Abraham Beckerman

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Abraham Beckerman (September 27, 1890 – July 31, 1964) was an English-born American labor leader and politician who later became a convicted criminal. Born in London, he moved to the United States and entered politics as a Socialist. He served in the New York City Board of Aldermen, representing Manhattan's 6th district, from 1918 to 1921. After leaving office, he became the general manager of the New York Joint Board of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, where he worked to remove Communist influence from the unions, a campaign colleague Baruch Charney Vladeck called "Beckerman's knuckles." In 1937, Beckerman was found guilty of racketeering for using his position to help mobsters Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro and Louis "Lepke" Buchalter take control of the fur-dressing industry, a business worth about $75 million. He married Anna Berman in 1921, and they had a daughter named Ruth Joan. Beckerman died in Miami Beach, Florida, in 1964 at age 73.