4. Gangsters and Garment Workers Met in a Fashion Store on Eldridge Street, 52 Eldridge Street
The Witty Brothers Clothier, an elegant men’s fashion store originally located at 52 Eldridge Street, was founded in 1888 by David Witty. It was known for its unwavering high quality and use of luxurious fabrics. Its most notorious customer was Monk Eastman, a mobster who dominated New York street crime at the turn of the century. According to historian Herbert Asbury, Eastman accentuated his ferociousness… by affecting a derby hat several sizes too small.”
His reign came to an end On December 26th, 1920 when he was shot multiple times by a crooked Prohibition agent, and his body was discovered in the gutter just south of Union Square Station. He was identified by the tag inside his jacket which read “E. Eastman, October 22, 1919.” The day after the murder, The New York Tribune ran a front page story about the case. One of the people interviewed family member and store owner Henry Witty: “Monk Eastman, the old time gang leader… We have made clothes for him for nineteen years. The last suit we made for him was delivered October 21, this year.”