Salvador AgronThe correct spelling of his surname in Spanish is Agrón. But the biography by Jacoby, his personal friend, uses the americanized spelling Agron exclusively throughout. The book contains numerous examples of personal correspondence from its subject, and he signs himself Agron, even when writing in Spanish, for example, "Tu amigo y hermano, Salvador Agron #16846" (Jacoby, p. 70).
Reports of his arrest use the conventional americanized spelling. He was described as "Salvador Agron, the Cape Man" in the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...

'' on September 3, 1959 (reprinted in Jacoby, p. 181). (April 24, 1943 – April 22, 1986), a.k.a. "The Capeman", was a Puerto Rican gang member who murdered two teenagers in a

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

park in 1959. Agron mistook both teenagers for members of a gang called the Norsemen who were supposed to show up for a gang fight. Agron was the subject of the musical ''

The Capeman ''The Capeman'' is a musical play with music by Paul Simon and book and lyrics by Simon and Derek Walcott based on the life of convicted murderer Salvador Agrón. The play opened at the Marquis Theatre in 1998 to poor reviews and ran for 68 p ...

'' by

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

Early years

Agron was born in the city of Mayagüez on the western coast of Puerto Rico. When he was young, his parents divorced and his mother had custody of him and his sister, Aurea. She earned a living by working at a local

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. According to Agron, he and his sister were mistreated by the nuns. His mother met and married a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

minister and the family moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Agron's relationship with his stepfather was difficult, and he asked his mother to send him back to Puerto Rico to live with his father. He returned to Puerto Rico, by which time his father had remarried. One day the teenage Agron found the body of his stepmother, who had committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by hanging herself. Agron began to get into trouble and was sent to the Industrial School of Mayagüez.

The Capeman

His father sent him back to his mother in New York. In 1958 he became a member of teenage

street gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...

the Mau Maus from the

Fort Greene Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Flushing Avenue and the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north, Flatbush Avenue Extension and Downtown Brooklyn to the w ...

neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He later joined another gang called the Vampires after meeting Tony Hernandez,The correct spelling of his surname in Spanish is Hernández. The biography by Jacoby uses the americanized spelling Hernandez (Jacoby, p. 182). the gang's president. On August 29, 1959, the Vampires were on their way to "rumble" (street gang fight) with a gang composed mostly of

Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

s called the Norsemen. When they arrived, they mistook a group of teenagers for members of the Norsemen. Agron stabbed two of the teenagers to death and fled the scene. The two victims were Anthony Krzesinski and Robert Young, Jr. The murders made headlines in New York and the city went into an uproar. Agron was called "The Capeman" because he wore a black cape with red lining during the fight, while Hernandez was labeled "The Umbrella Man" because he used an umbrella with a sharp end as a weapon. After Agron was captured, he was quoted as saying: "I don't care if I burn, my mother could watch me."

Incarceration

Agron was sentenced to death, which made the 16-year-old the youngest prisoner ever sent to

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

in New York. While many New Yorkers were outraged about the killings, others like former First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

and Robert Young, the father of one of the victims, campaigned for leniency. While on death row, Agron became a born-again

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. In prison he learned to read and write, earning his high school equivalency diploma. He wrote poems about his life and street life, including "The Political Identity of Salvador Agron; Travel Log of Thirty-Four Years", "Uhuru Sasa! (A Freedom Call)", and "Justice, Law and Order", which were published by some newspapers. He later earned his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

from the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

New Paltz New Paltz () is an incorporated U.S. town in Ulster County, New York. The population was 14,407 at the 2020 census. The town is located in the southeastern part of the county and is south of Kingston. New Paltz contains a village, also with the ...

, New York. In 1962, his death sentence was commuted to life in prison by Governor

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...

Escape and release from prison

In December 1976, Governor

Hugh Carey Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney of the Democratic Party who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1961 to 1974 and as the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. Early ...

reduced Agron's sentence, making him eligible for release in 1977. Agron was enrolled at

SUNY New Paltz The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an a ...

while spending his nights at the Fishkill Correctional Facility. In April 1977, Agron took flight and absconded to Phoenix, where he was captured two weeks later and brought back to New York. In November 1977, Agron went on trial for his escape, defended by lawyer

William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American attorney and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Ci ...

. He was found not guilty, by reason of "mental illness", of the charge of absconding. Agron was released from prison on November 1, 1979. A television movie based on his life was proposed and he set up a fund for the families of his victims with the money he received.

Later years

Agron began working as a youth counselor, and spoke out against

gang violence A gang is a group or society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collecti ...

for over five years. On April 16, 1986, he was admitted to a hospital with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and internal bleeding. He died six days later at age 42, two days before his 43rd birthday.

In popular culture

* ''Conversations with the Capeman: The Untold Story of Salvador Agron'' was written by Richard Jacoby, with an introduction by Hubert Selby, Jr. * ''

'', a

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatr ...

written by

and

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott OM (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem '' Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as ...

, was based on the life of Agron. The play opened at the

Marquis Theatre The Marquis Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater on the third floor of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1986, it ...

in 1998. * The character of Anthony "Batman" Aposto in the 1961 film ''

The Young Savages ''The Young Savages'' is a 1961 American crime drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usual ...

'' is loosely based upon Agron and his tendency to wear capes. * In 2009, Puerto Rican singer

Obie Bermúdez Obie Bermúdez (born January 10, 1981) is a Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican Latin pop, Salsa music, salsa singer and composer. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New Jersey, his music is deeply influenced by his roots in both communities, ...

, together with

Danny Rivera Danny Rivera (born 27 February 1945) is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter born in San Juan whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is well known in Puerto Rico for his political activism. In 2008, Rivera acquired Dominican Republic citizenship. ...

, Ray de la Paz, Claudette Sierra and Frankie Negrón, participated in a performance of ''Songs of the Capeman'', based on Paul Simon's play, under the direction of Oscar Hernández and his Spanish Harlem Orquestra.

Bibliography

* Agron, Salvador, Rubinstein, Annette T., and Kresky, Harry. ''Salvador Agron: Puerto Rican, Prisoner, Poet'', Charter Group for a Pledge of Conscience, 1978. * Jacoby, Richard. ''Conversations with the Capeman: The Untold Story of Salvador Agron'', University of Wisconsin Press: Madison, 2004.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agron, Salvador 1943 births 1986 deaths People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican male poets Puerto Rican people convicted of murder Puerto Rican prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by New York (state) People convicted of murder by New York (state) State University of New York at New Paltz alumni Gang members Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Deaths from bleeding 20th-century American poets 20th-century American male writers People paroled from life sentence Recipients of gubernatorial clemency in New York (state)