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Albert J. Adams (1845 – October 1, 1906) was known as the The Policy King and the Meanest Man in New York. He ran the numbers game in New York City from around 1890 to around 1905.

He was born in Massachusetts and lived in Rhode Island before he moved to New York City in 1871 as a brakeman for the railroad. He married Isabella (1840-?) and had six children: Albert J. Adams, Jr. (1870-?); Lawrence Adams (1874-?); Louis Adams (1875-?); Walter C. Adams (1877-?); Evelyn Adams (1879-?) aka Eveline Adams, who married a Napolean; and Ida Adams (1874-?) or Claudia P. Adams. In 1880 he was living at 236 West 38th Street in Manhattan and he listed himself as a "segar dealer".

He was named by the Lexow Committee, and was replaced by Peter H. Matthews when he retired. The anonymous testifier at the Lexow Committe in 1894 said: "Al has the most ... sheets, and he is the biggest man, and has the most money, and has the biggest pile. ... He is called the king of the policy dealers. ... Al Adams has from Fourteenth street up on the west side mostly." After a 1901 raid on his gambling operation by F. Norton Goddard, the police estimated that he was making more than $1 million a year, and after his conviction in 1903 it was revealed that he had been allowed to stay at the Waldorf-Astoria until he was sentenced. He was sentenced to a year in Sing-Sing, and he committed suicide at the Ansonia Hotel in 1906 after losing several million dollars by investing in a business venture with his eldest son. The funeral was held at 471 West End, he was 61 years old.

References

• Albert J. Adams bibliography
• Lexow Committee Transcript; 1894
• Adams in the 1880 US Census
• Adams in the 1900 US Census
• "Al" Adams Has Quit. Says He's Dropped Policy Forever and Would Forget Past Troubles". New York Times 08 Oct. 1905

• 1846 births
• 1906 deaths
• Numbers game
• American mobsters
• Criminals who committed suicide
• Sing Sing prison