Assistant District Attorney John J. Sullivan yesterday informed the Jewish Daily Bulletin that the majority and minority leaders of the Board of Aldermen are willing to sponsor an amendment to the charity ordinance, section 196 and 199a, under which charities organized as religious corporations are at present exempted from the necessity of securing Department of Welfare permits to operate.
At least four organizations are known to be incorporated as Jewish congregations, functioning primarily as “charity” organizations.
These organizations are: The Downtown Center of Relief, the United Relief Associations, the Gates of Mercy Center and the East Side Free Kitchen.
“I don’t believe that any relief organization that incorporates as a religious corporation does so with honest intention,” Magistrate Jonah J. Goldstein, lifelong campaigner against charity rackets, told this reporter, “for usually such incorporation is solely for the purpose of avoiding the necessity of applying to the Department of Welfare for a license.”
Under the existing charity ordinance, charities incorporated under the Religious Corporations Law are exempt from the necessity of procuring Welfare Department permits.
The Downtown Center of Relief, 257 Henry street, was formerly known as the Henry Street Center. It was forced to give up that name when the Henry Street Settlement, located on the same block, showed how its reputation was being exploited and succeeded in securing an injunction.
The head of the Downtown Center, Rabbi Jacob Bienefeld, was held for Special Sessions Court last Wednesday by Magistrate Richard McKiniry on a charge of conspiracy to defraud. Assistant District Attorney John Sullivan succeeded in convincing the Magistrate that there was a prima facie case of fraud.
HOW IT WORKS
In court testimony was adduced and not refuted which showed that the Center used the name of a Port Jefferson Justice of the Peace without permission, that the Center gave the impression that the Justice was a New York City judge, and that the telephone solicitor, speaking in his name, promised judicial favors to contributors.
An imposing list of honorary officers of the Center was investigated by Detective Harry Lichtblau of the District Attorney’s office, with the following result, according to Lichtblau:
Former Ambassador Abraham I. Elkus resigned recently and said he had first consented to take an honorary office under the impression that the organization was the Henry Street Settlement.
Magistrate Jeanette Brill never gave permission for use of her name.
Magistrate Martha Byrne had given permission under the impression it was the Henry Street Settlement.
Judge John F. Hylan said he resigned long ago. The latest letterhead bears his name as an honorary officer.
David Marcus resigned.
Magistrate William O’Dwyer never gave permission.
Father James O’Mahoney and Dr. Frederick B. Robinson could not be reached.
EXPLOITING ANOTHER NAME
In an interview, Magistrate Jonah J. Goldstein charged that “Bienefeld called his place the Henry Street Center because on the same block was the Henry Street Settlement to which Lillian Wald gave her life. Then he came along, and his solicitors gave the impression “over the ‘phone that it was the Henry Street Settlement asking for a donation.”
“We found goyim sitting in Bienefeld’s synagogue,” Goldstein said, “wearing yarmelkes. They didn’t even know how to hold the prayerbooks.”
The United Relief Associations, 216 Madison street, was formerly known as the Haven of Relief. It was obliged to change its name when an older organization with a similar name took out an injunction.
Recently it was learned that this organization advertised in Yiddish newspapers for solicitors. The solicitors were obliged to deposit $200 with the organization as a pledge of honesty.
Two of the officers, Nathan Iskowitz and Zisa Billick, have been charged with conspiracy to defraud by the District Attorney’s office. A hearing will be held next Monday.
A letter in the files of the Department of Welfare from the head of a business concern whose name was not revealed, complained of the high-pressure telephone solicitation of the “charity.”
USE MAYOR’S NAME TOO
It was charged that the Haven used the name of Mayor LaGuardia without permission in soliciting funds. Joseph A. Fontanelle, at the time under indictment for grand larceny, was connected with the organization, and, since he had been a municipal court justice for thirty days, his name was used over the ‘phone as “Judge Fontanelle.”
Records of court convictions in the files of the Department of Public Welfare show that persons connected with the Haven of Relief have been convicted of unlawful soliciting.
Samuel J. Leiter, a messenger for the Haven, was given five days in the workhouse on November 23,
1933. Ernestine Keller, another messenger, was sentenced to thirty days in the workhouse on December 6, 1933.
USES PUNCHBOARD
The Gates of Mercy is located at 53 Lewis street. Complete information concerning this organization is lacking, but there is a record of a number of court convictions.
Philip Becker received a suspended sentence on July 24, 1933, for unlawful possession of a Gates of Mercy punchboard. Previously, Becker had received a suspended sentence for unlawful solicitation.
The East Side Free Kitchen, 40 Gouverneur street, is headed by Rev. Nathan N. Salant. In connection with this charity, Judge Goldstein said:
“They got Joe Goldstein, a thirty-day magistrate, and used his name over the ‘phone as ‘Magistrate J. Goldstein,’ thereby giving the impression that it was I. With four friends I went there and told them that if they didn’t stop using my name for what I regarded as a racket and if there were no other way of stopping them, I would physically throw the damn kitchen into the gutter.
“Two years ago I and some friends gave them $400 to dispose of unpaid bills and close down. They closed down for a while and then opened again.
“Think of a synagogue calling itself the East Side Free Kitchen,” Judge Goldstein added.
On September 28, 1933, Edward Forest and Edith Douglas, connected with the East Side Free Kitchen, were convicted of having unlawfully solicited $100 from Marie Dressler, and received suspended sentences.
Assistant District Attorney John J. Sullivan yesterday informed the Jewish Daily Bulletin that the majority and minority leaders of the Board of Aldermen are willing to sponsor an amendment to the charity ordinance, section 196 and 199a, under which charities organized as religious corporations are at present exempted from the necessity of securing Department of Welfare permits to operate.Mayor LaGuardia has expressed considerable interest in the Daily Bulletin series of stories on charity rackets it is learned.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
