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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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Tag Archives: Hal
A Guantanamo Bay of the mind
For ten years in Jersey City PG (PreGentrification), I ran a dive tavern — the Tunnel Bar — just outside the Holland Tunnel. One of the regulars was a former armed robber that we shall here call Hal who had … Continue reading →
Hal’s concern for the public morals — of juveniles in particular.
I, Claudius was very popular in the Tunnel Bar. One evening a little crowd of regulars were watching as Claudius was summoned before Caligula. Next thing on the screen is the walk on the wild side emperor doing the shimmy-shimmy, … Continue reading →
Hal and the Gypsy Electrolux salesman
I generally worked afternoons / nights at the Tunnel Bar. One morning, my father was hard at work implementing one of his improvement projects, so I was in tending bar early. Though the window, I see a new Cadillac pull … Continue reading →
Hurricane Carter’s prison bout
One of the regular customers at the Tunnel Bar who we shall here call Hal was a long-time friend of Hurricane Carter, all the way from Yardville to Rahway. Hal told of an unusual Boxing match in prison with Carter … Continue reading →
Rites of passage
One of the regulars at the Tunnel Bar, Hal, was something of an expert on the NJ correctional system. He had an amusing story of his graduation from a youthful offender to an inmate. Transported from Hudson County early in … Continue reading →
A few steps too far, even by Hudson County standards
When I was a kid, our family doctor from Union City got locked up for selling machine guns. After the good healer was sentenced to many decades, one wag had him exclaiming to the judge, “How’m I supposed to do … Continue reading →
Survivor — Hudson County Style
Limousine Stan had a good thing going unloading trucks in New York City’s 14th Street meat market – until the IRS put the kibosh on that. In his forties and only 5′ 5″ or so, Stan stacked the heavy cases … Continue reading →
A Place Like This
Deep in the heart of darkest December, it was a cold Saturday afternoon. The tavern was empty. The one room was about forty feet long, with maybe eight feet from the bar to the wall. Originally there were two windows. … Continue reading →
A Funny Sorta Day
A-Funny-Sorta-Day.mp3 “It was a funny sorta day. It was rainin’. ‘Causa dat, they didn’t let nobody outinta the yard…everybody hadda stay locked up in the cell block. “There was a young Italian guy there who was a goofy sorta bastard. … Continue reading →