By Jeff Burbank It was the first week of January 1973. Frank Matthews and his young girlfriend had just spent the holidays in Las Vegas and were about to board a flight to Los Angeles. In the previous several years, Matthews had made many trips to Las Vegas, carrying suitcases full of cash to be secretly laundered at casinos for a fee of 15 to 18 percent. This time, federal drug enforcement agents were waiting and placed him and the woman under arrest at McCarran International Airport. Two weeks before, U.S. prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, had issued an arrest warrant for Matthews, the top black drug kingpin in America whose heroin and cocaine trafficking gang of mostly African-American dealers extended to 21 states on the Eastern Seaboard. He was charged with trying to sell about 40 pounds of cocaine in Miami from April to September 1972, a small fraction of the drugs he’d pushed since 1968. The feds believed Matthews had millions in currency stashed away in safety deposit boxes
Richard Simmons is a legend that was born in Charleston, South Carolina. In the 1970s, he and his family moved to New York City. They settled themselves on 112th Street in Harlem. One of their fellow tenants in the same building, 109, was a woman who originally worked in the city as a nurse. She was known on the streets as “Queen Bee”.
* Simmons (c. 1970s) *
She earned that alias through hustling. Bee also introduced Simmons to the local heroin trade because she was connected with the Lucchese family of the Mafia. With her supply and guidance, Richard was earning $60,000 per week. Their relationship inevitably dissolved, in part due to Queen Bee’s cocaine addiction.
Simmons’ block of 112th Street saw other legends come before him in addition to Queen Bee, like Horse and Jerome Harris. But now there was space for a new big shot to step up.
In the midst of exploring his other options for a plug, Simmons purchased a bad batch of drugs from one supplier and got shot 5 times when he confronted them about it. As he was recovering from his wounds, Simmons, a.k.a. “Fritz”, negotiated a deal with a connect from the Medellín Cartel.
Two years after getting shot, Fritz was supplied with 15 kilograms of cocaine by the cartel. He began distributing all of his weight to clientele on consignment, rather than through an assembled drug crew. Out of the 40 people he distributed to on his block alone, there was no organized hierarchy or statuses amongst hustlers. He didn’t run an elaborate enterprise, he simply supplied.
One of the dealers he was supplying was Reginald “Rambo” Wiggins, who had an in-depth interview with Harlem Holiday explaining some details about Fritz.
Rambo recalled how pure Fritz’ drug reservoir was since Wiggins’ early days hustling with him. There was one time where Rambo visited a gambling spot called Joe Grants and sold some coke that was so good to one customer they cried after hitting it.
Originally, Fritz didn’t even want Wiggins to touch the drug trade because he came home from a bid. He helped Rambo get a job at a construction site before eventually supplying him with cocaine anyway. Rambo is also the one who introduced Fritz to the late Rich Porter in 1986. This was after Rich Porter’s business exploits with Azie Faison, who got robbed in August of the next year and withdrew from the drug game.
During their first encounter, Porter pulled up to Fritz’s building on 112th Street in a white BMW and a fresh Adidas tracksuit. Upon meeting Fritz, Rich didn’t believe it was him at first because of the way he dressed. Unlike Porter, Simmons wasn’t really into looking flashy and wearing expensive clothing.
In the 2002 film Paid In Full, Mitch’s character gets supplied 30 bricks of cocaine by Ace. In real life, Rich Porter was fronted this amount of drugs by Fritz in order to pay a ransom for his younger brother Donnell at the time. Unfortunately we all know how Alpo Martinez got in the way of Porter seeing it through.
Simmons naturally developed his own blueprint for the criminal underworld that he occupied. He never disrespected any fiends he served. He didn’t maintain any crack houses for some major operation. Aside from his humble fashion sense and non-violent demeanor, Fritz also abstained from drug use, alcohol and gambling. He believed that funding minor indulgences was hustling backwards, and encouraged people around him to be financially responsible. Regardless, he’d still pay for people’s expenses in the neighborhood and take care of them. Moreso than anything else, his closest family and associates affirm that he was one of the most generous people they knew. And some suggested maybe too much, because it gave room for Simmons to be taken advantage of.
Despite this, Richard wasn’t bothered by business partners who came up short on their deals or directly tried to steal from him. He stressed the fact that violence wasn’t necessary, since he had the best product around all he had to do was cut unloyal associates off. It was also why he never pressured anyone to do business with him in the first place, he figured they’d flock to his pure coke anyway.
One old hustler from back in the day named “Big Swol” recounted how Fritz was moving 200-300 kilos on a weekly basis.
Another one closer to Simmons was his righthand man Ace, who he met through Fritz late enforcer Charles “Chucky” Caine. Richard trusted Ace enough to let him live under his roof for a few years. He, like others, confirmed the influence that Fritz had in Harlem. Ace also dated Ms. Tee, another known name in the city’s streets.
Simmons’ own sister—Sheila Harrison—was living in Yonkers back in the day and once had a run-in with a man asking if she was related to Fritz. Simmons immediately came to her town and approached the locals about the safety of his family. He warned them that he’d come back if anything happened to them. Sheila confirmed she never had problems there ever since.
In 1989, Fritz started having severe health complications. And although he didn’t want to go, his condition soon required hospitalization. His sister Evelyn and Ace regularly visited him while he was there.
Then Ace was wrongfully convicted for the murder of a taxi driver in 1991, based on the eye-witness testimony of a crack addict the police found. He served 23 years in prison before getting released in 2014.
Unfortunately, Ace discovered that Fritz had passed away while he was still locked up. According to his exclusive YouTube interview, it took him about 6 years to cope with Simmons’ demise.
Many others from his street began adorning flashy outfits and rhinestone hats which read “No Fear” in his honor. This was the idea of Henry Clemente a.k.a. “Hen Dog”, who began behaving more aggressive following Fritz’s death. Rambo explained that this was Hen Dog’s way of discouraging anyone who may consider 112th street vulnerable or soft. They would push more of the No Fear name in their clothing, and design more pieces that also honored Fritz’s name directly. Even parties were thrown in homage to Simmons, and eventually Hen Dog as well who passed away not long after. The police used the image of the No Fear brand to fuel their indictment against those hustling on the block, since they ignorantly assumed it represented a gang.
Beyond Fritz’s affiliation with Rich Porter and anyone else, who he was mattered much more than who he knew. People up to now credit him as the Robin Hood of 112th Street and the King of Consignment.
Rest in peace.
Rip fritz Harlem world stand up
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