Title

3318: The People of the State of New York v. John Doe

Abstract

The grand jury for the Court of General Sessions investigates an alleged conspiracy by officers of the Association of Master Plumbers to commit extortion.
Milton Schnaier, a plumbing contractor, believed that Harry Schiff, president of the Essex Construction Company, owed him approximately $7000 for the installation of plumbing in 1914 in an apartment building at 105th Street and Broadway. The assistant district attorney, William De Ford, alleges that Schnaier subsequently colluded with several other contractors in October 1914 to present inflated bids to the Essex Construction Company to install plumbing in a new twelve-story apartment building at West End Avenue and 96th Street. This collusion was an attempt by Schnaier to obtain the money he believed Schiff owed him; but Schiff chose James S. Cully, another plumbing contractor, to install the plumbing.
The Association of Master Plumbers, acting on a complaint by Schnaier in December 1914, declared that Schiff was unfair in his business dealings. This decision, when communicated to two locals of journeymen plumbers – Local 480 and Local 498 of the United Association of Plumbers and Gas Fitters – resulted in the withdrawal of all union labor on the construction site at West End Avenue and 96th Street and the Essex Construction Company was no longer able to continue with the new apartment building on that site.

See also: “Six Boss Plumbers Indicted for Strike,” New York Times, March 6, 1915.

Type of Crime

Extortion See all items with this value

Date of Hearing

1915-02-01

Victim(s) Name(s)

Harry Schiff

Defendant(s) Name(s)

Milton Schnaier

Prosecuting Attorney

William DeFord

Case ID

3318

Item sets

Extortion

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