I need a favor from a NYC hotshot ( no money or clothes )

[rnoldh]

I'm amazed you saw the OP, Ephraim.

I'm on my phone but I'll comment later.

 

[rnoldh]



I'm amazed you saw the OP, Ephraim.

I'm on my phone but I'll comment later.

Ephraim, so it was 1974! A long time ago.

Your cousin went to Abraham Lincoln HS, on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, when I did. He was a great guy that was liked by everybody. I think he also played ball at 2nd St Park in Brighton Beach, where a lot of his friends hung out. I guess he lived in Brighton Beach.

In 1974 there was a huge recession in NYC, and many of us drove taxi cabs full, or part time. It was very different then, and I remember there was once a headline that a NYC Yellow Cab Medallion was worth more than a seat on the NY Stock exchange ( in 1974! ). We drove for Ackerman Cabs which was near Nostrand and Ave M. About 90% of the drivers were either "Hippies". like me and Morris among others, or older career Cab Drivers, many of whom were Jewish at Ackerman.

We drove nights, and a good night was $100 or more, which was great money and achievable in 1974 NYC. I seem to remember that Morris was a good hustler and generally did well. Sadly, that might have contributed to what happened. Many of us turned down fares or took time off to smoke weed or goof off, Morris worked a little harder and took all fares and worked longer.

The way I heard the story, Morris picked up two guys in the E Village and drove them to Harlem. Witnesses saw two men running from Morris's Cab in Harlem, and he was found shot dead and robbed in his Cab. The story was played up big in the News and other papers at first, and then it died out, as nothing was found out and no one was arrested. I remember going to Morris's funeral, with a bunch of your cousin's HS friends, but I don't remember your Aunt and Uncle. It must have been terrible for them!

Do you know if anything ever happened as far as the police finding anything out? Morris has been gone a very long time but he's not forgotten. I've remembered him, and I'm sure many of his friends have.

I'm amazed and glad that you found this thread.

 

[Ephraim Rotter]

Wow, thanks! I don't ever recall hearing the story in such detail. I have no idea if they ever caught the guy...my dad passed away around a decade ago but I'll ask mom, I'm sure she'll remember.

 

[HORNS]

Wow, this is awesome!

And, rnoldh, you're like a seedy Forrest Gump, and I mean that with the highest admiration.

 

[Ephraim Rotter]

I've been thinking about it and do seem to remember a couple things...one was dad referencing Morris as a "hippie" and the other was him saying that it was done by a serial killer or a spree killer or at least one that had killed other cabbies. I may be mixing up memories or something but that would at least imply a guy was eventually caught. I'll post when I find out for sure.

 

[rnoldh]

This is what a Google pulled up.

ARCHIVES | 1974

Cabby Fatally Shot in Harlem; Was Member of Police Patrol
By JUDITH CUMMINGSSEPT. 8, 1974

The article as it originally appeared.
VIEW PAGE IN TIMESMACHINE
September 8, 1974, Page 44
The New York Times Archives
A 23‐year‐old taxicab driver who was a member of a drivers organization trained by the police to report crimes and distress in the streets was fatally wounded in Harlem early yesterday, the police said.

The driver, Morris Rotter of 205 Sea Breeze Avenue, Brooklyn, was found at about 1. A.M. slumped over the wheel of his taxi on Eighth Avenue near 115th Street with gunshot wounds in his right arm and chest. He died a few hours later at Harlem Hospital.

Mr. Rotter, who was married but had no children, had driven a medallion cab for two years for the Flatbush Operating Company, 2222, Tilden Avenue, Brooklyn. A year ago, he became involved through the company in a police‐affiliated anticrime program known as Minute Men, based in Long Island City, Queens.

Now, according to Jim Gillen, manager of the Minute Men Corporation, “my men want to start demonstrations all over the city.” The corporation owns 10 medallion companies, including Flatbush operating, with 1,100 cabs.

Mr. Rotter, Mr. Gillen said, was one of the first 300 drivers who have been trained and equipped with two‐way radios that can alert the police, through a dispatcher, to incidents of crime and to people in distress as they make their runs.

“He was a star pupil, he reported everything,” Mr. Gillen said.

A month ago, he said, Mr. Rotter was responsible for the apprehension of a man he saw walking at the intersection of Tillery Street and Flatbush Avenue with a rifle and ammunition. Several months earlier, he said, after another driver put out an alert about a gypsy‐cab driver who struck a woman pedestrian in Brooklyn, Mr. Rotter was the first to arrive to aid the woman.

The police said the young driver's taxicab had veered onto the sidewalk off Eighth Avenue after he was shot. There it was spotted by another taxi driver and a passing patrol car.

His personal effects were intact, but receipts for the eight hours of work shown on his passenger list about $80 worth—were missing, indicating robbery as a possible motive, the police said.

“Here's a driver who did not turn anyone down for fear of going into high‐crime areas,” Detective Walter Thompson said. “I think if we get that point across, a lot of people would want to help.” He urged anyone having information to call the police at 831–0997.

‘A very nice boy” who grew up in Brooklyn, Mr. Rotter would have been 24 years old next Tuesday, his dispatcher, Harry Beliovin, said.

The funeral is scheduled for Monday at the Kirschenbaum Funeral Home, at 1153 Coney Island Avenue. Mr. Gillen said his drivers planned a procession of 300 taxis “to tie up the traffic in the city and let everybody know” about the shooting.

“We think if people had been aware about Minute Men and recogniied the emblem, this wouldn't have happened,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/08/a...ot-in-harlem-was-member-of-police-patrol.html

I told you he was a good guy and well liked.

 

[rnoldh]

It seems a 15 year old youth was your cousin's killer, but it was not played up

http://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/14/a...carey-assailed-experts-on-justice-fear-a.html

Case of Taxi Driver

Because of the secrecy of juvenile proceedings, for example the last the public heard of the case of Morris Rotter, a 23‐year‐old taxicab driver shot to death last Sept. 7 in his taxi during a robbery attempt, was when two 14‐year‐old boys with long histories of serious crimes were arrested two days later and charged as juvenile delinquents in the muder.

In fact, the two 14‐year‐olds were exonerated six weeks later when a 15‐year‐old youth, the state's star witness in the case, confessed not only to the Rotter murder but also to two others slayings.

PS: I guess NYT Archives articles are now found in Google searches. When I posted the thread, they did not appear.

 

[Ephraim Rotter]

Again, thanks!

From my mom:
"Heard the news while driving on the belt pkway. What I remember is he took a fare to Harlem and the ride shot him when he goes out. Maybe did not want to pay fare. He got off easy since he was under 18. But later murdered someone when he was older and got a long sentence. My memory I'm sure has errors and distortions. Larry Rotter would have best recollection."

From my cousin Jodi, Morris's niece. Her dad is my first cousin Larry, Morris's younger brother:
"Morris was shot in the head for a mere $80. He drove himself to the hospital after being shot when he died. The guy was caught and served 25 years I think. He was released in 2008 I believe...George O'Donnell went to jail for killing the informant that ratted him out to the police about killing Uncle Morris."

 

[HORNS]

Wow.

 

[Ephraim Rotter]

A few corrections from mom:
"A few corrections on the cousins. Susan is the oldest and then I think Joyce who was killed in Houston by a car as she was crossing the street in the crosswalk and with the light. Another tragedy. Larry Rotter is older than Morris."