How did the Riffs get to Coney Island?

[Oxygen]

I was watching the movie the other day, and I noticed that the Riffs just sortta popped up out of nowhere. How did that many Riffs get to Coney? I mean, did they ride around on a bus like the Turnbulls? There were so many Riffs it would have taken 4 buses. And every subway car going to Coney filled with Gramercy Riffs dosn't seem very realistic.

[adam88]

Well actually, theres so many theories on this.  Who knows, with the type of power and influence the Riffs have on New York, their possibilities, and means of transportation might be limitless.  Maybe they had their own personal vehicals or automobiles that were simply off screen.  Being that they are such an influencial gang, that has been around for such a long time, it is possible they have connections.  Maybe there so powerful, there even untouchable with the cops.  For all we know the cops probably brought them there out of bribery.  I say "bribery" because after all the cops wouldn't have busted up the rivalry if it they respected the riffs so much.  So it really is hard to say.  The Riffs are meant to be meant to be men of mystery, and knowing their means of getting around, is one of many questions about who the riffs are as people.  Its like "who was Luther talking to on the phone".  The Riffs are men of an extraordinary existence.

[papa arnold]

Well actually, theres so many theories on this.  Who knows, with the type of power and influence the Riffs have on New York, their possibilities, and means of transportation might be limitless.  Maybe they had their own personal vehicals or automobiles that were simply off screen.  Being that they are such an influencial gang, that has been around for such a long time, it is possible they have connections.  Maybe there so powerful, there even untouchable with the cops.  For all we know the cops probably brought them there out of bribery.  I say "bribery" because after all the cops wouldn't have busted up the rivalry if it they respected the riffs so much.  So it really is hard to say.  The Riffs are meant to be meant to be men of mystery, and knowing their means of getting around, is one of many questions about who the riffs are as people.  Its like "who was Luther talking to on the phone".  The Riffs are men of an extraordinary existence.

good explanation..i always figured the riffs traveled there on a convoy of vans or cars(automobiles) of some sort onyone else think this

[KillerMime]

I'd say they had to take their own vehicles because they just didn't have time to take the subway.  The informer told Masai that it was the Rogues who killed Cyrus, and Masai would have known that the Warriors were almost back at Coney and that he had to get his men there in a hurry.  So I'm guessing they just piled into vans or a truck or something.

And a hundred guys dressed all in black carrying hockey sticks would look a little suspicious on a subway.

[Swan 1979]

Yeah probably a convoy of vans or cars

[Ninth Delegate]

If you look closly at the scene where the witness is brought to masai; masai is sat in front of a van.  You can see the same van in the production photos on this site.  I'd imagine a gang of that size would have access to many vehicles. They probably had a fleet of vans.

[andy_man]

Go watch the movie. Obviously they took a pink elephant with wings  ](*,)

[the wigan warrior]

Well actually, theres so many theories on this.  Who knows, with the type of power and influence the Riffs have on New York, their possibilities, and means of transportation might be limitless.  Maybe they had their own personal vehicals or automobiles that were simply off screen.  Being that they are such an influencial gang, that has been around for such a long time, it is possible they have connections.  Maybe there so powerful, there even untouchable with the cops.  For all we know the cops probably brought them there out of bribery.  I say "bribery" because after all the cops wouldn't have busted up the rivalry if it they respected the riffs so much.  So it really is hard to say.  The Riffs are meant to be meant to be men of mystery, and knowing their means of getting around, is one of many questions about who the riffs are as people.  Its like "who was Luther talking to on the phone".  The Riffs are men of an extraordinary existence.

I don't think they will have had much connections with the police, the meeting may not have been busted otherwise.

Very good points though, their hideout does look very big so looks like it could hold quite a few buses, cars etc. maybe a boat we will never know. lol

[PowerPaulie]

Pretty good question! I have no idea actually...perhaps a convoy of cars indeed...or a lot of jetpacks

[back2coney]

If you look closly at the scene where the witness is brought to masai; masai is sat in front of a van.  You can see the same van in the production photos on this site.  I'd imagine a gang of that size would have access to many vehicles. They probably had a fleet of vans.

Oh I was going to say that......yeah there van is straight pimping son! (sorry i don't really speak like that)
I presume there is a massive bridge over to Coney????
I can't see a ship taking them all over in the dead of night or operating in the early hours......is there a bridge?

[back2coney]

Coney isn't actually an island, it's a peninsula. If they drove, the only water they'd have to cross (or pass under) would be between Manhattan and Brooklyn. They could drive through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel for that.

They could also cross the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn, if they wanted to take that route.

Gotcha, i learn another new thing today....this one is rather embarrassing though.

[POZEST]

Excellent question.  I had never thought about this.  What I wondered was how did they all 'walk up' on the Warriors/Rogues without any of them noticing a huge gang creeping up on them.
I finally accepted that the Warriors/ROgues were so engulfed in their show down that they simply did not notice.

My take is they drove or were driven.  Perhaps even other gangs provided vehicles/buses, etc..  I have not been to New York, so I don't know if a car/van/bus would be faster than subway on a weekend.  I assume the conclave meeting takes place on a Friday night or Saturday night.  I'm more privy to the Saturday night.

Again, great question.

[KennyO]

Anything can happen in the movies, but getting down there would be quite possible since they were in pursuit of the Warriors and knew that is where they'd be come daybreak.

[GramercyRiff99]

This seems like a question for our resident subway expert, GramercyRiff99, but here's my theory.

Well, back from being banned, and ready to give my best explanation.

I do not think that the Riffs took the subway. If they did, they would have probably taken the F line from Delancey Street to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue. I think the subway would have still been running late night service at the time, which is essentially one or two trains per hour. Because of that, I really don't think that they would have risked the subway. By the time they got there, unless they got really lucky, everything would be over.

I think it's more likely that they got in their vans and took the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel over to Brooklyn. From there, they would just get on the Gowanus Expressway, switch to the Prospect Expressway, and get on Ocean Parkway all the way to the boardwalk at Coney. It's the most direct route, and at that hour of the morning it would be near deserted. They could easily make it from Gramercy Park to Coney in under a half hour if they drove fast.

That's my opinion, at least.

[doyle]

We will never know how the Riffs reached Coney even if the theory about the pink elephant seems very interesting!