| | | | Part 1 |
| 1 | Ray | Carney | Protagonist. |
| | Tommy | Shush | A thief. |
| | Cubby | The Worm | One of Carney's regulars. |
| | Larry | | Carney's employee. |
| | Charlie | Foster | One of Carney's customers. |
| | Rusty | | Carney's floor man. |
| | Slick | | One of Carney's employees. |
| | Marie | | Carney's secretary. |
| | Freddie | | Carney's late cousin. |
| | Elizabeth | | Carney's wife. |
| | Guilio | Bomgiovanni | The landlord. |
| | Mrs. | Hernandez | One of Carney's neighbors. |
| | Argent | | Carney's biggest client. |
| | DeMarco | | The American arm of Knut-Bjellen. |
| | John | | Carney's son. |
| | Leonard | Bailey | The inventor of convertible bed. |
| | Frank | Hogan | The Manhattan DA. |
| | May | | Carney's daughter. |
| | Edward | Kiernan | The head of patrolmen's benevolent association. |
| | Percy | Sutton | A Tuskegee airman, Malcolm X lawyer. |
| | Pat | Dodds | Owner of Miracle Garage. |
| | Berry | Gordy | The father of Motown Records. |
| | Kermit | Wells | Carney's friend. |
| | Leland | Jones | Carney's father-in-law. |
| | Munson | | A policeman. Carney's friend. |
| | Rodney | | Marie's husband. |
| 2 | Bruce | Price | One of the architects who designed strivers row. |
| | Church | Wiley | A smash-and-grab operator. |
| | Chink | Montague | Carney's protector. A mobster leader. |
| | Delroy | | Chink's bagman. |
| | Lucinda | Cole | Chink's girlfriend. |
| | Wilfred | Duke | The crooked
Harlem banker. |
| | Vic | Damone | An American singer. |
| | Pepper | | A professional bruiser. |
| 3 | Martin | Green | An antique dealer. Carney's go-to-watchman. |
| | Boris | The Monk | A gem-guy. Carney's old colleague. |
| | Ed | Brody | Carney's former colleague. |
| | Michael | Jackson | An artist. |
| | Harvey | Moskowitz | Harvey's old contacts. |
| | Dale | Baker | The founder of Elizabeth's company. |
| | Alma | | Elizabeth's mother. |
| | Alexander | Oakes | Elizabeth's childhood friend. |
| | Buck | Webb | Munson's partner. A cop. |
| | Michael | Carney | Carney's father. AKA: Big Mike. |
| 4 | Frank | Serpico | A corrupt police officer. |
| | Lindsay | | The current mayor. |
| | Malik | Jamal | The leader of BLA. AKA: Robert Taylor. |
| | Notch | Walker | The new mobster kingpin. |
| 5 | Fred | Astaire | Carney's best friend. |
| | Bradford | Wiley | Carney's friend. |
| | Millie | | Carney's aunt. |
| 6 | Corky | Bell | The poker house owner. |
| | Lonnie | | Corky's dealer. |
| | Sylvester | King | Corky's cousin. |
| | Stacey | | Corky's girlfriend. |
| | Cameron | Purvis | One of Corky's friends. |
| | George | | Corky's nephew. |
| | Purvis | | One of Corky's players. |
| | Nelson | Wright | One of Corky's players. |
| | Arnie | Folk | Corky's security guard. |
| 7 | Calvin | Pierce | One of Carney's contacts. A lawyer. |
| | Bumpy | Johnson | A mobster. Chink's enemy. |
| | Earl | | Clyde's employee. |
| | Dizzy | Huntley | A thief. |
| | Angela | | Munson's wife. |
| | Driscoll | | The Clyde's back room operator. |
| | Popeye | | The Clyde's back room operator. |
| | Smiling | Rick | A club owner. |
| 8 | Buford | | Carney and Pepper's regular bartender. |
| | Nicky | Boots | Buford and Carney's common friend. |
| 9 | Richard | Moore | The panther 21 dependants. |
| | Edward | Joseph | The panther 21 dependants. |
| | Kwame | Miller | The man who runs Uptown Gardens. |
| | Daniel | Ellsberg | The RAND man who slipped the pentagon papers to the New York Times. |
| | Daryl | Clarke | Carney's neighbor. |
| | Janet | Brown | A member of Women for Oakes. |
| | Albert | | One of Carney's tenants. |
| | | | Part 2 |
| 1 | Zippo | | An artist and movie director. |
| | Hepie | | Zippo's uncle. |
| | Herschel | Lefkowitz | A father of patent. AKA: Heshie. |
| | Dorothy | | Heshie's niece. |
| | Henry | Flood | Dorothy's husband. |
| | William | Marshall | The African prince. |
| | Gene | Hackman | The reverend. |
| | Samuel | Arkoff | A film producer. |
| | Josh | Lehmann | Zippo's schoolmate. |
| | Doris | | The girl Zippo falls in love with. |
| | Lucinda | Cole | An Actress. Missing. AKA: Leanne Wilkes. |
| 2 | Beatrice | | Rusty's wife. |
| | Mr. | Dudley | Owner of the furniture store. |
| | Lola | | Zippo's production assistant. |
| | Don | Newberry | Chairman of the admissions committee. |
| | Ron | O'Neal | An actor. |
| | Lena | Horne | An Actress. Missing. AKA: Leanne Wilkes. |
| | Troy | | The director of photography. |
| | Pete | The Grip | One of Zippo's men. |
| 3 | Phil | Burgher | The driver. |
| | Tom | Gerald | A car seller. |
| | Billy | Gerald | Tom's son. |
| | Gus | Burnett | One of Church's men from Alabama. |
| | Burt | Miller | One of Church's men from Alabama. |
| | Diana Cory | Linda | Burgher's wife. |
| | Jimmy | Temple | Pepper's baseball playmate. |
| | Hazel | | Pepper's lover. |
| | Roscoe | Pope | A comedian. Lucinda's lover. |
| | Leroi | Banks | The negro ventriloquist. |
| | Mr. | Charles | Leroi's buddy. |
| 4 | Quincy | Black | The drug dealer. |
| | Spencer | Tomlinson | Pope's money manager. |
| | Hal | Ashby | A film director. |
| | Dolly | | Pepper's ex-girlfriend. |
| 5 | Pickles | | One of Quincy's guards. |
| 6 | David | Dinkins | A politician. |
| | Viola | Lewis | A restaurant owner. |
| | Lady | Betsy | A chieck restaurant owner. |
| | Enoch | Parker | The best lockman in town. Pepper's friend. |
| | Biz | Dixon | A drug dealer. |
| | Wilfred | Duke | The big harlem banker. |
| 7 | Jennifer | Jackson | The first African-American playmate. |
| | Jean | Bell | The second African-American playmate. |
| 8 | Mrs. | Wilkes | Lucinda's mother. |
| | Baby | | Lucinda's cousin. |
| | Diego | | Owner of the candy and cigarette store. |
| 9 | Robert | Aldrich | An actor. |
| | Gene | Page | Zippo's friend. |
| | Pru | | One of Zippo's babysitters. |
| | Miss | Naughton | Zippo's former social worker. |
| | | | Part 3 |
| 1 | Ambrose | Clarke | The current Dumas Club secretary. |
| | Pat | Miller | Elizabeth's friend. |
| | Abraham | Lanford | Clement's son. Leland's friend. |
| | Clement | Lanford | The one-time Harlem fixer and statesman. |
| | Gideon | Banks | One of the old guards. |
| | Charlie | Rangel | The heirs to Jone's Carver Democratic Club. |
| | Lyle | Morrison | Executive Vice President of Freedom National Savings. |
| | Stan | Hayes | The drummer. |
| | Mrs. | Ruiz | Albert's mother. Carney's tenant. |
| | Beame | | The current Mayor. |
| 2 | Robert | | Carney's nephew. Freddie's son. |
| | Ellen | | Robert's mother. Freddie's wife. |
| | Penny | Lewis | Freddie's former lover. |
| | Booker | | Ellen's new husband. |
| | Wilbur | Martin | A finisher. |
| | Toomey | | A bartender. |
| 3 | Isidore | Steinareutzer | The most famous arsonist in New York. Aka: Izzy The Painter, Izzy Stein, and Isaac Chernick. |
| | Mose | Hamilton | An arsonist. Pepper's old acquaintance. |
| | Wilmer | Byrd | Mose's friend. |
| | Leon | Drake | Oake's arsonist. |
| | Uncle | Rich | A mobster. One of Pepper's colleagues. |
| 5 | Bad | Cologne | A criminal. |
| | Reece | Brown | Notch's right-hand man. |
| | Dr. | Rostropovich | Pepper's doctor. |
| | Dan | Hickey | A criminal. |
| 7 | Bill | Worth | A repairman. |
| | Walt | | The owner of the bar next to Carney's furniture store. |
| | Mrs. | Garcia. | The bakery store owner. |
| 8 | Mortimer | Bacall | The man who built Dumas Club. |
| | William | Fyre | One of the distinguished Harlemites. |
| | Al | Gibson | One of the distinguished Harlemites. |
| | Edwin | Powell | One of Carney's neighbors. |
| 9 | Jimmy | Gray | A building inspector from Sable Construction. |
| | Ellis | Gray | Sable's founder. |
| | Gordon | Bellman | A known arsonist. |
