Alo outlived most of his pals he died of natural causes in 2001 in Florida at age 96. The boom years for Wolfies and all of Miami Beachs deli-style eateries came after World War II when Jewish veterans and retirees, mostly from New York and the Northeast, flowed into Miami Beach by the thousands as permanent residents, snowbirds, and tourists. One question asked repeatedly of suspected mobsters was: "Do you know Joe Sonken?". Around 4 a.m., as bartenders Ernie Baticki and Joe Galanti exited, two men with black stockings over their heads stuck guns into the bartenders' backs and said, "Get back inside!" A United States Senate subcommittee termed it a national message center for the mob, set up for secret communication between high-powered criminals. The 21-month trial is thought to be the longest federal criminal trial ever held. In 1970, Catenas fortune was estimated at more than $10 million by a New Jersey state crime committee. Joseph Sonken died at age 83 in 1990 with no wife or children, in Plantation, Florida. My grandfather said that Meyer was a great intelligent guy who would help anyone unless you crossed him. His success was such that Lansky once made an uncharacteristic but famous boast to an associate: Were bigger than U.S. Steel.. It opened in 2008. The uproar in Miami Beach prompted a sympathetic Oakland Park mayor, Dewey Hawkins, to say that Capone was welcome to live in his city. A LITTLE HISTORY FROM THE INTERNET (credit goes to the writer's of the information, not me.). Until recently, he lived inconspicuously in an upper middle-class Hollywood neighborhood. The Inn was neither colonial nor an inn. Known as the "Mob's Accountant," he was notorious in his own right, operating criminal rackets from Miami to Las Vegas to Cuba and. They were simple frame structures with canvas roofs. Ben Kramer, a speedboat racer and smuggler, once left $10,000 in cash in a garbage bag in his trunk in the Gold Coast parking lot. The next morning, the Miami Herald announced that Sonken, the intimidating icon who had presided over this landmark for decades, had drowned. Hallandale briefly became part of Hollywood, then on March 6, 1927 it secedes again. Tough Jews, Las Vegas and the Legacy of Meyer Lansky From nearby appeared a Gold Coast regular, a guy who had spent so much time there that a booth could have been named after him. They would send an officer into Gold Coast not just to eavesdrop. Please note: although its rumored that J. W. Young built a sound stage in Hollywood (Florida) in order to make movies, there is absolutely no record of this in Youngs numerous publications. Quietly, Joe Sonkens Gold Coast Restaurant became known as a place where rival mob factions could meet and get along. When someone asked what he knew about Meyer Lansky, Sonken would say, "He orders spaghetti." He is the coordinator of the message center.. In 1946 he formed a company to distribute slot and pinball machines. My grandfather worked in Cleveland for the Jewish group I would enjoy discussing him with you to find out more about him and tell you what I know about him. Mobster Meyer Lansky's letter to his daughter up for auction | Miami Herald He persuaded Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista to allow gambling only in hotels worth more than $1 million, then proceeded to build the only hotels that qualified. Meyer Lansky, n Maier Suchowljansky (1902-1983), just may be the U.S. icon of 20th century gambling, illegal and legal. Pivotal moments in mob history transpired over homemade ravioli and Gold Coast's famous Chicken Vesuvio (baked with potatoes and onion). (Another possibility involves internal mob drama, as the FBI believed Ippolito could have been related to a member of a Tampa-based mob syndicate.) In 1986 Fortune magazine ranked him as the fourth-richest mobster in the country. He also established jukebox distribution outlets and a chain of illegal and profitable gambling casinos. "We're not fooling around," a source with the investigation told the Fort Lauderdale News, as officers lugged out 40 cases of mushrooms, 96 cases of tomato juice, and five cases of anchovies. Art Mooney, a well-known bandleader and singer who performed at Gold Coast, recorded a bouncy song inspired by Sonken called "I Never Had a Worry in the World.". Agents were in the midst of a historic undercover operation using the restaurant as a staging ground at the time the car rolled into the drink. On paper, he was worth almost nothing. Enter your email address to follow this blog an, Where to find Joan Mickelson, author, in2019, HOLLYWOODS EARLY SMALL HOTELS FOUND CHIEFLY IN PARKSIDE AND ROYAL POINCIANA: IN SUPPORT OF PRESERVATIONEFFORTS, Correcting Fake News about Hollywood,Florida, YOUR BLOGGER IS HAVING A BOOK SIGNING DEC.3, Listen to my WLRN interview; also read What Makes Hollywood FLspecial, Follow FLORIDA'S HOLLYWOOD: HISTORY and PEOPLE on WordPress.com. Jerry Catena is a successful businessman as well as an organized-crime figure.. In the 1970s mobster Meyer Lansky, pursuing the simple life of a philosophical, Chevrolet-driving, book-borrowing library patron, was often spotted noshing in Wolfies. Weed shows his awareness of International Modern architecture, choosing this Modern style as best suited to the Florida tropical climate. Pearl, who grew up in South Florida, is a New York Times best-selling author of six novels that have been translated into 30 languages. His Gold Coast had long been a place of infinite possibility, where an impromptu jazz-concert-as-wake for a blind pianist could be followed by a hostage-taking robbery. Prohibition was totally ignored by the population.. Originally, the Epicure Market was to be contained within a new condominium building on the location, but a downturn in the real estate market in the late 2000s (decade) put an end to the condominium project. There he holds court with visitors regardless of their professions or business connections with his English bulldog, Bozo, sitting at his feet. Green called South Florida the "haven for every crud in the United States." Visit our homepage at hollywoodgazette.com. The new owner is a front called Tiger Business LLC in Weston. 63ms. Carl Fishers Alton Beach Realty Company is developing land on the beach. Those interested, it said, should apply to Halland Land Company, 5 Water Street NY for land prices. Meyer Lansky was born in 1902 in Grodno, Russia (present day Belarus), immigrating to America as a child. Even today he remains one of the wealthiest. Hoffa arrived, got into a car with several men and was never seen again. Local papers also covered how Sonken told diners he'd give them "people bags" instead of "doggie bags" for leftovers. Never a true Mafioso because he was Jewish, not Italian, Lansky outlived nearly all of his Mafia associates. Neighbors described Accetturo as a nice guy. But while all that gambling was taking place in Hallandale, the guys in charge kept their families safe in the adjacent and beautiful city of Hollywood. Before last years marathon trial in New Jersey, Accetturo was one of the main mob figures in South Florida, according to Lt. Dave Green of the Broward Sheriffs Office. Another Chicago native, Sonken was said to be close to many of that citys organized crime figures. "If you want excitement, skydive." Which means you were born between 1920-50s. After being booted out of Israel, where he had fled with Thelma when he was indicted, Lansky beat the first two charges. "We're coming out!" Mizners most productive years were behind him, but Robert L. Weed would design the Florida Tropical House for the 1933 Worlds Fair in Chicago. Scarfo not only lived in the Spanish-style house he called Casablanca South, he rewarded loyal crime-family members with weekends there. He gave the boot to Frank Sinatra and his crew for being disruptive. Almost every night there was a new food critic, chef from another restaurant, politician, or entertainer such as Sammy Davis Jr. at the place. Meyer Lansky - Facts, Children & Movie - Biography In Miami, Sonken partnered with two Chicago transplants who'd left the Devonshire under the dark clouds of their reputations: Petey Arnstein, a reputed jewel thief, and Arnstein's wife, Ollie, identified by police as a brothel madam. The rest of Hollywood beach before 1926 also belonged to J. W. Young who was developing house lots for sale. Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House was a Jewish delicatessen at the intersection of 172nd Street and Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. After Kaufman took on the Plantation, Alo and Lansky opened several more gambling establishments including the Barn and the Colonial Inn in Hallandale. If walls could talk. And below is one of my favorites, with raised vertical trim, and complete with portholes.. local news and culture, Matthew Pearl Now, although most of the Alo-Lansky establishments were in Hallandale, whats interesting to this blog is that the proprietors actually made their homes in Hollywood. Physical Description. Gold Coast employees could only wish the police were there on Labor Day 1973. He had three children from his first wife, Anna,. The only hint of wealth is the gold Mercedes in the driveway. So you are in your 80s? There was also a cafeteria, at the right in photo at right, and library. THE MAN WHO MANY BELIEVE set up the presumed murder of former Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa, didnt have much time to enjoy his 2,948-square-foot home on the Intracoastal, which he bought in Hallandales Golden Isles neighborhood in 1977. So whats the connection? It wasn't until 1914 that 12-year old Meyer Lansky and his family migrated to The Lower East Side of Manhattan, where their first known address was a third floor . A New Jersey mob associate named Anthony Little Pussy Russo put it more crudely in a secretly taped conversation in 1978. A man on a walk to get a newspaper saw them and called the police from a pay phone. Sonken displayed Chicago memorabilia street signs, pennants, and jerseys around the restaurant. In this photo in the Hollywood Herald, Roosevelt is the first man in a dark suit stepping off the gangplank, and waving. Bertucelli, working under Sheriff Nick Navarro (who campaigned on his anti-organized crime bona fides), prepared to launch the daring "Operation Cherokee." [Someone please tell the Miami TV announcers that it is pronounced like HAL not HOLL, and the settlers were Swedish, not Dutch.] "He realized he didn't have a big enough police force to take on the mafia," so he channeled the incursion in a way that pumped up the economy. Stakes were high. One alternative is a tour of the homes and hangouts of South Floridas mobsters, past and present. Among those casting an anti-Capone vote was the mayor, J. Newton Lummus. asked Gerald Kogan, the committee's legal counsel and a future Florida State Supreme Court justice. 90s? His remains were interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Later he became a major stockholder in Bally Manufacturing, the worlds largest maker of slot machines. This underworld tour is far from comprehensive, simply because South Florida is a mecca for the mob. Gangsters from the Northeast also enjoyed it for the reasons anyone does the weather, for one, which hearkened back to the "old country." It may not be Chicago, but you can truthfully say that Al Capone slept and died here. AL SCARFACE CAPONE 93 PALM AVE., PALM ISLAND, MIAMI BEACH.