THE ORIGINAL GENERALS
THE STORY OF A BLACK OWNED CONSTRUCTION DYNASTY
Following WWII starting in 1946, seven brothers from Augusta, GA, “The Griffins” moved to New York and started an industrial landscaping company - L.B. Griffin Landscaping - in Jamaica, Queens.
70’S TIME SQ. NEW YORK CITY
The obstacles in front of them in the NYC construction business, included; the Italian Mafia, racist NYPD police, union bosses, and other very powerful entrenched competitors. L.B. Griffin also had to navigate corrupt city and state governments to win million-dollar construction jobs in Queens.
NAVIGATING NEW YORK’S MAFIA CONTROLLED CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS AND THE UNIONS, DID NOT DETER THE GRIFFIN’S.
The L.B. Griffin Construction Company against all odds created one of the most successful companies in the tri-state area, providing construction jobs, and generating millions in revenue.
THE STATE OF DECAY THAT 1970’S NYC FOUND ITSELF IN, PROVIDED THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR L.B. GRIFFIN TO RISE TO POWER.
L.B. Griffin is a family story, and a story of the building of NYC, a company that fought for civil rights, worker rights, and held onto their integrity facing death threats, work stoppage, and outright sabotage.
Thirty years of stories, trials and tribulations, a family united in success and legacy.
L.B. Griffin, the founder of the company kept an archive of video, take by himself to capture what he knew would be unprecedented history.
The Original Generals is a podcast series & documentary film, that traces the history of the L.B. Griffin Dynasty and the cutthroat world of New York City construction for four decades.