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Gangsterland
David Pietrusza on organized crime in the 1920s in New York City, Gangsterland.
A site by site, crime by crime, outlaw by outlaw walking tour through the seedy underbelly of Roaring Twenties Manhattan—where gamblers and gangsters, crooks and cops, showgirls and speakeasies ruled the day and, always, the night.
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/stores/David-Pietrusza/author/B001HCYTWU?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
In Gangsterland, historian David Pietrusza tours the Big Apple’s rotten core.
The latest Bob Cudmore story in The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder this weekend
A man born in the Montgomery County town of Root went on to become a doctor and then the dean of Albany Medical College.
The war on alcohol in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
“I can remember my Dad telling stories of him and buddies running illegal liquor from Johnstown into Amsterdam during Prohibition,” wrote a reader who only identified himself as Ralph. “Would you be able to dig up more information and details on this seldom talked about occupation?”
In “Annals of a Mill Town,” historian Hugh Donlon wrote, “Amsterdam rum runners regularly hit the approved back roads toward Hamilton County and through the Adirondacks to provide supposedly discerning customers with supposedly genuine Canadian products.”
Bootleggers even may have used a long gone private airfield on Route 67 in the town of Amsterdam. Residents reported nights when lighted barrels would appear along the runway during Prohibition and a plane would land, presumably carrying alcoholic beverages.
At home, people made wine, beer and even hard liquor. Actor Kirk Douglas wrote in his autobiography “The Ragman’s Son” that his father, Amsterdam ragman Harry Demsky, always managed to find alcohol during Prohibition. Once the elder Demsky got into trouble for drinking ceremonial wine stored at his synagogue.
Bowler’s Brewery on West Main Street was converted into the Chuctanunda Dyeing & Dressing Company. But Donlon wrote that the establishment continued to make products that smelled alcoholic and federal agents raided with “crippling frequency.”
Some saloons went underground during Prohibition—from 1920 to 1933. Descendants of the O’Shaughnessy family recalled that their East Main Street bar in Amsterdam closed for the duration but reopened after repeal. During what was called the Great Hypocrisy, the family sold moonshine off their back porch.
Federal agents based in Albany and state police appeared to handle most of the war on alcohol cases. Donlon said troopers arrested 14 people at Ashley’s Tavern in Amsterdam in July 1921 and seized $10,000 worth of liquor. Two years later the liquor was returned under court order.
According to a Google search of Daily Gazette records, in December 1922 one of the largest raids so far in the Northern District of New York took place on Reid Street in Amsterdam. Federal agents seized 50 cases of beer, four gallons of whisky, five quarts of gin and 15 quarts of what was described as alcohol. Agents destroyed 20 gallons of whisky. One man was charged.
Five days later for the first time in the Northern District, federal agents seized a horse and sleigh in Amsterdam allegedly being used to transport 50 gallons of wine in casks. As is the case with drug raids today, testing was to be done to ensure the liquid seized really was wine. Two grocery store proprietors loading the sleigh were charged with “illegally possessing and transporting intoxicants.”
Seven federal agents raided suspected saloons on Locust Avenue, Schuyler and East Main Streets in Amsterdam in September 1924, arresting four men described as saloonkeepers.
A story from October 1928 indicated that proof of operating a speakeasy came when an undercover officer was able to buy an alcoholic drink. Federal agents bought such a beverage at 29 Schuyler Street in Amsterdam and then arrested two men. Arrests came after a brief struggle in which one suspect sustained a badly discolored eye.
A report focusing on a raid at the Kit Kat Club in Saratoga Springs in August 1930 also noted that federal agents confiscated a half barrel of beer and several bottles of what they thought was beer at Amsterdam’s Hotel Griffin on West Main Street. One man was arrested but was released on $2000 bail.
Bail for violators of the anti-alcohol law seems high--$1000 or $2000 per person—given that a dollar was worth much more back then. However, those charged usually were able to make bail and were released.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, October 20, 2023
57 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:42AM
Showers likely, mainly after 4pm. Cloudy, with a high near 63. Southeast wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tonight
Rain likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 53. East wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday
Rain. High near 59. West wind 6 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Sunday
Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. Breezy, with a west wind 17 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, October 20, 2023
Daily Gazette
Support Local Journalism
To subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/
Paper-Paper, On-line and e-edition
When Credibility Matters
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s father dies suddenly during first 24 hours of Israel trip
ALBANY – During her trip to Israel, Gov. Kathy Hochul gave an update Thursday afternoon about her experience so far…
Amsterdam Alderman Stephen Gomula scheduled to take plea next month
FONDA — Amsterdam 4th Ward Alderman Stephen Gomula is expected to take a plea offer in Montgomery County Court next…
Two Buttons Deep lost six figures after controversial Johnstown video
Two Buttons Deep is suspending all advertising for this year in the fallout of a since-deleted short featuring transphobic comments…
https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
Van Alstyne 12th annual soup tasting and craft fair in Canajoharie Saturday
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/
View all episodes
By Bob CudmoreDavid Pietrusza on organized crime in the 1920s in New York City, Gangsterland.
A site by site, crime by crime, outlaw by outlaw walking tour through the seedy underbelly of Roaring Twenties Manhattan—where gamblers and gangsters, crooks and cops, showgirls and speakeasies ruled the day and, always, the night.
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/stores/David-Pietrusza/author/B001HCYTWU?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
In Gangsterland, historian David Pietrusza tours the Big Apple’s rotten core.
The latest Bob Cudmore story in The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder this weekend
A man born in the Montgomery County town of Root went on to become a doctor and then the dean of Albany Medical College.
The war on alcohol in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
“I can remember my Dad telling stories of him and buddies running illegal liquor from Johnstown into Amsterdam during Prohibition,” wrote a reader who only identified himself as Ralph. “Would you be able to dig up more information and details on this seldom talked about occupation?”
In “Annals of a Mill Town,” historian Hugh Donlon wrote, “Amsterdam rum runners regularly hit the approved back roads toward Hamilton County and through the Adirondacks to provide supposedly discerning customers with supposedly genuine Canadian products.”
Bootleggers even may have used a long gone private airfield on Route 67 in the town of Amsterdam. Residents reported nights when lighted barrels would appear along the runway during Prohibition and a plane would land, presumably carrying alcoholic beverages.
At home, people made wine, beer and even hard liquor. Actor Kirk Douglas wrote in his autobiography “The Ragman’s Son” that his father, Amsterdam ragman Harry Demsky, always managed to find alcohol during Prohibition. Once the elder Demsky got into trouble for drinking ceremonial wine stored at his synagogue.
Bowler’s Brewery on West Main Street was converted into the Chuctanunda Dyeing & Dressing Company. But Donlon wrote that the establishment continued to make products that smelled alcoholic and federal agents raided with “crippling frequency.”
Some saloons went underground during Prohibition—from 1920 to 1933. Descendants of the O’Shaughnessy family recalled that their East Main Street bar in Amsterdam closed for the duration but reopened after repeal. During what was called the Great Hypocrisy, the family sold moonshine off their back porch.
Federal agents based in Albany and state police appeared to handle most of the war on alcohol cases. Donlon said troopers arrested 14 people at Ashley’s Tavern in Amsterdam in July 1921 and seized $10,000 worth of liquor. Two years later the liquor was returned under court order.
According to a Google search of Daily Gazette records, in December 1922 one of the largest raids so far in the Northern District of New York took place on Reid Street in Amsterdam. Federal agents seized 50 cases of beer, four gallons of whisky, five quarts of gin and 15 quarts of what was described as alcohol. Agents destroyed 20 gallons of whisky. One man was charged.
Five days later for the first time in the Northern District, federal agents seized a horse and sleigh in Amsterdam allegedly being used to transport 50 gallons of wine in casks. As is the case with drug raids today, testing was to be done to ensure the liquid seized really was wine. Two grocery store proprietors loading the sleigh were charged with “illegally possessing and transporting intoxicants.”
Seven federal agents raided suspected saloons on Locust Avenue, Schuyler and East Main Streets in Amsterdam in September 1924, arresting four men described as saloonkeepers.
A story from October 1928 indicated that proof of operating a speakeasy came when an undercover officer was able to buy an alcoholic drink. Federal agents bought such a beverage at 29 Schuyler Street in Amsterdam and then arrested two men. Arrests came after a brief struggle in which one suspect sustained a badly discolored eye.
A report focusing on a raid at the Kit Kat Club in Saratoga Springs in August 1930 also noted that federal agents confiscated a half barrel of beer and several bottles of what they thought was beer at Amsterdam’s Hotel Griffin on West Main Street. One man was arrested but was released on $2000 bail.
Bail for violators of the anti-alcohol law seems high--$1000 or $2000 per person—given that a dollar was worth much more back then. However, those charged usually were able to make bail and were released.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, October 20, 2023
57 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:42AM
Showers likely, mainly after 4pm. Cloudy, with a high near 63. Southeast wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tonight
Rain likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 53. East wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday
Rain. High near 59. West wind 6 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Sunday
Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. Breezy, with a west wind 17 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, October 20, 2023
Daily Gazette
Support Local Journalism
To subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/
Paper-Paper, On-line and e-edition
When Credibility Matters
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s father dies suddenly during first 24 hours of Israel trip
ALBANY – During her trip to Israel, Gov. Kathy Hochul gave an update Thursday afternoon about her experience so far…
Amsterdam Alderman Stephen Gomula scheduled to take plea next month
FONDA — Amsterdam 4th Ward Alderman Stephen Gomula is expected to take a plea offer in Montgomery County Court next…
Two Buttons Deep lost six figures after controversial Johnstown video
Two Buttons Deep is suspending all advertising for this year in the fallout of a since-deleted short featuring transphobic comments…
https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
Van Alstyne 12th annual soup tasting and craft fair in Canajoharie Saturday
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/