About the Silver Nickel

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Vulgar of manner, overfed,
Overdressed and underbred;
Heartless, Godless, hell’s delight,
Rude by day and lewd by night . . .
Bedwarfed the ma, o'ergrown the brute,
Ruled by boss and prostitute:
Purple-robed and pauper-clad,
Raving, rotting, money mad,
A squirming herd in Mamon's mesh,
A wilderness of human flesh;
Crazed with avarice, lust and rum,
New York, thy name’s delirium.

BYRON RUFUS NEWTON (1906)

During the 1890s Manny Beale, also known as "the Ratface" out of his hearing, Thomas Little, and Samuel "Sole" DeSole operated a ring known as the Grandes.  The Grandes had their fingers in sevearl pies including professional gambling, society scams and counterfeiting.  In 1899 the latter came to the attention of New York governor Teddy Roosevelt.  Governor Roosevelt, though in the middle of considering a vice-presidential campaign, moved to shut them down.  In November of that year, Beale and Little cut their losses, taking advantage of Beale's contacts in the police department.  DeSole was left to foot the bill and began the New Year in prison on Blackwell's Island.

Tom, feeling the wanderlust and a little too much continuing scrutiny from the law, left for the West Coast in early 1900.  Manny remained in New York, secure in his contacts and the knowledge that DeSole's arrest and Little's departure had taken up the police's attention.  In June 1900, he purchased an old tavern on Broadway at an obscenely low price - the former owner was in need of some quick cash to get out of town.  During the following months he rebuilt the interior, conscripting help from various others, among them Greg Daley.  On October 23rd, 1900, the Silver Nickel Gambling Hall, 1050 Broadway, opened for business for the first time.

Towards the end of 1902, Manny's old partner Tom Little, returned to New York and looked up the NIckel.  No one knows exactly what the conversation entailed, but Little left quite angry.  Two days later, he was arrested at his apartment in East Harlem and sent to Blackwell's.  In early February of 1903 Tom escaped from prison along with another old acquaintance, Sam DeSole.  DeSole disappeared, but within a week Little was back in partnership with Beale, co-owner of the Silver Nickel.

 

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