Ralph (The Beak) Jacobson – Meyer Lansky’s Enforcer

In the mid-1970s, Ralph (The Beak) Jacobson was again nailed for draining the assets of a Plainview, Long Island bagel bakery shop after the owner fell behind on his weekly shylock payment. Jacobson had lent him $10,000 at 2% or $200 weekly, and after a few years, defaulted.

Ralph (The Beak) Jacobson was born in 1933 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. By the mid-1960s, Ralph had moved to the town of Jericho in Nassau County. He resided for years at 169 Forest Drive in the East Birchwood section and eventually relocated several miles north to exclusive Brookville.

He had two older brothers also in the rackets, Samuel and Daniel. Sam lived at 150 E. 61st Street in midtown Manhattan, and Danny, born 1930, lived at 31-30 138th Street in Whitestone, Queens. All three brothers also owned winter homes down in South Florida.

Ralph Jacobson

The Jacobson brothers were all associates of the Genovese Crime Family having gained their affiliation by virtue of the close relationship and operating on behalf of Meyer Lansky - a top Luciano/Genovese associate member himself.

Since the late 1920s, typically the Jewish Mob had always been affiliates of the Genovese Family. Jacobson's activities included loansharking, extortion, strong-arm tactics and murder, policy, and business infiltration.

At 6-foot 3-inches tall and weighing 240-pounds, Ralph the Beak was an imposing figure.

He and his brother Danny were known as “enforcers” within the underworld, while his older brother Sam was more low-key (a gambling whiz and recognized leader of the trio). Sam was often referred to by both federal and local authorities as, “Meyer Lansky’s man in New York.”

Jacobson's criminal associates included:

• His brothers Sammy and Daniel - They allegedly succeeded in overseeing Brooklyn numbers rackets for Meyer. • Meyer Lansky - Needs no introduction. • Louis (Max the Jew) Schrager - A top policy rackets boss. Lansky was the overseer in NYC. • Hyman (Red Hymie) Siegel - The boss of Jewish shylock operations in the garment center and Lansky minion. • Solomon (Solly) Bloom- A top numbers racketeer and Lansky subordinate. • Pasquale (Paddy Mac) Macchiarole - A top Genovese capo. He originated from the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn and was murdered. • Vincent (Jamsey) Delio - Paddy’s nephew who became capo after Paddy was murdered. • Thomas (Red) Delio - The nephew of Macchiarole, extortionist, and hijacker. • Joseph (Joe Beck) Lapi - old-line top capo who controlled the waterfront. • Vincent (Jimmy Nap) Napoli - Capo from Williamsburg and top policy racketeer. • The Jacobson Brothers -- they were known as having been close associates of Meyer Lansky and the Jewish element of the mob (especially older brother Sammy.)

Sam was the policy rackets boss in Williamsburg and a Lansky minion who operated in both North Brooklyn and Manhattan’s garment district.

He started out with Louis (Max the Jew) Schrager who was a Lansky confidante. Sam learned so quickly that he became the natural successor to the throne of Schrager when he died in 1955, leaping over seasoned numbers king Solly Bloom and Schrager’s own nephew Marty Kahn.

Jacobson had allegedly expanded the numbers racket and branched out into bookmaking and loansharking. He also brought his brothers, Ralph and Daniel, into the rackets.

Samuel Jacobson

Around 1968, Ralph was first arrested in Nassau for usury after a woman borrower, a dress shop owner, had asked for a short-term loan. After several years of loanshark payments, she ran to the Nassau D.A.

Ralph the Beak was arrested, indicted, and convicted. I’m not sure of his sentence and penalty.

In the mid-1970s, Ralph was again nailed for draining the assets of a Plainview, Long Island bagel bakery shop after the owner fell behind on his weekly shylock payment. Jacobson had lent him $10,000 at 2% or $200 weekly, and after a few years, defaulted.

After applying threats and pressure, the owner acquiesced and made Ralph a partner. Ralphie quickly drained all assets, bank accounts, etc., and declared bankruptcy after creditors demanded payment.

He was subsequently indicted on usury and grand larceny charges. And I believe convicted. I do not know what the final sentence was. I believe he was also later charged with related tax evasion counts and that he served a jail term.

Queens District Attorney Thomas Mackell

In 1972, Queens D.A. Tommy Mackell, indicted four mob figures, including Ralph and Danny, for the gangland-style murder of nightclub owner, Conrad Greaves.

Greaves owned Conrad’s Cloud Room in East Elmhurst, near La Guardia Airport. He also was a "key” witness against the Mafia.

Greaves had testified several weeks earlier before a rackets grand jury about being extorted for $400 a week for “protection” for his nightclub. Authorities had been probing a mob extortion ring targeting nightclubs and restaurants. Macchiarole and his crew were prime targets.

The Jacobsons, Tommy Delio, and Robert Grimaldi were charged with hiding in an underground parking garage and shooting Greaves as he retrieved his car.

Assistant D.A. and organized crime specialist Anthony Lombardino said that Greaves was lured out of his club and shot three times. The third shot was to the back of the head in a gangland execution-style.

Paddy Macchiarole and Anthony Delio had just been indicted one week before the murder on extortion and grand larceny charges stemming from Greaves' testimony.

The extortion case was reluctantly dismissed after Greaves' murder.

Ralph “The Beak” Jacobson had certainly lived a charmed life in the mob!

Although being arrested many times for assault, policy, shylocking, extortion, and murder - and serving several short jail stints - he always managed to duck the big cases!

He and his brothers earned millions for themselves, their Jewish mob brethren, and their mafia benefactors!

And today, having long ago “retired”, I believe Ralph is still alive and living quite comfortably in Southern Floridian splendor!

Until next time..."The Other Guy"

Ralph (The Beak) Jacobson – Meyer Lansky’s Enforcer

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Ralph (The Beak) Jacobson – Meyer Lansky’s Enforcer

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You May Also Enjoy

The Anthony Strollo Regime of NY/NJ

The Day Charlie (the Bug) Workman Saved a Horse

Racketeer Profile – San Francisco’s “Jimmy the Hat” Lanza

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