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Second Thief, Best Thief – An Old Jersey City Saying
The Jersey City Waterfront once was covered with warehouses and piers. Adjacent to these were miles of railroad yards dotted with innumerable sheds and small buildings for use as storage and as workshops for mechanics, machinists, and welders.
During the depression, children from impoverished families would climb onto the roofs of the outlying structures, both to hide and to gain a view of the surrounding area. From up there, they'd watch for workers stealing from the docks, the trains, or the warehouses. The initial crooks would sneak off into the weeds to hide the swag with the idea of retrieving it at the end of the shift. Seeing opportunity made available, the kids would wait a bit for the situation to cool. Then, they'd climb down, grab the goods, and make a getaway through the vacant lots.
Practitioners coined the saying "second thief, best thief" to describe this method of survival.
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Monthly Archives: June 2013
These guys would steal the hole out’v a donut.
Back in the late ’80s, I sold bird seed and supplies out of a storefront on Congress Street a couple of blocks up from Palisade Avenue in the Jersey City Heights. During the day, I did the paperwork and prepared … Continue reading
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The Friendly Stranger’s Chemical Delight
Lunch hour for the night crew at White Rose Frozen Foods (just outside of the Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel) was midnight to 1:10AM. Some guys’d run across the street to the diner or Arby’s, others would bring something … Continue reading