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Hudson County Politics Message Board |
Posted by GET NJ on June 14, 2005 at 14:30:52:
Joseph (Newsboy) Moriarty By T.J. ENGLISH June 12, 2005 . . . Joseph (Newsboy) Moriarty was a raffish character in his late 40s, dour, almost always with a three-day stubble on his chin. He owned a single seedy jacket and baggy pants that he seemingly wore every day. A longtime bookie from Jersey City, Moriarty was a favorite among the Irish-American working men from Hoboken to Bayonne who liked the idea that when they bet a buck or two on the weekly number with "Newsboy" it wasn't going into the coffers of "the Italians." Moriarty was an independent operator, a benefactor of the once all-powerful political machine of Frank (I Am the Law) Hague, mayor of Jersey City and boss of surrounding Hudson County from 1917 to 1947. Moriarty's power derived from the boss himself; as a kid in the 1920s he became friendly with Hague, who bought his morning paper from the young newsboy at a stand in front of the Old Palace Theater. Later in life, when Newsboy Moriarty grew up to become a professional bookmaker, it was rumored that officers of the Jersey City Police Department, fiercely loyal to Hague, served as Moriarty's "runners," i.e., street-level operatives who collected bets and betting slips from among the longshoremen, cops, saloonkeepers and other working stiffs who routinely played the numbers. . . . For the complete article, please click on the Link.
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Hudson County Politics Message Board |
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UrbanTimes.com |