Sesame Street Gangsters

Although Sesame Street is meant to represent a child-friendly, and somewhat idyllic, New York City street, the neighborhood has a network of seedy underground criminal organizations. These groups are run by an assortment of suspicious characters, most commonly for the purpose of shady and illegal activities such as alphabet trafficking, black marketeering and robbery. Comprised mainly of Anything Muppets, these gangs are typically composed of a crime boss and his lackeys (often named Lefty).

The most commonly seen criminal on Sesame Street is Lefty, a shady-looking Green Anything Muppet salesman in a trench coat usually performed by Frank Oz, who appeared in severeal reccuring Sesame Street sketches discreetly selling hot items to a passersby (often being Ernie). Lefty spoke in a whispery voice as he attempted to unload such boosted items as the letters U and O, an invisible ice cream cone, and even exotic elephant artwork, which rarely turned out to be successfull. Lefty's boss (a Fat Blue Anything Muppet performed by Jerry Nelson) appeared in a few sketches with his lackey, often in a dark alley or abandoned warehouse after dark.

Another group of criminals appeared on Sesame Street, who included Benny (a Green Anything Muppet performed by Richard Hunt), Lefty (a Fat Blue Anything Muppet performed by Jim Henson) and their boss (a Lavender Anything Muppet performed by Jerry Nelson). Unlike Lefty and his Fat Blue boss, these characters have only appeared in one sketch to date.