Musa Nauman

Professor Hoffman

IDC 1001H

19 December 2017

The Don of Manhattan

He was born on December 1st, 1890 in a middle class family in Lower Manhattan. His name was Joseph Moses. The family owned a small bakery called Broadway’s Best Bakery on the corner of  Broadway and Canal St. Moses grew up a block away from the bakery, going to the public school next to his home and working alongside his parents at the bakery when he was off from school. Moses did really well at school, graduating valedictorian of his class. He aspired to become a doctor and studied at Columbia University in NYC. However, he dropped out of college to help build the family business.

Moses was working one day when a man entered the bakery. The man was not an ordinary one. He was one of the most feared men in Manhattan at the time. His name was Don Columbus. Don Columbus was the leader of a mafia on the rise in Lower Manhattan. All the business owners disliked him. He would always threaten them, keeping everyone on their toes. The Don told Moses that he wanted his bakery. He offered to buy it for a grossly undervalued price. Moses was a strong willed young man. He blatantly refused the Don’s offer. He was not scared of the Don. The Don was surprised by Moses and his will. The Don left Moses vowing he would come back and have the bakery. Moses realized that he would have to become more powerful than the Don himself if he wanted to keep his bakery. He realized that he needed to become the new Don of Manhattan.

Moses was a kind, honest, and humble young man. He wanted nothing to do with the violence and politics of being a Don. He enjoyed going to silent movies and exploring the city with his friends and he didn’t want to put his freedom at risk.  However, he realized that it was necessary for him to become powerful to keep his bakery and for his neighbors, friends, and family to keep their businesses and live freely and not in fear. He vowed not to shed blood or be corrupt and ruthless on his new journey to secure power.

Moses consulted with his friends and family and they all supported his endeavor to become the new Don of Manhattan. Moses realized that power came with two things: respect and money. He first worked on secretly meeting with business owners in Manhattan. Slowly but surely they all came to know and like Moses. They saw that he wanted to bring good to the community and eliminate the fear that was associated with Don Columbus. He met with grocery shop owners, bankers, politicians, textile factory owners, and other industries. He would also take time to meet with the working class and gained their support. During this time, Don Columbus was threatening the same people and the resentment was growing against him.

Moses also was able to become financially strong with the help of his new connections. He was supported by the banks and other business owners who helped him grow financially. He secured contracts with the city government when they needed baked goods. He also was able to invest in another bakery Nabisco. He bought shares in the company and he also bought their factory in Chelsea Market. The company became extremely successful with their release of the Oreo cookie and it made Moses one of the wealthiest men in New York City. Moses also enacted political reform in the city. After the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, Moses lobbied for the creation of new fires safety laws and he was successful. This further made him the hero in the people’s eyes.

As all this happened, Don Columbus gradually lost his power. Moses made sure that the government was doing its job and the government investigated into Don Columbus’ history. They found him guilty of numerous counts of murder, racketeering, assault, and much more. He was sentenced to life in prison and his criminal organization disbanded.

Thanks to the effort on Moses’ behalf, he was able to dismantle a mafia group that threatened the tranquility of the people of New York City. Moses made New York City a safer, better place to live and he became one of the most respected and loved figures in New York City. He became the new Don of Manhattan.