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    • Forget the Sopranos: The owner of this New Jersey house for sale was a real gangster
    Tennessee

    Forget the Sopranos: The owner of this New Jersey house for sale was a real gangster

    Eira Gwyneth Posted on

    4 minutes reading time

    A newly renovated Tudor-style home that once belonged to a longtime acquaintance of “New Jersey’s Al Capone” is for sale.

    The West Orange home at 42 Collamore Terrace, owned by Samuel “Big Sue” Katz in the mid-20th century, was offered for sale this month by Elizabeth Morris of Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty for $899,000.

    Katz was a chauffeur, confidant and go-between for Abner “Longie” Zwillman, a Newark-born greengrocer who became the boss of organized crime in North Jersey.

    Zwillman was part of a Mount Rushmore group of New York-area gangsters, a “Big Six” of bootleggers that, according to FBI records, included Meyer Lansky, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Louis Buchalter, Jacob “Gurrah” Shapiro and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel.

    His fixer’s former house dates back to the mid-20th century, but its interior has been completely modernized after a major restoration completed this year, Morris said. Restored hardwood floors, two new multi-zone HVAC units and windows that fill the space with natural light give the home a contemporary feel.

    The heart of the home is an open kitchen outfitted with quartz countertops, custom cabinetry, stainless steel appliances and a spacious island, Morris said. The living room boasts double-height cathedral ceilings and a hand-crafted natural stone fireplace. Built-in shelving with leaded glass doors add a touch of historic elegance.

    The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home includes a laundry room on the second floor, a fully equipped recreation room in the basement and an attached garage. Outside, there are two covered terraces that add functionality and charm.

    Katz, whom the Associated Press described 65 years ago as Zwillman’s “constant companion,” lived relatively inconspicuously at 42 Collamore until February 1959. Then, at age 60, Katz was charged with bribing a juror in Zwillman’s 1956 tax evasion trial. According to newspaper reports, the trial ended in a jury failure. FBI wiretaps decided the case against Katz.

    Less than ten days after Katz’s arrest, Zwillman was found hanged in his mansion at 50 Beverly Road. Zwillman, 54, was struggling with health problems in addition to his legal troubles, newspaper reports said. His death was ruled a suicide.

    Still, speculation persists that Zwillman was murdered. Luciano once claimed that the Mafia killed New Jersey’s godfather to prevent him from speaking to authorities.

    Like Katz, Zwillman grew up in Newark’s 3rd Ward, Mark A. Stuart wrote in his 1985 book about Zwillman, “Gangster #2.” The two played basketball together in the schoolyards of Charlton Street, Stuart wrote, and Katz became one of his closest confidants when Zwillman began bootlegging alcohol during Prohibition.

    Zwillman began as a messenger boy, transporting illegal liquor from Newark’s docks to warehouses and speakeasies. Eventually he took control of Newark’s “Bootlegger’s Row,” teamed up with tavern owner and bootlegger Joseph H. Reinfeld, and began illegally importing Canadian whiskey to the “rum runway” off Sandy Hook, according to a 1951 U.S. Senate committee report.

    Zwillman surrounded himself with henchmen, including Katz, another childhood friend, Joseph “Doc” Stacher, James “Niggy” Rutkin and Gerardo “Jerry” Catena, according to FBI records. The report said the moonshine syndicate became the largest of the Prohibition era.

    “From a background of poverty and deprivation, (Zwillman) rose within a decade to become the owner of a 40 or 50 percent stake in the Reinfeld Syndicate, an organization that imported nearly 40 percent of all the illegal alcohol consumed in the United States during Prohibition,” the report said.

    Zwillman was arrested several times for assault and had dark ties to gang-related murders, including those of Dutch Schultz in 1935 and Bugsy Siegel in 1947. The only prison sentence he ever served was six months for being found guilty in 1930 of beating a money courier named Preston Buzzard in 1928, The New York Times reported.

    According to FBI records, Zwillman donated to charities including a soup kitchen in Newark, founded an anti-fascist group and offered a reward for the return of the Lindbergh baby to improve his public image. Behind the scenes, he was involved in loan-spinning, bookmaking and illegal gambling casinos, including one at the old Riviera nightclub in Fort Lee, the Times reported.

    Zwillman, who replaced Schultz in 1935, also controlled corrupt unions for liquor salesmen, projectionists, plant technicians, window washers, retail clerks and truck drivers. In his later years, he wielded great political influence in Essex County and beyond, according to the Senate report.

    On the legal side, Zwillman operated the Public Service Tobacco Company, which installed cigarette machines in bars, and invested in liquor distribution, nightclubs, washing machines, race tracks, trucking franchises and real estate deals in Las Vegas, New York and Miami, the report said. He was also involved in a jukebox company that was used to launder ill-gotten gains.

    Things began to go downhill for Zwillman in March 1951, when he was called to testify before a U.S. Senate committee investigating organized crime. After delaying his testimony until the end of the investigation, Zwillman repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to return for further questioning in July, according to the resulting report.

    “When the committee’s counsel informed his attorney in July that he was again wanted for questioning, he disappeared completely,” the report said. “His attorney claimed they did not know where he was, his house was empty and no one had received telegrams or mail, and a nationwide search by the U.S. Marshals, Coast Guard, and committee personnel failed to determine his whereabouts. The conclusion is inescapable that despite his wealth and political power, Zwillman has a lot to hide.”

    After the investigation was completed, the Internal Revenue Service took a closer look at Zwillman’s financial empire and put him on trial for tax evasion in 1956. Thanks to Katz and others in Zwillman’s criminal circle offering bribes, the jury was unable to reach a consensus. However, the bribery scheme was uncovered just a few years later, putting Zwillman in the firing line again.

    After months of protesting his innocence, Katz, who ran a meat company on Mercer Street in Newark, pleaded guilty to bribing a juror in October 1959, The Associated Press reported. He later served time in prison with Peter La Placa of Hasbrouck Heights, state records show. La Placa was also part of Zwillman’s bribery scheme and was formerly a bodyguard and chauffeur for Willie Moretti, another suspected mobster who was shot to death in a Cliffside Park restaurant in 1951, The Herald-News reported.

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    Eira Gwyneth
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