Chicago Bel-Aires gang Belaires
Bel-Aires Gang
Years Active:
1960s to Late 70s
Turf- Main area between Armitage and North Ave, and Sacramento and Central Park. Also hung out at “The Root” Cafe on Armitage and Sawyer, and St. Louis and Armitage.
Colors:
Blue and White, the Logo was a Bell with Wings
A White Greaser gang that hung out at the Hermosa/Logan Square Chicago neighborhoods. In the mid 60'S Monticello Park was known as the CENTRAL PARK Chaplins, which became the Bel-Airs. Their Main Rivals were the Cortland Stacies who hung out on Moffat and Campbell Ave. Many Bel-Airs felt out outnumbered and later joined the DC Eagles Motorcycle Club.
Bel-Aires History
The Bel-Airs and the Simon City were responsible for shutting down the Root Coffee House at 3260 Armitage Avenue in Humboldt Park owned by Rev. Johnson and his wife. The two gangs, the Bel-Aires and the Simon City, had a fight there and police closed the club after a raid Feb. 5, 1968. “Crazy Tom” was the president in the late 1960s til mid 70s. In 1974 the Bel-Airs rented a clubhouse in their neighborhood, they called it the NWYO- Northwest Youth Organization.
