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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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Recent Posts
- Late one night in the Tunnel Diner
- James Leightnin had a story about aimlessly shuffling through the streets of the Lower East Side very early one cold morning.
- Who remembers the two people who back in the late-’80s were outside around Central and Manhattan no matter how cold it got?
- Bookie’s wife’s try for a Get Out of Jail Free card
- Tunnel Bar patrons enjoyed many hours of true crime diversion.
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- Anthony Olszewski on Eddie Sarge’s partner Vito Genovese
- Dom Perruccio on Eddie Sarge’s partner Vito Genovese
- Colette Golightly on Barney’s
- daphne on That’s how you play the game.
- N.Labruno on A week or so after the abduction and murder of Butch Cap, . . .
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- Nietzsche as a boy – The Brian Jonestown…
- “Our Computers Don’t Make Mistakes.”
- An attempt to murder all five heads of the New York Families
- Lost Indian Tribe Surfaces In Jersey City –…
- The father of “Crazy” Joe Gallo was in…
- Rape, Murder and Kidnapping
- Aniello Dellacroce was a financial wizard
- When Workman shot “Dutch” Schultz in Newark
- The Malcontent
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Late one night in the Tunnel Diner
Perhaps the strangest experience in the Tunnel Diner was late one night (extremely early one morning?) A group of four JCPD arrived and went to the counter. One I knew and he sat next to me. They began to chat.“Have … Continue reading
James Leightnin had a story about aimlessly shuffling through the streets of the Lower East Side very early one cold morning.
James Leightnin had a story about aimlessly shuffling through the streets of the Lower East Side very early one cold morning. “HEY! YOU!” James to some little degree came out of his hang over fog. Only then did he see … Continue reading
Bookie’s wife’s try for a Get Out of Jail Free card
Back before the ’70s, illegal gambling arrests in Hudson County rarely resulted in incarceration. With Judge Lerner’s arrival on Newark Avenue, that all changed quite abruptly. One courtroom observer related nearly falling on the floor one day when Lerner told … Continue reading
In Jersey City PG (Pre-Gentrification) rock stars and heiresses were few and far between.
Once someone makes the existential choice of substance abuse, next is the practical matter of financing this new lifestyle. Since in Jersey City PG (Pre-Gentrification) rock stars and heiresses were few and far between, adventurous locals had to rely on … Continue reading
Taking Numbers at the corner of 4th and Grove
My father had many stories about taking numbers — the illegal lottery — during the ’50s and ’60s down by the corner of 4th and Grove in Jersey City. (The Green Door tavern, Jean’s Luncheonette, Lou’s Barber Shop, the fruit … Continue reading
You can’t do everything at once . . .
Vinny Buchelle spoke of an amusing incident that occurred when he was working (as an inmate) in the morgue at the Trenton State Hospital for the Criminally insane. On one particularly busy day, they ran out of slabs. Another inmate/worker … Continue reading
That’s how you play the game.
My father was a numbers (illegal lottery) bookie in Downtown Jersey City from the ’50s through the ’80s. Back when he ran his operation out of a candy store on Fourth and Grove (back when there was a Fourth and … Continue reading
Life-long resident of Jersey City hired as Security
Back around ’88 or ’89, Jersey City PG (PreGentrification) had an interesting interlude with the NEW AND IMPROVED version. There was a building upgrade / redo going on in the Heights. For who knows what reason — the developers acquired … Continue reading
It must be the computer games!
Some years back, I was walking down my block in the Jersey City Heights when I spotted a notorious local career criminal. I at first couldn’t believe my eyes for the last I’d heard was the he had been sent … Continue reading
Tommy’s comments on the reports of his death.
Some decades ago, here and there in the Heights and in the Tunnel Bar stories about Tommy — a dealer in rare powders — often were in the air. I was in the tavern one day back then when in … Continue reading
Tommy’s handling of other things of value
Tommy — as a dealer in rare powders — needed creativity to a degree not known to conventional merchants. As a f’rinstance, inventory just was not going to go on display in a glass case under the counter. Any number … Continue reading