487. New York Mobsters Invade the Catskills

  

                  NEW YORK MOBSTERS 

             INVADE THE CATSKILLS

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Upstate New York, solidly Republican, has always thought of downstate New York -- New York City and its environs -- as a sink of sin, a swamp of corruption, and a nest of urban wiles.  By contrast, upstaters have thought of themselves as clean, honest, and upright -- the sort of citizens that form a solid base, calm and reasonable, for a functioning democracy.   (I discuss this at greater length in chapter 21, "Upstate vs. Downstate," in No Place for Normal: New York.)

So imagine this scene in the 1920s: The small town of Pine Plains in Dutchess County, some thirty miles north of Poughkeepsie.  Quiet farmland, and down a gravelly side road the hulking mass of a barn no  different in appearance from all the other large barns of the neighborhood.  An idyllic scene, rural, restful, remote, far from the crime, vice, and hurlyburly of the city.

Except for one disquieting fact: the hulking mass of a barn was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, illegal moonshine distilleries in the state.  This was the age of Prohibition, New Yorkers wanted their booze, and there were plenty of providers eager to supply them with it.  Liquor was pouring into the thirsty city from Canada, and from a flotilla of boats anchored offshore just outside the three-mile limit.  But resourceful entrepreneurs also saw the advantage of producing the stuff right there in the state, in a quiet rural neighborhood where such misdeeds would not -- at least for a while -- be suspected.  The barn in question was outfitted with cavernous bunkers for storage, and an elaborate tunnel system for escape.

And who was the mastermind behind this elaborate moonshine distillery?  None other than the notorious NewYork City gangster and bootlegger Dutch Schultz.  Or so it is thought, though hard evidence is lacking.  He was never seen in Pine Plains.

Where Mr. Schultz was definitely seen was the town of Phoenicia, fifty miles west of Pine Plains.  He appreciated the isolated location of the town, on a direct route from Canada to New York City.  Years later  locals recalled him in the town, sometimes buying people dinner at the Phoenicia Hotel and staying at a nearby lodge.

If Schultz was never seen in Pine Plains, local legend puts Legs Diamond, Schultz's rival, there.  Schultz may have controlled the booze distribution in Ulster County, leaving Dutchess County to Diamond.  Until 1931, at least, when Diamond was murdered, perhaps on orders from Schultz.

To spice up local legends, there is the story of Schultz burying a waterproof safe crammed with diamonds, gold, and a stash of thousand-dollar bills somewhere in the Catskills.  If he did, there is no record of it.  Rumor has it that other mobsters searched for it for years, though in vain, and even today treasure hunters meet annually to hunt for it.

In October 1932 the Pine Plains distillery was raided by federal agents, who found one of the most extensive and elaborate layouts in that part of the country.  And on October 23, 1935, Dutch Schultz and his bodyguards were killed in the Palace Chop House in Newark, New Jersey, probably on orders of Charles (Lucky) Luciano, another legendary New York mobster.

If Legs Diamond was murdered on orders of Schultz, and Schultz was executed on orders of Lucky Luciano, who ordered Luciano's killing?  No one.  At least, no one successfully.  He would be brought to justice by federal prosecutor Thomas Dewey, and later was released in exchange for providing the U.S. military with links to the Sicilian mafia when we occupied Sicily in 1943.  But that's another story, told in chapter 9 of my other nonfiction work, Fascinating New Yorkers.  

And how is the Pine Plains barn doing today?  Just fine.  Yes, it's still standing, and ironically, serving legal moonshine to the public.  ln 2014 Governor Andrew Cuomo in his infinite wisdom sponsored legislation easing regulations on farm distillers.  As a result, distilleries have sprung up all over the state, making New York second only to California in craft distilleries.  Revamped, the old barn now houses Dutch's Spirits, a restaurant/distillery whose patrons sit at outdoor picnic tables, sipping cocktails and munching pizza.  And inside, in a handsome fame, is a portrait of Dutch Schultz, and it isn't a mug shot.  He may never have set foot there, but his image presides.

Source note: This post was inspired by Devorah Lev-Tov's article, "Moonshine Made Here, and Now Legal," in the Metropolitan Section of the New York Times of Sunday, November 15, 2020; most of its content comes from that source.  

©  2020  Clifford Browder

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