Harry "Nig" Rosen was a
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
mobster who was a major organized crime figure on the east coast with influence as far as
Atlantic City,
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
and
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Biography
Born Harry Stromberg, Rosen emerged as a prominent racketeer in southwest Philadelphia and, as head of the 69th Street Gang, became involved in prostitution, extortion, labor racketeering and later in narcotics with
Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 4, 1928), nicknamed "The Brain", was an American racketeer, crime boss, businessman, and gambler in New York City. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletic ...
during the mid-1920s. Succeeding
Max "Boo Hoo" Hoff as the city's chief bootlegger during Prohibition, he was a member of the "
Big Seven" aligned with the Philadelphia faction along with
Waxey Gordon
Waxey Gordon (born Irving Wexler; January 19, 1888 – June 24, 1952) was an American gangster who specialized in bootlegging and illegal gambling. An associate of Arnold Rothstein during prohibition, he was caught up in a power struggle follo ...
and Irving Blitz, later attending the
Atlantic City Conference
The Atlantic City Conference held between 13–16 May 1929 was a historic summit of leaders of organized crime in the United States. It is considered by most crime historians to be the earliest organized crime summit held in the US. The conferenc ...
.
During the 1930s, he and
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the ...
worked on expanding drug trafficking operations in Mexico as an alternative to older routes such as Japan now closed with United States entry into World War II. By 1939, a lucrative heroin network had been established from drug traffickers based in Mexico City to major cities across the United States including New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Los Angeles as well as
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. ,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
.
He and his lieutenant, driver and bodyguard Willie Weisberg, were named as dominant racketeers involved in the numbers racket under testimony from police superintendent George F. Richardson during the
Kefauver Committee
The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce was a special committee of the United States Senate which existed from 1950 to 1951 and which investigated organized crime which crossed state borders in the U ...
in 1951.
During the early 1950s, Rosen became partners with
Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese after buying the Sweet Valley Improvement Company which was used by the
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as ...
to ship clothing out of New York's garment district.
Lower Luzerne County - History of Sweet Valley
/ref>
References
Further reading
* Denton, Sally and Morris, Roger. ''The Money and the Power: The Making of Las Vegas and Its Hold on America, 1947–2000''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.
* Lacey, Robert. ''Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life''. London: Century, 1991.
*Messick, Hank. ''Lansky''. London: Robert Hale & Company, 1973.
*Scott, Peter Dale. ''Deep Politics and the Death of JFK''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, Harry
Jewish American gangsters
Prohibition-era gangsters
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing
Philadelphia crime family
Gangsters from Philadelphia