Hell's Angels Headquarters Overview
The infamous Hell's Angels motorcycle club was founded in California in the late forties, named after the wildly indulgent but extremely successful Howard Hughes wartime aviation picture, and managed to weave its way into many of the seminal events of the mid-century American counterculture--the Manson Family murders, the tragedy at Altamont. Today, like much of the East Village, it's hard to tell if the Hell's Angels aren't merely running on fumes. The New York chapter headquarters on Third Street is protected around the clock by a brigade of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, parked at intimidating angles, and left unmanned. The clubhouse sponsors or hosts events now and again, but mostly exists to cultivate an identity, long discarded by the public, as a band of modern pirates. If you go, don't take any pictures!