Samuel Levine
Encyclopedia
Samuel "Red" Levine was an American
mobster, described as head of Lucky Luciano
's hit squad of Jewish gangster
s. According to several sources, he was an observant Jew and refrained from killing on the Sabbath
, if possible.
Levine was born in Toledo, Ohio
, and grew up on the Lower East Side
of Manhattan
, New York
. To help his family, he worked on an ice truck at age 8, and was assigned to truant schools until he lied about his age and joined the US Navy at 15. He said he was in fights on board constantly because of his red hair and his Jewish heritage. He subsequently jumped ship in the Republic of Panama and ventured back to New York City
.
Levine was a member of the notorious Mafia gang, Murder, Inc.
, and is credited with being the trigger man, with Dutch Schultz
lieutenant Abraham "Bo" Weinberg, in the 1931 murders of Joe "The Boss" Masseria
and, along with Joe Adonis
, Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia
and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, one of the three hitmen sent by Meyer Lansky
to assassinate the Sicilian Mafia boss Salvatore Maranzano
in his office. They managed to enter by posing as government agents. Once inside Maranzano's office on the 9th floor of The Helmsley Building, they disarmed the guards and shot and stabbed Maranzano to death.
Levine had a longstanding rivalry with fellow Murder, Inc. hitman, Charles "The Bug" Workman. He was irritated that the greedy Workman took most of the murder contracts which would have otherwise been handed over to him. In his court testimony, Abe Reles
recalled that Levine once complained to him that "any time I've got a contract Charlie is around to do the killing".
A portrait of the seldom-photographed Levine appears in the book "New York City Gangland", depicting him during his career as a Murder, Inc. assassin. There is no mention of him when most of the Murder, Inc. and their surrounding factions were rounded up and successfully prosecuted by the end of 1940. He simply faded into the background and was not heard from again until some undetermined point in time.
A short piece in the New York Times from December 22, 2009 yielded a few clues to the post 1940 whereabouts of Levine. According to Sanford L. Smith, son of Izzy Smith who owned the Zion Memorial Chapel on Canal and Ludlow streets in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, they had Levine on the payroll as late as 1965 or 1966. "Red [Levine] was one of the few guys from Murder Inc. who never got killed or went to prison. He was on our payroll. He needed to show legitimate income. Red got a check of $200 every week", Smith told the New York Times.
A bit more of the timeline of Levine's life surfaces in an article from The Village Voice
dated March 6, 2001 which briefly discusses Levine's activity with the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers Union (NMDU) and suggests that Levine's participation in the union took place in the 1970s when he was more than 70 years old: "Formed in the early 1900s, the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers Union was equal parts Irish, Italian, and Jewish, a reflection of the city's then dominant ethnic groups. Well into the 1970s, Jewish racketeers played a major role in the union. One of them, Red Levine, was reputed to have been one of the assassins of Salvatore Maranzano, the old-school mobster who helped to found America's Cosa Nostra. Law enforcement officials, as well as longtime union members and mob associates (often the same thing in the NMDU) say that Levine cleverly allowed each of the city's five Mafia families to have a piece of the newspaper delivery action, which included bootleg sales of stolen papers as well as loan-sharking and gambling among drivers."
In his later years, Levine reportedly spent time in the Little Italy
district, frequenting the Knotty Pine Social Club, a known Mafia hang out operated by Genovese capo Peter DeFeo
, as well as the Raven Knights Social club, more commonly known in later years as the "Ravenite".
Levine was portrayed by Paul Bruce in the original 1959 television series "The Untouchables
".
Levine is the Great Uncle by marriage of the American artist Sam Gould, of the arts collaborative Red 76
. The groups project Levine's Market and Meeting House is a loose homage to Levine.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mobster, described as head of Lucky Luciano
Lucky Luciano
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
's hit squad of Jewish gangster
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
s. According to several sources, he was an observant Jew and refrained from killing on the Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
, if possible.
Levine was born in Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, and grew up on the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. To help his family, he worked on an ice truck at age 8, and was assigned to truant schools until he lied about his age and joined the US Navy at 15. He said he was in fights on board constantly because of his red hair and his Jewish heritage. He subsequently jumped ship in the Republic of Panama and ventured back to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Levine was a member of the notorious Mafia gang, Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc. was the name given by the press to organized crime groups in the 1920s through the 1940s that resulted in hundreds of murders on behalf of the American Mafia and Jewish Mafia groups who together formed the early organized crime groups in New York and...
, and is credited with being the trigger man, with Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz was a New York City-area Jewish American gangster of the 1920s and 1930s who made his fortune in organized crime-related activities such as bootlegging alcohol and the numbers racket...
lieutenant Abraham "Bo" Weinberg, in the 1931 murders of Joe "The Boss" Masseria
Joe Masseria
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria was an early Mafia don in the United States. He was boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 to 1931.-Early days:...
and, along with Joe Adonis
Joe Adonis
Joe Adonis , also known as "Joey A", "Joe Adone", "Joe Arosa", "James Arosa", and "Joe DiMeo", was a New York mobster who was an important participant in the formation of the modern Cosa Nostra crime families.-Early years:Adonis was born Giuseppe Antonio Doto in the small town of Montemarano,...
, Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia
Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, one of the three hitmen sent by Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
to assassinate the Sicilian Mafia boss Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano was an organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss in the United States. He instigated the Castellammarese War to seize control of the American Mafia operations, and briefly became the Mafia's "Boss of Bosses"...
in his office. They managed to enter by posing as government agents. Once inside Maranzano's office on the 9th floor of The Helmsley Building, they disarmed the guards and shot and stabbed Maranzano to death.
Levine had a longstanding rivalry with fellow Murder, Inc. hitman, Charles "The Bug" Workman. He was irritated that the greedy Workman took most of the murder contracts which would have otherwise been handed over to him. In his court testimony, Abe Reles
Abe Reles
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles was a New York mobster who was widely considered the most feared hit man for Murder, Inc., the enforcement contractor for the National Crime Syndicate. Reles later turned government witness and sent several members of Murder, Inc...
recalled that Levine once complained to him that "any time I've got a contract Charlie is around to do the killing".
A portrait of the seldom-photographed Levine appears in the book "New York City Gangland", depicting him during his career as a Murder, Inc. assassin. There is no mention of him when most of the Murder, Inc. and their surrounding factions were rounded up and successfully prosecuted by the end of 1940. He simply faded into the background and was not heard from again until some undetermined point in time.
A short piece in the New York Times from December 22, 2009 yielded a few clues to the post 1940 whereabouts of Levine. According to Sanford L. Smith, son of Izzy Smith who owned the Zion Memorial Chapel on Canal and Ludlow streets in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, they had Levine on the payroll as late as 1965 or 1966. "Red [Levine] was one of the few guys from Murder Inc. who never got killed or went to prison. He was on our payroll. He needed to show legitimate income. Red got a check of $200 every week", Smith told the New York Times.
A bit more of the timeline of Levine's life surfaces in an article from The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
dated March 6, 2001 which briefly discusses Levine's activity with the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers Union (NMDU) and suggests that Levine's participation in the union took place in the 1970s when he was more than 70 years old: "Formed in the early 1900s, the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers Union was equal parts Irish, Italian, and Jewish, a reflection of the city's then dominant ethnic groups. Well into the 1970s, Jewish racketeers played a major role in the union. One of them, Red Levine, was reputed to have been one of the assassins of Salvatore Maranzano, the old-school mobster who helped to found America's Cosa Nostra. Law enforcement officials, as well as longtime union members and mob associates (often the same thing in the NMDU) say that Levine cleverly allowed each of the city's five Mafia families to have a piece of the newspaper delivery action, which included bootleg sales of stolen papers as well as loan-sharking and gambling among drivers."
In his later years, Levine reportedly spent time in the Little Italy
Little Italy
Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood.-Canada:*Little Italy, Edmonton, in Alberta*Little Italy, Montreal, in Quebec...
district, frequenting the Knotty Pine Social Club, a known Mafia hang out operated by Genovese capo Peter DeFeo
Peter DeFeo
Peter DeFeo , also known as "Philie Aquilino", was a New York mobster who became a caporegime with the Genovese crime family.-Rise to power:...
, as well as the Raven Knights Social club, more commonly known in later years as the "Ravenite".
Levine was portrayed by Paul Bruce in the original 1959 television series "The Untouchables
The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...
".
Levine is the Great Uncle by marriage of the American artist Sam Gould, of the arts collaborative Red 76
Red 76
Red 76 is a multi-artist collective started in Portland, Oregon. Since 2000 they have produced numerous projects and appeared in The New York Times, Art Forum and Modern Painters, and shown at Southern Exposure and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and in projects by Creative Time.-Themes:Red 76's...
. The groups project Levine's Market and Meeting House is a loose homage to Levine.
External links
- Kill the Dutchman!: The Story of Dutch Schultz by Paul Sann
- Chapter XII, Levine's involvement in the murder of Salvatore Maranzano
- Chapter XXII, brief mention of rivalry with hitman Charles "The Bug" Workman
- They sleep with the gefilte fishes: Pat Hamou’s portrait show Six for Five recalls a forgotten era of hardboiled Hebrews by Rupert Bottenburg
- Levine's Market and Meeting House