This Comes On The Heels Of The Company’s Announcement That It Will Open Its Latest Flagship Store On Haifa Street In Baghdad

New Era, the supplier of Major League Baseball caps, is accused of exploiting gang rivalries in designing new merchandise:

Angry East Harlem activists took to the streets yesterday, demanding that New Era baseball caps designed with the colors and symbols of three notorious gangs be pulled from shelves.

The protesters say the headwear, which they claim evoke the Bloods, Crips and Latin Kings gang colors, will add to the violence that already plagues their neighborhood.

“Young people who don’t know the meaning of these hats will fall prey to gangs and wind up beat up, shot or worse,” said Johnny Rivera, who led the group of 20 protesters to apparel stores along Third Avenue near East 107th Street.

. . .

Rivera first discovered the caps while shopping with his son for back-to-school gear last week.

He offered to buy his son a black New Era baseball cap with a gold Yankee logo and embroidered crown. The 11-year-old explained to his then-clueless father that the hat was “a gang thing,” and wearing it would put him in danger.

“This is not something I was aware of as a 45-year old father buying a hat for my 11-year old kid,” he said.

His son pointed out two other New Era-brand Yankees hats, both white with red or blue bandannas wrapped around the sides, that he said represent Bloods and Crips.