workers fell off the pier behind the fish market. Quick-thinking Lanza swam to the floundering drunks and held two of them above water. Seavers threw Lanza a buoy and a rope and then successfully plucked the men out of the rough waters. The other two men did not survive. 87
In 1919, nineteen-year-old Lanza got his feet wet in union racketeering at the Fulton Fish Market when he organized and became business agent of a United Seafood Workers local, 88 a charter of the American Federation of Labor. Shortly after, the Fulton Market Watchmen and Patrol Association was established, offering merchants “protection” from vandalism of their property or stock. Over the next decade, Lanza’s influence at the market grew, and virtually every single union worker, wholesaler, retailer, transporter and commercial business associated with the fish market would be subject to a variety of extortion rackets.
Fulton Market, 1939. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection (Library of Congress). Photo by Edward Lynch .
For example, merchants were forced to purchase fish at marked-up prices from “approved” shipments and pay a $3-a-week tax to protect their personal autos parked on local streets from damage. Ship captains were required to pay $10 for every docking. Those who did not cooperate could not unload their boats and were refused ice to keep their inventories fresh, often forcing crews to dump thousands of pounds of spoiled fish into the ocean at the end of the day. Even local hotels and restaurants had to pay up to $1,000 a year for the “privilege” of purchasing fresh fish from the market. Victims soon realized it was simply cheaper to pay Lanza than to go through the legal system.
The power Lanza wielded over the industry came to the public’s attention during a 1931 investigation of New York district attorney Thomas C.T. Crain, who was accused of failing to prosecute the racketeers of the Fulton Fish Market, citing the fact that out of 150 cases, only 3 led to indictments. 89 At least three days of testimony centered on the United Seafood Workers, as several witnesses (as many as fifteen in one day) pointed to Lanza as the man behind the fish market extortion rackets, claiming to have paid up to $6,000 a year in “tributes” for the right to do business at the market over a ten-year period.
By the end of 1931, a network of truck drivers and fishermen from Connecticut and Rhode Island united to create the Southern New England Fisherman’s Association in an effort to breach the mob’s control of the Fulton Fish Market. Among several complaints was the allegation of being discriminated against for being from out of state. The association complained that out-of-town trucks could not unload without paying tribute to a New York union or hiring a union member “or else.” 90 Some of the mob’s retaliations were subtle on the surface but could cost out-of-state companies thousands of dollars a day. For example, despite lining up at the break of dawn, non–New York truckers had to wait and then fight for space on the loading docks toward the end of the day, when the value of their delivery was at its lowest.
Corruption charges against District Attorney Crain were eventually dismissed, but the experience seems to have motivated the nearly fallen prosecutor to take up a crusade against organized crime at the Fulton Fish Market, at least for the public’s sake. In May 1933, he opened a new investigation into Lanza and his union rackets. On June 5, 1933, Lanza and fifty-three associates were indicted on various charges ranging from coercion to extortion. In October 1934, Lanza was again acquitted of all charges.
Another investigation of the market’s managing practices in 1935 led to the indictments of eighty-two racketeers and a two-year prison term for Lanza. He remained on the USW payroll for a year while behind bars, until retiring from his position on December 31, 1937.
When released from
In 1919, nineteen-year-old Lanza got his feet wet in union racketeering at the Fulton Fish Market when he organized and became business agent of a United Seafood Workers local, 88 a charter of the American Federation of Labor. Shortly after, the Fulton Market Watchmen and Patrol Association was established, offering merchants “protection” from vandalism of their property or stock. Over the next decade, Lanza’s influence at the market grew, and virtually every single union worker, wholesaler, retailer, transporter and commercial business associated with the fish market would be subject to a variety of extortion rackets.
Fulton Market, 1939. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection (Library of Congress). Photo by Edward Lynch .
For example, merchants were forced to purchase fish at marked-up prices from “approved” shipments and pay a $3-a-week tax to protect their personal autos parked on local streets from damage. Ship captains were required to pay $10 for every docking. Those who did not cooperate could not unload their boats and were refused ice to keep their inventories fresh, often forcing crews to dump thousands of pounds of spoiled fish into the ocean at the end of the day. Even local hotels and restaurants had to pay up to $1,000 a year for the “privilege” of purchasing fresh fish from the market. Victims soon realized it was simply cheaper to pay Lanza than to go through the legal system.
The power Lanza wielded over the industry came to the public’s attention during a 1931 investigation of New York district attorney Thomas C.T. Crain, who was accused of failing to prosecute the racketeers of the Fulton Fish Market, citing the fact that out of 150 cases, only 3 led to indictments. 89 At least three days of testimony centered on the United Seafood Workers, as several witnesses (as many as fifteen in one day) pointed to Lanza as the man behind the fish market extortion rackets, claiming to have paid up to $6,000 a year in “tributes” for the right to do business at the market over a ten-year period.
By the end of 1931, a network of truck drivers and fishermen from Connecticut and Rhode Island united to create the Southern New England Fisherman’s Association in an effort to breach the mob’s control of the Fulton Fish Market. Among several complaints was the allegation of being discriminated against for being from out of state. The association complained that out-of-town trucks could not unload without paying tribute to a New York union or hiring a union member “or else.” 90 Some of the mob’s retaliations were subtle on the surface but could cost out-of-state companies thousands of dollars a day. For example, despite lining up at the break of dawn, non–New York truckers had to wait and then fight for space on the loading docks toward the end of the day, when the value of their delivery was at its lowest.
Corruption charges against District Attorney Crain were eventually dismissed, but the experience seems to have motivated the nearly fallen prosecutor to take up a crusade against organized crime at the Fulton Fish Market, at least for the public’s sake. In May 1933, he opened a new investigation into Lanza and his union rackets. On June 5, 1933, Lanza and fifty-three associates were indicted on various charges ranging from coercion to extortion. In October 1934, Lanza was again acquitted of all charges.
Another investigation of the market’s managing practices in 1935 led to the indictments of eighty-two racketeers and a two-year prison term for Lanza. He remained on the USW payroll for a year while behind bars, until retiring from his position on December 31, 1937.
When released from
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