:04:01
The will of the church
was forceful.
:04:03
For a marriage to end,
:04:05
someone usually had to die.
:04:08
Yet despite
the harshness of life,
:04:10
Hell's Kitchen offered
the kids on its streets
:04:13
a safety net enjoyed by
few other neighbourhoods.
:04:16
Crimes against neighbourhood
people were not permitted.
:04:19
When they did occur,
:04:21
the punishment doled out
was severe,
:04:23
and in some cases final.
:04:25
A drug dealer
from an uptown neighbourhood
:04:27
moved heroin
into Hell's Kitchen.
:04:28
Packet killed a 12-year-old son
:04:30
of a Puerto Rican
numbers runner.
:04:31
It was the last packet
the dealer ever sold.
:04:35
Hell's kitchen was a place of
innocence ruled by corruption.
:04:41
My friends and I spent lots
of time inside Holy Angels.
:04:44
We each served as altar boys.
:04:46
Everyone wanted
to work funeral masses
:04:48
since the funeral
included a $3.00 fee -
:04:50
and more if you looked
sufficiently sombre.
:04:53
There was an active competition
between the four of us
:04:56
to come up with
the best and boldest prank.
:04:59
Two weeks
into the new school year,
:05:01
I found the nuns' clacker
in the school hallway,
:05:03
and I was ready
for the big leagues.
:05:05
In church, it was used
to alert the girls
:05:09
as to when they should stand,
sit, kneel, and genuflect -
:05:11
all based on the number
of times a clacker was pressed.
:05:14
In my pocket,
it was cause for havoc.
:05:25
You will be defenders
of the faith,
:05:27
you will be soldiers
of Christ...
:05:33
..gifts of the Holy Spirit...
:05:39
Well...
:05:40
It's going to be a great day,
:05:42
and your parents
will be very proud of you.
:05:44
When you were baptised,
godparents made promises and...
:05:49
Let me have the clacker.
:05:51
What clacker?
:05:52
Now.
:05:53
..great day.
:05:54
Let everyone rise.
:05:58
Let us pray.