound source link; VINI does not claim ownership or republish the original article body.
Reading time2 min

coverage / Wire report

Reader toolsFollow the reporting.

Get updates, read source context, send useful records, share the story, or support the reporting work from the reading page.

FollowGet story updatesBriefs and topic returnsContextOpen background1 public sourceContributeSend recordsDocuments, dates, photosSupportFund reportingReader-backed workShareCopy story URLvininews.com
Why it mattersCulture

‘I’d read stories about gangs killing drug-pushers who targeted young people. Police would find their bodies at the bottom of five-storey buildings. I didn’t want to go looking for them alone’ The late 1960s and most of the 1970s were a difficult time for New York. I’d moved there from France in 1965 with a reporter friend and a plan to start a little agency, but soon found myself working alone. It could be a dangerous city, especially at night, but I enjoyed taking pictures of everyday life around me. In 1969, I became the first foreign correspondent for the Paris-based Gamma Agency, but always insisted on working on personal projects rather than assignments. Reading the New York Times in 1972, I would see stories about gangs in the Bronx that were killing drug-pushers who targeted young people in the area. The police would find their bodies on the kerb at the bottom of five-storey buil

What to know1 source

Check the original link, updates, and responses when a detail is contested.

Keep readingdesign

Open topic or search related wording such as records, sources, agencies, dates, and locations.

What happened

According to The Guardian’s source item, ‘The Savage Skulls were the most dangerous gang in the Bronx’: Jean-Pierre Laffont’s best photograph, ‘I’d read stories about gangs killing drug-pushers who targeted young people. Police would find their bodies at the bottom of five-storey buildings. I didn’t want to go looking for them alone’ The late 1960s and most of the 1970s were a difficult time for New York. I’d moved there from France in 1965 with a reporter friend and a plan to start a little agency, but soon found myself working alone. It could be a dangerous city, especially at night, but I enjoyed taking pictures of everyday life around me. In 1969, I became the first foreign correspondent for the Paris-based Gamma Agency, but always insisted on working on personal projects rather than assignments. Reading the New York Times in 1972, I would see stories about gangs in the Bronx that were killing drug-pushers who targeted young people in the area. The police would find their bodies on the kerb at the bottom of five-storey buil

Context

The development sits in VINI’s Culture file for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-09-30T14:41:26+00:00.

What to watch

Open questions include whether primary sources issue follow-up statements, whether local or market impacts become clearer, and whether additional reporting changes the timeline or adds material context.

Source

Primary source: ‘The Savage Skulls were the most dangerous gang in the Bronx’: Jean-Pierre Laffont’s best photograph via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.

Keep following

This file can keep developing

vininews.com uses reader tips, public records, right-of-reply requests, corrections, and follow-up reporting to keep important stories current.

SubscribeGet the next updateSend recordsShare documents or leadsRespondRequest comment or replyDonateSupport reporting costs

Support and subscriptions never buy coverage, placement, suppression, or corrections.

This VINI report keeps the original publisher link available and does not republish third-party article bodies without rights clearance. 1 reference listed.

Source links

Reader comments

Moderated discussion

Account access

Comments are open to authenticated approved accounts, screened for spam and abuse, and published only after newsroom moderation unless editors change the story control.

Loading comments.

No approved comments yet.

Substantive, civil comments can be submitted by approved account holders.