44 Facts About Albert Seedman

Albert A Seedman was an officer with the New York City Police Department for 30 years, known for solving several high-profile cases before resigning as chief of the Detective Bureau.

Albert Seedman was the only Jewish officer to ever hold that position.

Albert Seedman investigated many prominent crimes during that era, including the Borough Park Tobacco robbery and the Kitty Genovese murder.

When his superior officers hindered his investigation into the murder of an officer at a Harlem mosque out of fear of racial unrest, Seedman resigned his position and retired from the force, although he did not say that had been the reason for another 40 years.

Newspapers often included a quote from Chief Albert Seedman; he was frequently on evening television news as well.

Albert Seedman was always willing to speak to reporters even if he could not tell them much.

Albert Seedman was born to a taxi driver and his wife, a sewing machine operator in the Garment District, on Fox Street, near St Mary's Park in the South Bronx in 1918.

Albert Seedman was given no middle name, just the initial "A".

Albert Seedman grew up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the borough, with many Irish American street gangs.

Albert Seedman recalled later in his life that there was some attendant bias.

Albert Seedman noticed an empty chair next to the building's stoop.

Two officers who had responded to a robbery in progress at the Borough Park Tobacco Company in Brooklyn, where Albert Seedman worked at the time, were killed.

When one of the suspects, Tony Dellernia, was extradited to New York after surrendering in Chicago, Albert Seedman, as was customary, had him perp-walked in front of reporters outside the precinct house.

Albert Seedman brought Dellernia back out, but the defendant had his head low.

Albert Seedman forced Dellernia's head up and held him by the chin so his face would be visible.

Albert Seedman nevertheless displayed the photo on his office wall in his Long Island home.

Two years later, Albert Seedman came back into the public eye when he led the investigation into the murder of Kitty Genovese in the Queens neighborhood of Kew Gardens.

Albert Seedman's detectives arrested the killer, Winston Moseley, six days later.

Albert Seedman found her moaning, with her head slumped forward, and called for an ambulance.

Albert Seedman died a short time later at Coney Island Hospital, where doctors found a small hole on the side of her head that turned out to have been caused by a bullet.

Since only one window in McEwen's car was open, and none of them had been shattered, Albert Seedman believed the shot had to have been fired from Sheepshead Bay or the nearby area, and that due to the distance and the car's speed, it was probably not intentional.

Albert Seedman ordered detectives and uniformed officers to search the dunes and marshes for a possible shell casing.

Albert Seedman's suspicions were deepened by reports that known survivors of the blast had left the scene and not returned.

Albert Seedman contacted radio executive James Wilkerson, the owner of the property.

Albert Seedman learned that Wilkerson was planning to return from a vacation in the Caribbean that day; in the meantime his daughter Cathy had been staying there, recuperating from a bout with the flu.

Albert Seedman concluded that the explosion had been perhaps deliberately set, but did not know what the motive might have been other than Cathy Wilkerson's relationship with her father, from whom she was estranged.

Albert Seedman told the media it was the largest explosive device ever found in Manhattan.

Albert Seedman asked James Wilkerson and his wife, now returned, to appear on television and appeal to Cathy to at least let the police know whether they had found all the explosives and bodies.

In 1971, Albert Seedman became chief of detectives for the department.

Albert Seedman was the first, and as of 2020 only, Jewish officer to hold that position, which had usually, like many of the NYPD's other high-ranking positions, gone to the Irish Americans who made up the bulk of the ranks.

Albert Seedman seemed more Irish than the Irish, as if he had co-opted their territory, their language, their domain.

Albert Seedman complemented his cigar with white-on-white patterned shirts with "Al" monogrammed on the sleeves, elaborate rings on both hands including an onyx pinky ring, and a pearl-handled revolver as his weapon.

Under Albert Seedman, following a practice already adopted by the Chicago and Los Angeles police departments, they were instead assigned to specialize in a particular category of crime, such as homicide or robbery.

The commission found evidence that in 1970, Albert Seedman had accepted a free dinner worth $84.30 from the New York Hilton Midtown, for himself, his wife and two guests.

Murphy, distrustful of the commission and fearing that it had an ulterior motive, sent out a press release announcing that Albert Seedman had been relieved of his position as chief of detectives.

Albert Seedman oversaw the investigations, and was the department's face in the media.

Albert Seedman held a news conference of his own, telling the assembled reporters that the two killings were the work of the BLA, and when it did not receive sufficient coverage kept having off the record discussions with individual reporters.

Albert Seedman claimed Rangel offered to have the mosque worshippers show up at the local precinct house if the police left the scene; Rangel has said that he could not, and did not, make such a promise on their behalf.

Albert Seedman reluctantly gave the order to leave the mosque and free the suspects.

Late in his life, Albert Seedman finally revealed why he had given the order.

Albert Seedman appeared as an NYPD detective in the 1975 film Report to the Commissioner, Richard Gere's debut.

Albert Seedman eventually retired from Alexander's before the chain folded in 1992, and moved to Boynton Beach, Florida.

In November 2012, Albert Seedman posted on his Facebook page that French President Francois Hollande had named him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in recognition of his military service there during World War II.

On May 17,2013, Albert Seedman died of congestive heart failure in Delray Beach, near his Florida home.