Hudson County Facts

Jersey City’s master numbers banker, Joseph “Newsboy” Moriarty, lived with his sister in a house close to Hamilton Park (conveniently, next door to J.V. Kenny). One day, the none too responsible Miss Moriarty by mistake turned on the furnace. The house filled with smoke and the Fire Department was alerted. The firemen soon found the trouble’s cause. The flue was stuffed with bags full of cash.

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“Newsboy” always dressed in well-worn work clothes. During the Depression, Joe Moriarty walked into a local bank to inquire about opening an account. The not very enthusiastic bank officer, expecting something along the lines of the usual thirty-eight or forty-nine cents, asked how much the initial deposit was going to be. Moriarty opened a satchel and started to pile large denomination bills on the desk. The shocked banker screamed for the guard to lock the door.

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Millions of dollars (more loot than any pirate’s buried treasure on record) was found in an old car in a garage in Jersey City. People at the scene told how they saw the police remove five duffel bags. Four were carried into the police station. All the police directly involved with the transportation of the money retired within a year.

For years, Moriarty denied that the cash was his. Many branches of government attempted to grab the money. An IRS agent visited “Newsboy” while he was on trial for a gambling charge. The revenuer explained to Moriarty that he was going to be convicted — whether or not he claimed the money. But, if Newsboy asserted ownership of the funds, then the IRS would take half the money for taxes and return the rest to him. That “Newsboy” bought a new Cadillac when he got out of jail is given as proof of this Moriarty episode. Never having had a legitimate source of income before, Moriarty always drove

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One of the Moriarty’s secrets of success — and longevity — was that he did not tally his numbers records during normal business hours — when the gambling squad worked. Instead, “Newsboy” hid everything during the daylight hours. He’d recover and go through the slips during the dead of night when most detectives were sleeping — and any unusual activity was easy to spot.

The last time “Newsboy” Moriarty was arrested, Jersey City’s top bookmaker was going to pick up number slips from my uncle Gus. They were in back of Rt. 440 by Ege Avenue. My uncle got away because he was riding a bicycle! The cops came after him in the car. But, they forgot about the steel poles that made the block into a dead end. (You can’t go to or from 440 by way of Ege.) The bike fit through the spaces in the poles. The police car had to stop. The cops backed up and went around the corner. My uncle rode the bike through empty lots. He was long gone by time the police car sped up the block.

Area Organized Crime interests wanted to increase the profits of their numbers rackets by cutting the amount paid to the winners from the standard five hundred dollars for each dollar bet. As policy bookmaker Joseph “Newsboy” Moriarty had more runners covering more territory than all the gangsters put together, the Jersey City newspaper vendor’s cooperation was needed to make this scheme work.
The bosses invited Moriarty to one of their meetings, which outsiders nearly never attended. Newsboy arrived wearing the same workclothes that he did day in and day out, perhaps donning a freshly laundered set in a show of respect. He attentively listened as the perfectly tailored bosses explained how this was to be a good deal for them all.
Joseph Moriarty smiled and then said, “I’d never think of telling you how to run your business.” Standing up, he continued, “Don’t you tell me how to run mine.”

The Jersey City Bookie then walked out the door.