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Gangster No. 2: Longy Zwillman, the Man Who Invented Organized Crime
Traces the life of the Newark-born gangster who used a variety of legitimate businesses to shield his racketeering activities, and who, at age fifty-five, committed suicide
245 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 7, 2013
I didn't know of the existence of this book until I came across it in a thrift shop last month. I knew who Longy Zwillman was so I picked it up and perused it. I liked what I saw and moved it to the top of my mental next read list. It turned out to be the perfect companion to In The Godfather's Garden which I had read a month or two ago. That book was about Richie "The Boot" Boiardo, a one time enemy of Longy Zwillman's who later became an associate of his. Longy's book was the earlier of the two and could have served as a source for the Boiardo book. Essentially these guys were bootleggers who made a bundle in prohibition and when liquor was legalized moved into primarily gambling and in Longy's case legitimate businesses that he ran mostly legitimately. Longy and his close associate Gerry Catena were both men who went to great lengths to remain low profile while assembling great wealth and power. This book has the most mentions of Catena that I've ever seen. He was a major figure who was virtually unknown to the general public. There is hardly anything in print about him and much of what I have seen is inaccurate. This book goes a long way to explaining who was with who and answers for me a lot of questions that I've had all my life about how these men were associated with each other and what was the pecking order. By the time I was old enough to realize who and what they were Longy had turned over the reins to Catena and that was the name I heard most of all. This book explains that and I've never seen that before. It gels with I've heard. These guys were not Tony Soprano type wise guys. They were a lot more sophisticated.
One point of contention. The author believes that Longy's alleged suicide was really a suicide. NOBODY else does. NOBODY.
One point of contention. The author believes that Longy's alleged suicide was really a suicide. NOBODY else does. NOBODY.
January 23, 2019
This is the only known book-length biography of Abner "Longy" Zwillman. It is unabashedly romantic to the extent that this is the Camelot version of organized crime. There some good analysis and discussion of the gangster, his associates, and businesses; but these are clouded by the rose-tinted glasses Stuart uses to examine his sources. Lastly, Stuart does not discuss his sources. Only in one passage does he refer readers to the discredited Last Testament of Lucky Luciano.
The book has a rough beginning. Longy starts out as a teenager who leads a gang of Jewish fist fighters who protect Jewish merchants from marauding Irish and Italian gangsters. Then Stuart begins his revisionist history. Zwillman's gang was not like other Jewish gangsters in urban slums, he genuinely saw himself as a guardian of his people. Going into Prohibition, the young Zwillman was barely out of his teens when he forced his employer to accept him as a 50-50 partner. Stuart views this as another example of Zwillman's awesomeness. Stuart then discusses the gang war against Richie the Boot. Again, the Camelot version of gangland takes precedence as Zwillman defies violence in a gang war and still emerges victorious.
The Post-Prohibition parts of the book are even more rose-tinted. Stuart portrays Zwillman as the principal organizer of the Big Six of New York - New Jersey racketeers. He goes so far as to recreate conversations between Luciano, Costello, Lansky, Siegel, Zwillman, and Adonis. A note on his sources would have been extremely appropriate since the result portrays the other five as apes next to Zwillman's genius. Costello could not corrupt officials, Luciano could not organize gangsters, and Lansky could not organize gambling without Zwillman's magic touch. This bizarre situation plays itself again and again with Zwillman making every important decision for organized crime in the 1930s and 1940s.
There are some nuggets of interest. Stuart briefly discusses the Sawdust Trail in New Jersey and the establishment of casinos in Northern New Jersey. Further analysis would be appropriate as the Kefauver Committee tried to expose every major gambling operation in the country. Stuart passes over so much of the business side of Zwillman's life, that readers will be disappointed. I was close to not finishing the book. However, after discussing the Kefauver Hearings, the book became better. It was as if Stuart found a new source for material post-1950.
Stuart turns his attention to Zwillman's tax evasion case and his businesses. Repeating over and over that Zwillman's primary fault was poor legal advice that led him into signing a net worth statement for the IRS. Stuart does not significantly discuss the contents of the statement, just that it was the lynch pin in the case against Zwillman. The subsequent bribery case and the exposure of Zwillman's status as a major racketeer gave the book more focus, clarity, and less bias.
Despite Stuart's attempts to recast Zwillman as a folk hero akin to Robin Hood, he could never get past the fact that any major gangster has to have blood on his hands. The mystique surrounding Zwillman - and this book does little to dispell it - remains as to how thuggish he really was. How tightly did he control his kingdom of bootlegging and gambling? Was he involved in other rackets? Stuart does expand on the transition of power from Zwillman to Gerry Catena; but Catena's rackets went beyond gambling. Did he bring new ideas to the organization, or did he continue them?
The last chapter pertains to Zwillman's death. Stuart makes a good case that Zwillman died by suicide. Conventional wisdom suggests his partners. Public exposure of his criminal status, the tax trial, continued legal entanglements, passing the organization to Catena, all led to a nervous breakdown that few others observed and culminated in his suicide. Stuart might have led his audience to this conclusion if he had not spent the rest of the book rehabilitating Zwillman so unabashedly.
Overall, the book was ok. Readers need to know more about his sources. Otherwise, In the Godfather Garden and Garden State Mafia are better selections about New Jersey underworld activities. Richard Linnett and Scott Deitche are not nearly as convinced that Zwillman killed himself; but neither argues strongly that he was murdered. The mystique remains with Zwillman. Readers will learn about the shadowy racketeer; but in the same genre and style as the Last Testament of Lucky Luciano with imaginary conversations and reckless claims.
The book has a rough beginning. Longy starts out as a teenager who leads a gang of Jewish fist fighters who protect Jewish merchants from marauding Irish and Italian gangsters. Then Stuart begins his revisionist history. Zwillman's gang was not like other Jewish gangsters in urban slums, he genuinely saw himself as a guardian of his people. Going into Prohibition, the young Zwillman was barely out of his teens when he forced his employer to accept him as a 50-50 partner. Stuart views this as another example of Zwillman's awesomeness. Stuart then discusses the gang war against Richie the Boot. Again, the Camelot version of gangland takes precedence as Zwillman defies violence in a gang war and still emerges victorious.
The Post-Prohibition parts of the book are even more rose-tinted. Stuart portrays Zwillman as the principal organizer of the Big Six of New York - New Jersey racketeers. He goes so far as to recreate conversations between Luciano, Costello, Lansky, Siegel, Zwillman, and Adonis. A note on his sources would have been extremely appropriate since the result portrays the other five as apes next to Zwillman's genius. Costello could not corrupt officials, Luciano could not organize gangsters, and Lansky could not organize gambling without Zwillman's magic touch. This bizarre situation plays itself again and again with Zwillman making every important decision for organized crime in the 1930s and 1940s.
There are some nuggets of interest. Stuart briefly discusses the Sawdust Trail in New Jersey and the establishment of casinos in Northern New Jersey. Further analysis would be appropriate as the Kefauver Committee tried to expose every major gambling operation in the country. Stuart passes over so much of the business side of Zwillman's life, that readers will be disappointed. I was close to not finishing the book. However, after discussing the Kefauver Hearings, the book became better. It was as if Stuart found a new source for material post-1950.
Stuart turns his attention to Zwillman's tax evasion case and his businesses. Repeating over and over that Zwillman's primary fault was poor legal advice that led him into signing a net worth statement for the IRS. Stuart does not significantly discuss the contents of the statement, just that it was the lynch pin in the case against Zwillman. The subsequent bribery case and the exposure of Zwillman's status as a major racketeer gave the book more focus, clarity, and less bias.
Despite Stuart's attempts to recast Zwillman as a folk hero akin to Robin Hood, he could never get past the fact that any major gangster has to have blood on his hands. The mystique surrounding Zwillman - and this book does little to dispell it - remains as to how thuggish he really was. How tightly did he control his kingdom of bootlegging and gambling? Was he involved in other rackets? Stuart does expand on the transition of power from Zwillman to Gerry Catena; but Catena's rackets went beyond gambling. Did he bring new ideas to the organization, or did he continue them?
The last chapter pertains to Zwillman's death. Stuart makes a good case that Zwillman died by suicide. Conventional wisdom suggests his partners. Public exposure of his criminal status, the tax trial, continued legal entanglements, passing the organization to Catena, all led to a nervous breakdown that few others observed and culminated in his suicide. Stuart might have led his audience to this conclusion if he had not spent the rest of the book rehabilitating Zwillman so unabashedly.
Overall, the book was ok. Readers need to know more about his sources. Otherwise, In the Godfather Garden and Garden State Mafia are better selections about New Jersey underworld activities. Richard Linnett and Scott Deitche are not nearly as convinced that Zwillman killed himself; but neither argues strongly that he was murdered. The mystique remains with Zwillman. Readers will learn about the shadowy racketeer; but in the same genre and style as the Last Testament of Lucky Luciano with imaginary conversations and reckless claims.
November 4, 2019
An interesting account of the early bootlegging days.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews