Excerpt . . .
He did much of his fixing at Lindy's
Restaurant, in Times Square, spending so
much time there many thought he owned it.
Half of Broadway treated Lindy's as their
clubhouse. Actors in one corner; songwriters
and song pluggers in another; gamblers in yet
another. Damon Runyon gravitated to Lindy's
newspapermen's section and wrote about
those in the underworld section. In Guys and
Dolls, Lindy's became "Mindy's" and Arnold
Rothstein became "Nathan Detroit."
Elsewhere, Runyon turned A. R. into "Armand
Rosenthal, The Brain."
You could find A. R. in Lindy's almost any
night, making deals, lending money at rates as
high as 48 percent.
Arnold Rothstein compartmentalized his whole
life into various segments, some legal, most
illegal--a confusing, but profitable, mix of
legitimacy and corruption. Most knew him as
a gambler. He was much more. His "Big
Bankroll" nickname revealed far more than
one might surmise. From his earliest days, he
carried huge amounts on his conservatively
tailored person--eventually up to $100,000.
A big bankroll conferred immense power
upon the bearer. Have a scheme? See
Rothstein. In a jam? Go to Rothstein. You'd
get the money on the spot, no paperwork, no
wait. And so, A. R. fenced millions of dollars
in stolen government bonds, backed New
York's biggest bootleggers, imported tons of
illegal heroin and morphine, financed shady
Wall Street bucket shops, bought and sold
cops and politicians.
Rothstein wasn't merely rich, he was smart.
That was how he became rich. A. R. was
"The Great Brain," smarter and savvier than
those around him--no matter what crowd he
was in--the gamblers, the reporters, the
politicians, the hoodlums, the showpeople, the
"legitimate" businessman. They knew it, he
knew it; he prided himself on his overwhelming
intelligence, his ability to calmly, coldly
manipulate any situation.
He did much of his fixing at Lindy's
Restaurant, in Times Square, spending so
much time there many thought he owned it.
Half of Broadway treated Lindy's as their
clubhouse. Actors in one corner; songwriters
and song pluggers in another; gamblers in yet
another. Damon Runyon gravitated to Lindy's
newspapermen's section and wrote about
those in the underworld section. In Guys and
Dolls, Lindy's became "Mindy's" and Arnold
Rothstein became "Nathan Detroit."
Elsewhere, Runyon turned A. R. into "Armand
Rosenthal, The Brain."
You could find A. R. in Lindy's almost any
night, making deals, lending money at rates as
high as 48 percent.
Arnold Rothstein compartmentalized his whole
life into various segments, some legal, most
illegal--a confusing, but profitable, mix of
legitimacy and corruption. Most knew him as
a gambler. He was much more. His "Big
Bankroll" nickname revealed far more than
one might surmise. From his earliest days, he
carried huge amounts on his conservatively
tailored person--eventually up to $100,000.
A big bankroll conferred immense power
upon the bearer. Have a scheme? See
Rothstein. In a jam? Go to Rothstein. You'd
get the money on the spot, no paperwork, no
wait. And so, A. R. fenced millions of dollars
in stolen government bonds, backed New
York's biggest bootleggers, imported tons of
illegal heroin and morphine, financed shady
Wall Street bucket shops, bought and sold
cops and politicians.
Rothstein wasn't merely rich, he was smart.
That was how he became rich. A. R. was
"The Great Brain," smarter and savvier than
those around him--no matter what crowd he
was in--the gamblers, the reporters, the
politicians, the hoodlums, the showpeople, the
"legitimate" businessman. They knew it, he
knew it; he prided himself on his overwhelming
intelligence, his ability to calmly, coldly
manipulate any situation.
| . |
| Published by Carroll & Graf New York, New York |
| Broadway's Lindy's Restaurant served as A.R.'s unofficial office. On the night of Sunday, November 4, 1928 a call to Lindy's summoned Rothstein to the Park Central Hotel--and his death. |
| . |
| Rothstein Photo Galleries: |
| Rothstein: |
