Albert James Adams (May 22, 1845 – October 1, 1906), known as "The Policy King" and the "Meanest Man in New York," was an American racketeer. He ran the

numbers game The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, Mafia lottery or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

from around 1890 to around 1905.

Life

He was born in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

and lived in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

before he moved to

in 1871 as a brakeman for the railroad. He married Isabella (1840-?) and had six children: Albert J. Adams, Jr. (1870-?); Lawrence Adams (1874-?); Louis Adams (1875-?); Walter C. Adams (1877-?); Evelyn Adams (1879-?) aka Eveline Adams, who married a Napoleon; and Ida Adams (1874-?) or Claudia P. Adams. In 1880 he was living at 236 West 38th Street in Manhattan and he listed himself as a "segar dealer". He was named by the Lexow Committee, and was replaced by Peter H. Matthews when he retired. The anonymous testifier at the Lexow Committee in 1894 said: " he principal policy backers in this city areAl Adams. 'Jake' Shipsey, Cornelius B. Parker, 'Billy' Myers, 'Ed' Hogan, nd Charles Lindauer. ...Al has the most ... sheets, and he is the biggest man, and has the most money, and has the biggest pile. ... He is called the king of the policy dealers. ... Al Adams has from Fourteenth street up on the west side mostly." After a 1901 raid on his gambling operation by F. Norton Goddard, the police estimated that he was making more than $1 million a year, and after his conviction in 1903 it was revealed that he had been allowed to stay at the

Waldorf-Astoria The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schult ...

until he was sentenced. He was sentenced on April 21, 1903, to "not less than a year and not more than one year and nine months" in Sing-Sing. On April 5, 1904, his application for

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

was denied by the New York State Board of Parole. The board members being C. V. Collins, the

Superintendent of Prisons The warden ( US, Canada) or governor ( UK, Australia), also known as a superintendent (US, South Asia) or director (UK, New Zealand), is the official who is in charge of a prison. Name In the United States and Canada, warden is the most commo ...

; State Treasurer John G. Wickser and president of the New York State Prison Commission John P. Jaeckel. This meant he was to stay in prison for the maximum time of the sentence. On October 8, 1905, he wrote to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' that he had quit the

policy racket The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, Mafia lottery or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a be ...

forever. He committed suicide at the

Ansonia Hotel The Ansonia is a building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, located at 2109 Broadway, between 73rd and 74th Streets. It was originally built as a residential hotel by William Earle Dodge Stokes, the Phelps-Dodge copper heir ...

in 1906 after losing several million dollars by investing in a business venture with his eldest son. The funeral was held at 471 West End, he was 61 years old. His death did not end the

References

External links

*
Albert J. Adams bibliographyLexow Committee Transcript; 1894
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Albert J. 1845 births 1906 suicides Numbers game Criminals from New York City Sing Sing Suicides by firearm in New York City People from Blackstone, Massachusetts