Rothstein (59 page)

181 Judge McDonald: NY World, 25 September 1920, pp. 1, 4. Johnson met Rothstein on September 24, just as the case broke.

181 “[Cubs minority stockholder Albert] Lasker … National Commission.”: Veeck and Linn, p. 289. Stoneham’s warm relations with Rothstein continued long after A. R.‘s implication in the Black Sox fix. In July 1921 Baseball Commissioner Landis reprimanded Stoneham publicly for having Rothstein as a guest in his Polo Grounds private box. Their shady Wall Street business partnerships lasted far longer than that. (See Chapter 19)

182 “Gentlemen … surprised at you.”: Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 276-77; Asinof, pp. 245-46; Frommer, pp. 151-52; Seymour, p. 309.

182 “Attell and Burns … to Cincinnati.”: Chi. Daily journal, 27 October 1920, p. 1.

182 Different stories: Chi. Herald-Examiner, 27 October 1920, p. 11.

182-83”Attell did … bill of health.”: Chi. Daily News, 26 October 1920, p. 17; Katcher, pp. 144-45; Frommer, p. 135.

183 “Pardon me,” … “… the Tribune.”: Chi. Tribune, 27 October 1920, p. 17.

183 “Attell approached …” … “… matter hereafter.”: NY Telegraph, 27 October 1920, p. 1.

184 “Rothstein in …” … “… the White Sox….”: Asinof, p. 178; NY Times, 27 October 1920, p. 17; Ginsburg, pp. 140-41; Katcher, p. 145; Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), p. 277; Frommer, p. 152. Hoyne’s chief assistant, Hartley L. Replogle, was a second cousin of Partridge Club member, steel magnate J. Leonard Replogle.

184 Val O’Farrell: NY American, 7 October 1920. In 1922 A. R. wrote hair goods manufacturer Harry S. Glemby (“Dear Harry”), advising Glemby to hire O’Farrell, noting: “Val O’Farrell is a very loyal friend and incidentally a very influential man.” (Thomson and Raymond, p. 60)

184-85”I’ll not produce … … “bet on Cincinnati.”: Chi. Daily journal, 30 October 1920, p. 6; NY World, 2 October 1920, p. 1.

185 Attell returns: NY Times, 2 November 1920; NY Times, undated clipping in author’s files.

185-86 “The man sought…”… “A: No.”: Fowler (The Great Mouthpiece), pp. 277-78; Asinof, pp. 263-64; Katcher, p. 148; Stein, p. 264; NY Sun, 23 July 1921.

186 “Rachael Brown.”: Schenectady Union-Star, 5 October 1920, p. 8. In October 1920, a wire service reported that “Brown” had sailed for Europe. Considering “Brown” supposedly didn’t exist, it was an unusually detailed account. It revealed “Brown’s” partnership with Rothstein in New York and Saratoga, his operation of dice rooms at 28th Street and Broadway, and his former association with Bridgie Webber. It even claimed that “Brown” had been marked for death “for crooked deals” a month before Herman Rosenthal’s death and had fled to Spain for safety. Most likely, the article described Nat Evans, providing us with our best description of this shadowy figure and revealing that Rothstein had ordered him, as well as Attell and Sullivan, out of the country. Brown, the story said, “was considered a `piker’ by the big gamblers. Because of this he decided that he would become a henchman of the big fellow rather than a gambler of small parts on his own. He with Joseph (‘Curley’) Bennett and Abe Attell `steered’ for Rothstein’s gambling houses in the Tenderloin and at Saratoga and Long Island.” The October 6, 1920 New York Times, however, reported that any story of “Brown” sailing to Europe was false-that he had been seen in the city since his alleged departure.

186-87”Q-Did Bennett … with everything.”: NY Times, 19 July 1921, p. 15, NY Times, July. 20, 1921, pp. 1,3, NY Times, 21 July 1921, pp. 1-9; NY Times, 22 July 1921, pp. 1-4; Asinof, pp. 179-80; Ginsburg, p. 136.

187 “William Burns, testifying …” … “A-Yes, sir.”: NY Times, 24 July 1921, p. 5.

189 “… I talked …” … “… in New York …”: Asinof, p. 284.

189 “Ask … tell you.”: NY Times, 23 July 1921, p. 5.

189-90”None of … “… “… the country.”: NY Times, 26 July 1921, p. 17; Asinof, p. 292; Seymour, p. 328.

190 “I met him only twice”: Chi. American, 25 July 1921, 25 July 1921, pp. 1-2; Chi. American, 26 July 1921, p. 1; Chi. Herald-Examiner, 27 July 1921, p. 4. In Baseball: The Golden Age (p. 328), Harold Seymour contends that “behind the theft were William J. Fallon and Alfred Austrian.”

190 “My name … too far.”: Chi. Herald-Examiner, 27 July 1921, p. 4.

191 “It will … from New York.”: Chi. Herald-Examiner, 28 July 1921, p. 1; NY Times, 28 July 1921, p. 1; Ginsburg, p. 143. Zork and Joe Pesch continued fixing White Sox games during the 1920 season. In April 1921 St. Louis police arrested Nat Evans as a suspicious character. Was he in St. Louis to coordinate a defense with Zork and other defendants?

191 Attell’s silence: Fallon not only worked on Attell’s defense, he was also in contact with Boston attorney William J. Kelly regarding Sport Sullivan’s defense. (NY Times, 5 October 1921, p. 1) (For more on Kelly see Chapter 17)

192 “Why was … Arnold Rothstein?”: NY Times, 2 August 1921, p. 24.

192 “The state … throw games.”: Ginsburg, pp. 143-44.

192 “whistling and cheering”: NY Times, 3 August 1921, pp. 1, 3; Asinof, pp. 307-10.

192 “Not a … Rothstein.”: “Hy Gardner Calling” column, 29 September 1961. The 1919 World Series was not the last time A. R. surfaced in a baseball betting scandal. In 1923 Collyer’s Eye, a Chicago racing weekly, insinuated that Rothstein may have been involved in bribing two Cincinnati players, Sammy Bohne (Cohen) and Pat Duncan. They sued Collyer’s Eye for $50,000, settling out of court for an apology, $100, and court costs. (Ginsburg, pp. 182-83; Pietrusza, judge and jury, pp. 257-59)

Chapter 13: “The Chic Thing to Have Good Whiskey”

193 Crackdown on vice: Other Progressive Era legislation concerning moral issues had preceded Prohibition: the 1910 Mann Act, prohibiting the transportation of women across state lines for immoral purposes; a 1912 ban on the interstate transportation of prizefight films (triggered largely by black champion Jack Johnson’s regular pummeling of white challengers and upheld unanimously by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1915); and the 1914 Harrison Act regulating narcotics.

America went dry even before the Eighteenth Amendment. So-called “Wartime Prohibition,” ostensibly enacted to conserve grain supplies, banned the manufacture of alcohol except for export. President Wilson did not sign it, however, until after the armistice; it did not go into effect until July 1, 1919.

193-94Mather: Fried, pp. 94-98; Katcher, pp. 232-33; Carey, p. 144.

195 Gordon: Fried, pp. 94-98; Katcher, pp. 232-33.

196 Lansky: On October 25, 1957 Anastasia was murdered while getting a haircut at the Park Central Hotel’s barbershop. The murder was never solved, though many suspected “Crazy Joe” and Larry Gallo.

197 “Moustache Petes”: Rothstein appreciated cooperation across ethnic lines. He took particular offense to Chicago gangster Big Jim Colosimo’s remarks about up-and-coming mobster Johnny Torrio’s willingness to do business with Jewish “scum.” When New York gunman Frankie Yale assassinated Colosimo in May 1920, Rothstein, Lansky, and Siegel sent a huge wreath, sarcastically labeled: “From the sorrowing Jew boys of New York.”

197 “We sat … loyal to us.“Eisenberg and Dan, p. 104; Lacey, p. 49.

199 “But first … money is.”: Eisenberg and Dan, pp. 82-84.

199 Bloom: Eisenberg and Dan, pp. 98-101. Like Rothstein, Solomon failed to live to see the end of Prohibition, murdered in January 1933 in the men’s room of a Roxbury nightclub.

201 Diamond, Moran: Katcher, pp. 239-41; Walker, pp. 234-39; Levine, pp. 39-41; World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime CD-ROM.

201 “how to … broads.”: Eisenberg and Dan, p. 83; Gosch and Hammer, pp. 95-97; Fried, pp. 118-19.

201 “He … real smooth.”: Gosch and Hammer, pp. 40-41; Rockaway, p. 9.

202-03 “Arnold gimme … blue serge.”: Feder and Joesten, pp. 57-59; Gosch and Hammer, pp. 52-59.

203 Collins: Rothstein, pp. 214-16; Clarke, pp. 261-62; Katcher, pp. 242-45.

204 Diamond: To Frank Costello, and his brother Eddie, Rothstein provided numerous loans-$9,000 to Eddie in 1925, $21,000 to Frank in 1928, and another $40,000 to Frank to purchase a brewery, a loan A. R. never collected. (Thomson and Raymond, p. 66)

205 Gordon, Madden: Katcher, p. 245; World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime CD-ROM.

205-06Fay, Guinan: Katcher, pp. 246-67, 264; Thomson and Raymond, p. 66; Rothstein, p. 173; Walker, pp. 240-49; Sann, pp. 183-85; Kobler (Ardent Spirits), pp. 233, 262-63; Shirley, passim.

207 “higher-ups” … “… from the record.”: NY Times, 26 July 1925, p. 1; NY Times, 27 July 1925, p. 14; Metz, pp. 148-52; Katcher, pp. 249-53; Thomson and Raymond, pp. 169-70; Leo Katcher implies that the Park View A.C. was a speakeasy; in fact, it fronted for gambling. He also incorrectly calls it the “Park City Club.”

207-08 “Will You Love …” … “… big gambler.”: NY Times, 9 August 1925, p. 20; NY Times, 16 August 1925, p. 7; NY Times, 21 August 1925, p. 2; NY Times, 28 August 1925, p. 3. Hylan also contended that “the Tammany designee for Mayor likes but two things: one of them is money, and plenty of it-the other I will not mention, because there are women present.” He was right on both counts.

208 “Now that … the street.”: NY Times, 29 August 1925, p. 2.

208 “The Mayor … nominating speech.”: Walsh, p. 48; Carolyn Rothstein asserted that Walker was “never a favorite” of her husband’s, but related this incident. Arnold and Sidney Stajer were attending a testimonial for Judge of the General Sessions Max S. Levine, at which Walker was speaking. “Sid and I just stood at the back of the hall,” A. R. told her.“The Mayor was just coming down from the speaker’s platform to go to the men’s room. His eyes happened to catch mine, and he turned and came right across the hall in front of everybody there and shook hands. We had a pleasant, and rather lengthy chat before he went away. I call that pretty fine of Jimmy. A lot of them, you know, aren’t like that when they are up there on top.”

208 “Too many … molestation.”: Katcher, p. 253.

208 “there is … Denmark,”: NY Times, 30 August 1925, p. 3; Walsh, p. 53.

Chapter 14: “The Man to See Was Arnold Rothstein”

211 “crush labor and its organizations.” NY Times, 12 May 1915, p. 12; NY Times, 14 May 1915, p. 22; NY Times, 3 November 1915, p. 1; Katcher, pp. 280-01; Rockaway, pp. 95-96; Fried, pp. 34, 82-86; World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime CD-ROM; Jackson, p. 544. Hillquit was a longtime leader of the Socialist Party’s right wing. In 1917 he ran as Socialist Party candidate for mayor, receiving 22 percent of the vote.

212 Orgen: Katcher, pp. 281-14; World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime CD-ROM.

212 “The Hall of Justice.”: NY Times, 24 May 1922, p. 27. The property in question was owned by Rothstein’s Redstone Building Co. and also housed the offices of his attorney Maurice Cantor. It was assessed at $665,000 in 1929. In 1926 the ASA merged with two organizations to form the American Arbitration Association, which survives to this day.

212 Lenin: Dubinsky and Raskin, p. 60; Malkin, pp. 87-89; Stolberg, pp. 114-16; Bernstein, p. 136.

213 “Rothstein promised … disposed of.”: Malkin, pp. 88-92

214 “Rothstein … out of it.”: NY JournalAmerican, 14 October 1939, pp. 1, 10.

214 “between … Industrial Squad.”: NY Times, 12 February 1926, p. 21; NY Times, 16 February 1926, p. 1; NY JournalAmerican, 14 October 1939, pp. 1, 10. Broderick was a throwback to the days of Clubber Williams. He once threw Legs Diamond into a garbage can. On another occasion, he attended a gangster’s funeral and literally spat in the deceased’s eye. Edward G. Robinson portrayed “Johnny Blake,” a character loosely based on Broderick, in the 1936 film Bullets or Ballots. (Lardner and Reppetto, pp. 231-12)

214 “It is … the Communists.”: Katcher, p. 285.

215 Smith, Battle: Bernstein, pp. 137-38; Dubinsky and Raskin, pp. 58-65, 96-98.

215 “Well, … a cigarette.”: NY Times, 26 October 1927, p. 31; NY Times, 30 October 1927, Sect. X, p. 8; Fried, pp. 33-35; Carey, pp. 146-48; Walsh, p. 36-38. Defending Kushner was State Senator (and future mayor) James J. Walker. Walker magnanimously conceded that his client had fired three shots at Dropper but contended a mysterious “fourth-shot” might have killed the Kid. The strategy worked, and Kushner escaped a firstdegree conviction, sentenced to “only” twenty years for second-degree murder. He left prison after serving fifteen years. On January 28, 1939, Kushner was murdered on a Lower East Side street corner, not far from where he killed Dropper, caught in Lepke Buchalter’s attempt to silence anyone who could testify against him. (Fried, p. 210; http://www.paulsann.org/killthedutchman/chapter_XXI.htm)

215-16”Questionable characters . . underworld.”: Stolberg, p. 138. Little Augie played rough. In September 1926 he was arrested for shooting ILGWU picket Samuel Landman in the abdomen on West 26th Street. Nothing came of the charges.

216 The union not only paid Orgen, it reportedly made $2,500 a week in payoffs to NYPD Industrial Squad detectives. (Dubinsky and Raskin, p. 67)

216 Strike settlement: Dubinsky and Raskin, pp. 69-70; NY Times, September 11, 1926, p. 9. Rothstein evidently maintained his ties with Communist-led labor unions. On December 12, 1927 he wrote to Julius Portnoy, an officer with the Cloak, Skirt, Dress and Reefer (coat) Makers’ Unions, regarding a $50 check Portnoy sent him for “services rendered.” Rothstein corrected him pointedly, the $50, he said, was for “a loan I made to the Workers’ Unity House, Inc.” “In the future,” he wrote Portnoy, “please leave this phrase out, as I said before it is not so and does not look very good for me. The Jewish Daily Forward printed A. R.‘s letter in November 1928, claiming that it helped verify AFL vice-president Matthew Woll’s charges of Rothstein-Communist collusion in the 1926 fur strike. (NY Times, 18 November 1928, p. 24.)

217 Lepke, Shapiro: Eisenberg and Dan, pp. 114-15.

217 “John T. Nolan Agency”: NY Times, 26 October 1927, p. 31; NY Times, 27 October 1927, p. 31; NY JournalAmerican, 14 October 1939.

218 “Don’t ask me nothing.”: NY Times, 16 October 1927, p. 1; NY Times, 18 October 1927, p. 12; NY Times, 26 October 1927, p. 31; Carey, pp. 148-49. Representing Diamond during his questioning by police was none other than Leonard A. Snitkin, the same attorney who brought A. R. and the Communist Party together. Snitkin, a Tim Sullivan protege and former city magistrate, enjoyed as reputation as one of the city’s premier jury-fixers.