The Yiddish Black Hand or the Jewish Black Hand Association was a criminal organization and extortion ring that operated on New York's Lower East Side during the early 20th century, led by Jacob "Johnny" Levinsky. Around 1906, Levinsky, with Charles "Charley the Cripple" Vitoffsky, and Joseph Toblinsky, began an extortion ring from their hangout at a Suffolk Street saloon, delivering anonymous letters signed as the "Yiddish Black Hand" threatening to steal or poison the horses of local pushcart vendors and other businessmen, usually fellow Jewish immigrants.
This method had been used in New York City by Neapolitan Camorristi, Sicilian mafiosi, and other Italian immigrant criminal gangs who preyed on fellow Italian immigrants as the Black Hand. Within three years, the ice cream manufacturers' association created a commercial fund from which they would annually pay off the organization.
By the end of 1913, having gained a virtual monopoly in their criminal activities, the three reorganized their criminal organization with Levinsky concentrating on extortion in the ice cream trade, Vitoffsky focusing on job offers between rival dealers and manufacturers of seltzer and soda while Toplinsky cornered the produce market, truckmen and livery stables.
Although the three often worked independently from each other, they did work together when hired out for specific jobs such as assault, theft, and murder for hire. A member who had turned informant provided a description of their rates:
Fried, Albert. The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980. ISBN0-231-09683-6
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January 19, 2023
yiddish, black, hand, this, article, does, cite, sources, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, january, 2018, learn, when, . This article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Yiddish Black Hand news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Yiddish Black Hand or the Jewish Black Hand Association was a criminal organization and extortion ring that operated on New York s Lower East Side during the early 20th century led by Jacob Johnny Levinsky Around 1906 Levinsky with Charles Charley the Cripple Vitoffsky and Joseph Toblinsky began an extortion ring from their hangout at a Suffolk Street saloon delivering anonymous letters signed as the Yiddish Black Hand threatening to steal or poison the horses of local pushcart vendors and other businessmen usually fellow Jewish immigrants This method had been used in New York City by Neapolitan Camorristi Sicilian mafiosi and other Italian immigrant criminal gangs who preyed on fellow Italian immigrants as the Black Hand Within three years the ice cream manufacturers association created a commercial fund from which they would annually pay off the organization By the end of 1913 having gained a virtual monopoly in their criminal activities the three reorganized their criminal organization with Levinsky concentrating on extortion in the ice cream trade Vitoffsky focusing on job offers between rival dealers and manufacturers of seltzer and soda while Toplinsky cornered the produce market truckmen and livery stables Although the three often worked independently from each other they did work together when hired out for specific jobs such as assault theft and murder for hire A member who had turned informant provided a description of their rates Shooting fatal 500 Shooting not fatal 100 Poisoning a team 50 Poisoning one horse 35 Stealing a horse and a rig 25See also EditJewish American organized crime Black HandSources EditFried Albert The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America New York Holt Rinehart and Winston 1980 ISBN 0 231 09683 6External links EditNew Voices Left Off the Ark A Bestiary of Gangs Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Yiddish Black Hand amp oldid 1134271106, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
