from the butchers union, who refused to pay Fein $600 to protect his striking butchers. Zalamanowitz, knowing Fein's murderous reputation, ran frightened to the police. On Fein's next meeting with Zalamanowitz, hidden cops watched as Fein repeated his intentions to harm Zalamanowitz if he did not pay up right away. The police arrested Fein on the spot; on first-degree extortion charges.
After a few days in the slammer, Fein, realizing his union influence was on the wane, decided to become a canary for the cops. Unknown to his associates in the labor unions, Fein had kept meticulous records on all his “labor transactions.” He had written down everything, including who was involved in what, when, where, and how. This led to the arrest and convictions of dozens of people, including high-ranking officials of the Garment Workers Union and the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
Fein was set free, but because he was considered a rat, he lost all of his union partners-in-crime, and any political influence he may have had. Fein was reduced to committing petty crimes in the streets, until he was arrested in 1931 for throwing acid in the face of a competitor: Mortimer Kahn. That set Fein up in Sing Sing Prison for a few more years.
In 1941, Fein was arrested again for stealing over $250,000 worth of clothing and fabric from the Garment Center. Fein was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, Fein, for some unknown reason, had his sentence reduced to 10-20 years.
When Fein was released from prison for the last time, he went right back into the garment industry, but this time as a legitimate tailor, a skill he had learned from his father. Fein moved from the Lower East Side of Manhattan to Brooklyn, where he married and raised a family.
Fein, unlike most of his contemporaries, who were either killed in the streets or fried in the electric chair, died of cancer and emphysema in 1962.
F orty Thieves
Based on “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,” the Forty Thieves were considered to be the first organized street gang in New York City.
In 1825, the Forty Thieves originated at a produce store located on Centre Street, just south of Anthony (now Worth Street), in an area called The Five Points. The proprietor of the store was Rosanna Peers, who sold rotted vegetables out front and ran an illegal speakeasy in the back, where she sold rotgut liquor at prices much cheaper than licensed establishments. Soon, the joint became a haven for pickpockets, murderers, robbers, and thieves, and a dour gentleman named Edward Coleman rose as their leader.
Coleman gave out strict assignments to his men, with quotas on which and how many crimes he expected each man to commit. If after a period of time, a man did not meet his quota, he would be banished from the gang and sometimes even killed, as a message to others about the importance of meeting quotas.
Coleman's downfall was precipitated by one of the gang's few legal ventures: the Hot Corn Girls.
Coleman would send out scores of pretty young girls onto the streets, carrying baskets filled with hot roasted ears of corn. The Hot Corn Girl, dressed in spotted calico and wearing a plaid shawl, would walk barefooted in the streets, singing; “Hot Corn! Hot Corn! Here's your lily white corn. All you that's got money. Poor me that's got none. Come buy my lily hot corn. And let me go home.”
The Hot Corn Girls were not allowed off the streets by Coleman until every single ear of corn in their basket was sold.
All the Hot Corn Girls were fairly attractive and the pretty ones were fought over by the amorous young men mingling on the streets. The best looking one of the lot was called “The Pretty Hot Corn Girl” and Coleman fell for her hard. After fighting off several other suitors, Coleman married “The Pretty Hot Corn Girl,” and then he put her back out on the streets selling corn.
However, after his wife consistently did not meet her quotas, Coleman
After a few days in the slammer, Fein, realizing his union influence was on the wane, decided to become a canary for the cops. Unknown to his associates in the labor unions, Fein had kept meticulous records on all his “labor transactions.” He had written down everything, including who was involved in what, when, where, and how. This led to the arrest and convictions of dozens of people, including high-ranking officials of the Garment Workers Union and the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
Fein was set free, but because he was considered a rat, he lost all of his union partners-in-crime, and any political influence he may have had. Fein was reduced to committing petty crimes in the streets, until he was arrested in 1931 for throwing acid in the face of a competitor: Mortimer Kahn. That set Fein up in Sing Sing Prison for a few more years.
In 1941, Fein was arrested again for stealing over $250,000 worth of clothing and fabric from the Garment Center. Fein was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, Fein, for some unknown reason, had his sentence reduced to 10-20 years.
When Fein was released from prison for the last time, he went right back into the garment industry, but this time as a legitimate tailor, a skill he had learned from his father. Fein moved from the Lower East Side of Manhattan to Brooklyn, where he married and raised a family.
Fein, unlike most of his contemporaries, who were either killed in the streets or fried in the electric chair, died of cancer and emphysema in 1962.
F orty Thieves
Based on “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,” the Forty Thieves were considered to be the first organized street gang in New York City.
In 1825, the Forty Thieves originated at a produce store located on Centre Street, just south of Anthony (now Worth Street), in an area called The Five Points. The proprietor of the store was Rosanna Peers, who sold rotted vegetables out front and ran an illegal speakeasy in the back, where she sold rotgut liquor at prices much cheaper than licensed establishments. Soon, the joint became a haven for pickpockets, murderers, robbers, and thieves, and a dour gentleman named Edward Coleman rose as their leader.
Coleman gave out strict assignments to his men, with quotas on which and how many crimes he expected each man to commit. If after a period of time, a man did not meet his quota, he would be banished from the gang and sometimes even killed, as a message to others about the importance of meeting quotas.
Coleman's downfall was precipitated by one of the gang's few legal ventures: the Hot Corn Girls.
Coleman would send out scores of pretty young girls onto the streets, carrying baskets filled with hot roasted ears of corn. The Hot Corn Girl, dressed in spotted calico and wearing a plaid shawl, would walk barefooted in the streets, singing; “Hot Corn! Hot Corn! Here's your lily white corn. All you that's got money. Poor me that's got none. Come buy my lily hot corn. And let me go home.”
The Hot Corn Girls were not allowed off the streets by Coleman until every single ear of corn in their basket was sold.
All the Hot Corn Girls were fairly attractive and the pretty ones were fought over by the amorous young men mingling on the streets. The best looking one of the lot was called “The Pretty Hot Corn Girl” and Coleman fell for her hard. After fighting off several other suitors, Coleman married “The Pretty Hot Corn Girl,” and then he put her back out on the streets selling corn.
However, after his wife consistently did not meet her quotas, Coleman
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