"Kid Dropper" Nathan Caplin or Kaplan (August 3, 1891 – August 28, 1923), also known as Jack the Dropper, was an American gangster who controlled labor

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

during the post-

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

period into the early years of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

in the early 1920s.

Biography

Nathan Caplin was one of seven sons of Joseph Caplin. He was born in New York's

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

on August 3, 1891. His parents were Jewish immigrants from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. Later Caplin would modify his surname to Kaplan to shield his own family and confuse police. His mother died when he was still young. Kaplan began committing petty thefts at an early age and later becoming a skilled sneak thief and pushcart extortionist, later becoming known for his skill with the " drop swindle". That's how he got his nickname "Kid Dropper." He was arrested for the first time at age 17 in February 1908 on a charge of theft and was handed a suspended sentence. A year later, another judge again gave Kaplan a suspended sentence for concealing a weapon. Like many other criminals of this era, the Dropper at an early stage joined a street gang. In his case it was the powerful Five Points Gang led by Paul Kelly. This was in contrast to many of his fellow Jewish East Siders who predominantly joined the Five Points Gang's rival

Eastman Gang The Eastman Gang was a predominately Jewish-American organized crime, Jewish-American street gang that dominated parts of the underworld in New York City during the late 1890s until the early 1910s. Along with the increasingly Italian-American a ...

led by its namesake

Monk Eastman Edward "Monk" Eastman (1875 – December 26, 1920) was an American gangster who founded and led the Eastman Gang in the late 19th and early 20th century; it became one of the most powerful street gangs in the city. His aliases included Joseph " ...

. The Five Points Gang had mostly Italian members, but there were also some Irish and Jewish members. One member of the Five Points Gang that the Dropper would feud heavily with in the coming years was

Johnny Spanish Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Variant ...

. Spanish and Kaplan started out as friends and criminal partners. By the late 1900s or early 1910s, both the Dropper and Spanish had formed their own small gangs. The two gangs were allied for a while before a bitter personal rivalry developed between the Dropper and

. The two had a fall out over a woman, 19-year-old Beatrice Konsant. The feud with

lasted until the Dropper's arrest the following year for

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

for which he was sentenced to seven years in Sing Sing prison. Upon his release in 1918, Kaplan became involved in "labor slugging", providing muscle to either side in the strikes common in New York in that era. Kaplan quickly filled the void left by "Dopey" Benny Fein and Joe "The Greaser" Rosenzweig in the aftermath of the internecine battles between those gangsters. He organized former Five Points members, including

. Another Jewish labor slugging gang led by Jacob "Little Augie" Orgen, rose steadily behind his. Kaplan and Spanish, who had previously reconciled from an argument over a woman from their days in the Five Points Gang, soon began feuding again and eventually Spanish split from Kaplan's gang, forming his own separate gang. A violent war between the two soon began; fighting, particularly in the garment district, continued until Johnny Spanish was killed while leaving a

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

restaurant by three men, most likely including Kaplan, on July 29, 1919. Soon thereafter, Little Augie went to prison and his gang nearly dissolved, leaderless. After Spanish's death and Orgen's incarceration, Kaplan controlled all of labor slugging operations in New York. While Kaplan worked primarily for

labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s, he occasionally provided services for employers. By the beginning of 1923, however, Kaplan began to face increasing competition from rivals. Jacob "Little Augie" Orgen had just been released from prison and had gathered back his gang. Prominent among his gang were Jack "Legs" Diamond, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, and Gurrah Shapiro. Kaplan and Orgen soon began fighting over protection of wet wash laundry workers in violent shootouts around New York. In one such altercation, Jacob Gurrah Shapiro was assaulted by Kaplan personally with his gun. Little Augie took this as an opportunity and had Shapiro go to the cops and press charges. On August 28, 1923, Kaplan was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon and arraigned at Essex Market Court. News of the arrest attracted a large crowd of reporters and bystanders. As Kaplan was being transferred to another court, led by a police escort, he was shot and killed by Orgen gunman Louis Kerzner just after he entered a police car. Orgen gained control of Kaplan's operations until his own violent death in October 1927, possibly at the hands of Buchalter and Shapiro.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Nathan 1891 births 1923 deaths People murdered in 1923 Murdered Jewish American gangsters Murdered American gangsters Jewish American gangsters Gang members of New York City American gangsters of the interwar period Murdered Five Points Gang members People murdered in New York City Deaths by firearm in Manhattan 20th-century American Jews Burials at Mount Hebron Cemetery (New York City)

Biography

References

Further reading

External links