Harry Rosen (mobster)
Encyclopedia
Harry "Nig" Rosen was a Philadelphia mobster who was a major organized crime figure on the east coast with influence as far as Atlantic City, Baltimore
and Washington, D.C.
during the mid-1920s. Succeeding Max "Boo Hoo" Hoff as the city's chief bootlegger during Prohibition, he was a member of the "Big Seven
" aligned with the Philadelphia faction along with Waxey Gordon
and Irving Blitz, later attending the Atlantic City Conference
.
During the 1930s, he and Meyer Lansky
worked on expanding drug trafficking operations in Mexico as an alternative to older routes such as Japan now closed with United States entry into World War II. By 1939, a lucrative heroin network had been established from drug traffickers based in Mexico City to major cities across the United States including New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Los Angeles as well as Havana, Cuba.
He and his lieutenant, driver and bodyguard William "Willie" Weisberg, were named as dominant racketeers involved in the numbers racket under testimony from police superintendent George F. Richardson
during the Kefauver Committee in 1951.
During the early 1950s, Rosen became partners with Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese after buying the Sweet Valley Improvement Company which was used by the Lucchese crime family to ship out clothing out of New York's garment district.
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Biography
Born Harry Stromberg, Rosen emerged as a prominent racketeer in southeast Philadelphia and, as head of the 69th Street Gang, became involved prostitution, extortion, labor racketeering and later in narcotics with Arnold RothsteinArnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein , nicknamed "The Brain", was a New York businessman and gambler who became a famous kingpin of the Jewish mafia. Rothstein was also widely reputed to have been behind baseball's Black Sox Scandal, in which the 1919 World Series was fixed...
during the mid-1920s. Succeeding Max "Boo Hoo" Hoff as the city's chief bootlegger during Prohibition, he was a member of the "Big Seven
Seven Group
The Combined or Big Seven Group, was a criminal organization headed by organized crime figures on the east coast during Prohibition serving as the predecessor to the alleged National Crime Syndicate of the 1930s...
" aligned with the Philadelphia faction along with Waxey Gordon
Waxey Gordon
Waxey Gordon was an American gangster who specialized in bootlegging and illegal gambling. An associate of Arnold Rothstein during prohibition he was caught up in a power struggle following his death...
and Irving Blitz, later attending the Atlantic City Conference
Atlantic City Conference
The Atlantic City Conference held in 1929 was a historic summit of leaders of organized crime in the United States. It is considered by most crime historians to be the earliest organized crime summit held in the US...
.
During the 1930s, he and Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
worked on expanding drug trafficking operations in Mexico as an alternative to older routes such as Japan now closed with United States entry into World War II. By 1939, a lucrative heroin network had been established from drug traffickers based in Mexico City to major cities across the United States including New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Los Angeles as well as Havana, Cuba.
He and his lieutenant, driver and bodyguard William "Willie" Weisberg, were named as dominant racketeers involved in the numbers racket under testimony from police superintendent George F. Richardson
George F. Richardson
George Frederick Richardson was a politician from the U.S. states of Michigan and Washington.Richardson was born in Jamestown Township, Michigan and attended the common schools. He engaged in agricultural and mercantile pursuits and was elected township clerk eight years in succession...
during the Kefauver Committee in 1951.
During the early 1950s, Rosen became partners with Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese after buying the Sweet Valley Improvement Company which was used by the Lucchese crime family to ship out clothing out of New York's garment district.
Further reading
- Denton, Sally and Morris, Roger. The Money and the Power: The Making of Las Vegas and Its Hold on America, 1947-2000. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001. ISBN 0-375-40130-X
- Lacey, Robert. Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life. London: Century, 1991. ISBN 0-7126-2426-0
- Messick, Hank. Lansky. London: Robert Hale & Company, 1973. ISBN 0-7091-3966-7
- Scott, Peter Dale. Deep Politics and the Death of JFK. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. ISBN 0-520-08410-1