Infamous America - PIERRE HOTEL HEIST Ep. 4 | “The Robbery, Part 2”

Episode Date: February 8, 2023

 In the predawn hours of January 2, 1972, eight men seize control of the iconic Pierre Hotel in New York City. They capture the employees and start to crack open the safe deposit boxes in the hotel��s vault. They hoped for a big score, but the jewelry and cash in the boxes is truly stunning. And then the problems begin. For two hours, they handle one unexpected surprise after another. Check out Infamous America Executive Producer, Mandi Wimmer as the guest historian/expert commentator on the History Channel's "Greatest Heists" Ep. 2, The Pierre Hotel Robbery, hosted by Pierce Brosnan. See Chris Wimmer, Host of Infamous America, on "Greatest Heists Ep 7, The Dunbar Armored Depot Heist. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. On YouTube, subscribe to INFAMOUS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Hit “JOIN” on the Infamous America YouTube homepage.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm4V_wVD7N1gEB045t7-V0w/featured For more details, please visit www.blackbarrelmedia.com. Our social media pages are: @blackbarrelmedia on Facebook and Instagram, and @bbarrelmedia on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Around 4.30 a.m. on January 2nd, 1972, in New York City, the scene was this. It was bitterly cold outside. Virtually no one was on the streets. It was the night after New Year's Eve, so only the hardcore were partying at 4.30 in the morning. Unless they were working, most people were asleep. In the heart of New York's opulent and expensive hotel district, most people in the 700 rooms of the Pierre Hotel were asleep as well. The pierre sat on the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 61st Street. Its front entrance on Fifth Avenue looks straight out at Central Park.

The hotel was, and still is, iconic. Its interior is over the top with marble floors and columns, lavish staircases and painted ceilings. It looks like an extravagant Italian museum that you can also live in. Some of its 700 rooms were for visiting guests, who were usually some of the richest people on earth. Other rooms, which were more like entire floors of the building, were for full-time residents,

and to live at the Pierre Hotel, you also had to be insanely rich. The Pierre was surrounded by other iconic hotels, the Sherry Netherland, the Plaza, the Ritz Carlton, the Hampshire House, and on and on. Between 1970 and 1972, many of those hotels were robbed during a spree that baffled the authorities. The NYPD set up a task force to battle the growing trend of high-end hotel robberies, but they weren't having much luck. When it was all said and done, two men would emerge as the prime

suspects in more than 25 hotel robberies, Bobby Comfort and Sammy Nalo. Sometimes they worked as a basic two-man team. Sometimes they recruited more accomplices. On January 2, 1972, they were going for the gold. They had recruited six men for their crew and had secured the blessing and support of the Lucchese crime family to attempt their biggest robbery to date. By 4.30 a.m., while almost everyone in the Pierre Hotel was asleep, Bobby and Sammy and their crew had taken over the ground floor of the hotel. They had captured 12 employees who were now hostages. The employees were handcuffed, muzzled with duct tape, and stuffed into an office behind the front desk. Bobby Comfort now posed as the front desk clerk.

One of his men was posing as the security guard at the entrance. One man guarded the hostages and two roamed the halls in search of more employees. They were all dressed in disguises that included tuxedos, bad wigs, and even worse, fake beards and moustaches. The last two men of the crew were, at that moment, 4.30 a.m., starting to smash open the safe deposit boxes in the hotel's vault. In the days before it was standard to put safes in the rooms, high-end hotels had their own vaults with safe deposit boxes, just like banks. The wealthy clientele who didn't want to take the chance of being robbed in their rooms put their valuables in the safe deposit boxes.

The boxes were stuffed with cash, security bonds, and jewels. No one could guess at the total value of everything in the boxes, but it was many, many millions. When the thieves finished their work that morning, they set a world record for a jewelry heist, and they didn't come close to getting everything that was in the vault. It was more successful than they had dreamed, but it was not without its heart-pounding problems

or the greed that always leads to the downfall. From Black Barrow Media, this is Infamous America. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this season we're telling the story of one of the boldest robberies in American history and the crazy cast of characters who brought it to life. This is episode four, The robbery, part two.

Bobby Comfort was stationed at the front desk. Don Francoe watched the entrance. Al Visconti guarded the hostages. Bobby Germain and Ali Ben prowled for more hostages. Al Green was outside in the black Cadillac limousine that would act as the initial getaway car. That left Sammy Nalo and Nick Sacco in the vault to start the actual robbery. There were 208 safe deposit boxes in the Pierre's vault.

Each one had an owner or renter. The front desk manager kept a set of index cards that tracked the owners and the valuables in the boxes. Sammy and Nick had the cards, so they had a good idea which boxes would contain the best stuff. The boxes themselves were simple. They opened with a single key, and the owner or the renter was the only person who had the key. If he or she lost it, the hotel would have to hire a locksmith to open the box. Sammy and Nick had a more direct low-tech approach to opening the boxes. It was brute force.

Nick grabbed a hammer and smashed the box directly in the center. He pounded on it until one side bowed out. Then, while Nick moved on to the next box, Sammy followed behind and jammed a crowbar into the exposed side of the dented box. Sammy pushed on the crowbar until the door popped open. It was as simple as that. It was loud and required a lot of work, but it was incredibly effective. Each time Sammy pried open a door, he dropped the crowbar with a bang,

then reached in, scooped out the goods, and threw them into one of four Louis Vuitton suitcases. He didn't take the time to open any of the jewelry cases or envelopes or whatever was inside. He figured if it was in the box, it was valuable. He tossed the stuff in the suitcases and kept moving. While things glided along in the vault, smoothly but noisily, the rest of the gang was about to experience their first crisis. Bobby Comfort had hoped everyone in the hotel would stay asleep from 4.30 a.m. until 6.45 a.m. when the robbers planned to finish the job.

But of course, it wasn't going to be that easy. A wealthy Brazilian lawyer called down to the front desk to complain that he was waiting too long for the elevator. The Brazilian was staying in the honeymoon suite with his new bride. Apparently, his new bride's mother was also in the suite. The lawyer was trying to escort his new mother-in-law back to her room on a lower floor, and he was growing impatient. Why this was happening at 4.45 in the morning, no one knows.

And why the bride's mother had joined them on their honeymoon was also a puzzle. But that was one Bobby was not prepared to think about. He did, however, need to come up with a fast, solution to the elevator problem. The elevator attendant was currently handcuffed in the executive office with duct tape over his eyes and mouth. Bobby assured the lawyer that the elevator was on its way, but apparently Bobby's first plan was just to hope the lawyer gave up and took the stairs. Five minutes later, the Brazilian called the front desk again. He was becoming increasingly agitated and demanded to speak to the night manager. Bobby told him he was the night manager.

He apologized for the inconvenience and tried to explain that they were short-staffed because of the holiday. He assured the lawyer again that the elevator was on its way. Plan A clearly wasn't working, so Bobby turned to plan B. In 1972, the elevators in the Pierre Hotel were holdovers from an older era. They weren't the modern style where you press a button and the car moves automatically. They were the original elevators that were installed when the hotel was built. in 1930. They operated with cables and levers and a manual braking system. In short, they could only be operated by a trained attendant. It wasn't the most complex system in the world, but if you

tried to fake it, you'd be in trouble. Bobby had actually planned for this type of problem, but he hesitated to use his solution until he absolutely had to. Now he had to. He hurried to the vault to get Nick's Sacco. Sacco had an old friend who had worked as an elevator attendant. To prep for the heist, Nick threw his friend a few bucks and learned the basics of the operation. Now, Nick was called into action. Bobby told him the problem and Nick ran to the elevator. While he headed up to deal with the angry Brazilian guest, Bobby Germain replaced him in the vault as Sammy's hammer man so they wouldn't lose any momentum. When Nick reached the Brazilian's floor, he eased the car to a stop and opened the doors as smoothly as he could.

When the elevator doors opened, the distinguished-looking Brazilian, still in his tuxedo, stood glaring at Nick. The man was so unhappy that he didn't seem to notice that the elevator attendant was also wearing a tux and a fedora. The thing that registered more quickly was that the well-dressed elevator attendant was holding a gun. Nick stepped off the elevator, pointed the gun at the Brazilian, and then demanded to go to his suite. When the man resisted, Nick moved the gun up to his head and suggested he rethink his position. The lawyer did, and he led Nick down the hall to his suite. When they walked in the door, the man's beautiful, much younger bride was sitting on a sofa wearing her nightgown. Her mother, who was sitting next to her, was still dressed in her evening gown.

Both women stood up in alarm when they saw the stranger with the gun. Nick calmly explained that the hotel was being robbed and that he was one of the robbers. He gave them the usual, no harm would come to them if they cooperated pep talk. But he told them that cooperating meant they would have to accompany him back downstairs. Nick was at least somewhat of a gentleman and he agreed to let the bride change into real clothes. The women didn't speak English, so the lawyer translated Nick. lecture. The bride went into hysterics, and her mother stared daggers at Nick. Nick almost felt bad for the couple. If being held hostage on your honeymoon was any kind of omen, it couldn't be a good one, and then throw in an angry

mother-in-law, and it went from bad to worse. The bride changed her clothes, and the three hostages traveled down to the executive office behind the front desk that was now the hostage holding area. It was just after 5 a.m., and the robber's first crisis, inside the hotel anyway, had been averted. With the addition of the three Brazilians, the hostage headcount was 15, 12 employees, and three guests. In the vault, Sammy and Bobby G. were working feverishly and making good progress, but the clock was ticking and there were lots of boxes to go. The robbers had given themselves two hours and 45 minutes to complete the hunt. They started at 4 a.m., so 6.45 a.m. was the drop-dead deadline to get out. The day shift started at 7 a.m. And according to Bobby Comfort's recon, the first few employees would start arriving at 645.

When Nick returned to the vault, he grabbed another hammer and joined in. Now, Nick Sacco and Bobby Germain bashed the safe deposit boxes with hammers, and Sammy Nalo wrenched them open with his crowbar and ends up. emptied them out. With the adrenaline pumping and the clock ticking, they worked harder and faster, and the volume of their efforts increased. At the front desk, Bobby Comfort was growing more concerned about the noise. There were no reports that listed the exact location of the vault, but presumably it was on the ground floor, somewhere behind the front desk. If so, anyone in the vicinity of the lobby would be able to hear the racket. Bobby knew his crew needed to keep working, but he rushed to the vault to tell them to try to work more quietly. When he arrived unexpectedly, he witnessed a disturbing development,

one that would have serious consequences over the next week. Bobby and Sammy chose the Pierre Hotel as a target because it was home to some of the richest people in the country, and its guests were some of the richest people in the world. In 2019, an apartment in the Pierre was listed for rent at a price of $500,000 per month. People who could afford $6 million in rent every year, those were the kinds of people Bobby and Sammy wanted to rob.

One such couple were Baron and Baroness von Langendorf. Baron Walter von Langendorf was an exceptionally wealthy Austrian perfume magnate. He owned an apartment at the Pierre Hotel, a 30-acre beachfront estate on Long Island, an estate in Palm Beach, and a villa in Monte Carlo. His second wife, Gabrielle, was known for her. her extravagant collection of jewelry. Bobby and Sammy had seen photos of her at parties for the city's elite. When Bobby looked through the index cards that were connected to the boxes, he found one

with her name on it. That box was definitely a target. And as Bobby approached the vault, the three men inside had just reached it. Nick and Bobby G. hit it with their hammers, and Sammy ripped the door off as fast as he could. He threw the crowbar to the ground with a loud, He reached into the back of the box and scooped out several leather jewelry cases in velvet bags. Each was emblazoned with the name of a famous jeweler. Sammy had held to his strict no-look policy, but now he couldn't help himself. Before he put the last jewelry case into the suitcase, he peeked inside to find the most dazzling diamond necklace he had ever seen.

Later, that single necklace would be valued at $750,000. Sammy fell into a trance as he took the necklace out of its case and held it in his hand. He was so taken with it that he didn't notice Bobby appear in the doorway. But before Bobby opened his mouth to ask the men to quiet down, he saw, or thought he saw, something very troubling. It looked like Sammy, his good friend and partner in crime, had just slipped something into his pocket. It looked like a piece of jewelry, but Bobby only caught a glimpse of it.

He froze for a second. He couldn't accuse his partner of stealing while they were in the middle of robbery, especially if he wasn't completely sure of what he saw. Even if he was positive, the accusation could cause a meltdown that could get them all caught. Given the highly stressful situation and the time crunch, Bobby decided to let it go for now. He would confront Sammy about it later, and this was where the Lucchese family could come in handy. If Bobby didn't get the truth, he could tell the Lucchase's that Sammy was. holding out on them. If that happened, Sammy could never run far enough or fast enough.

Bobby aborted his mission at the vault and returned to the front desk. He got back just in time to answer a call from Don Franco's, who was posing as the security guard at the hotel's side entrance. The main entrance on Fifth Avenue was closed for the holiday weekend as a security precaution. Everyone had to use the side entrance on East 61st, and that was locked. from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. People who wanted to get in during those hours had to prove that they were residents or had reservations. A little after 5 a.m., a.m., a. a gray-haired gentleman in a tuxedo, who was probably in his mid-70s, was doing just that. He was telling Frankos that he was a resident, and he wanted to be let in. Frankos had no choice but to open the door,

but he quickly called Bobby to warn him that the man would be at the front desk in a matter of seconds. In short order, Bobby heard the man's footsteps in the marble corridor as he approached the lobby. As the footsteps grew closer, Bobby walked around the front desk and greeted the gentleman by pointing a gun at him. The elderly man looked at the gun, looked at Bobby, and looked back at the gun. Then he got a funny look in his eyes and began to stumble backwards. He gasped for air and Bobby started to panic. He put his gun away and grabbed the man before he fell to the marble floor. If this guy cracked his head open, the robbers would be in serious trouble. If they got caught, they were already facing a host of charges, not the least of which were armed robbery and probably

something related to kidnapping because of the hostages. But if this guy suffered a severe injury or died during the robbery because he was now clutching his chest like he was having a heart attack, the thieves would face murder charges. This was very, very bad. With Sammy, Nick and Bobby G. in the vault, Don Franco's watching the entrance, and Alvescanti guarding the hostages, Ali Ben was the only robber left who could help Bobby deal with a man who may or may not be having a heart attack. Allie Ben was known as a violent criminal, so he may not have cared if the guy lived or died, but Bobby sure did. Bobby yelled to Ali Ben, and they guided the man over to a plush chair in the lobby and sat him down. The man closed his eyes and slouched his eyes and slouched

back into the chair. The two robbers hovered over him and stared. They had no idea what to do. Bobby sent Ali Ben to get some water out of a water cooler in the office. Bobby shook the man a few times to try to get his attention, but the man didn't respond. Ali Ben returned with the water, and Bobby held the paper cup to the man's lips. The man gulped it down, and the two robbers breathed a small sigh of relief. The guy wasn't dead and he wasn't unconscious. They gave the man some more water and his breathing started to normalize. The color came back into his cheeks. Those were good signs, but Bobby knew it wasn't over yet. The only thing Bobby knew about the man was his name, Mr. Graff. That's what the man had said to Don Franco's at the entrance. His name

was Graff, and he lived at the hotel. Bobby looked down at Mr. Graff, who still had his eyes closed and wore a pained expression on his face. With Bobby's suspicious mind, he called. He couldn't help but wonder if this could all be an act. Maybe this guy was some famous Broadway actor who was turning in the performance of a lifetime to avoid being robbed or murdered or both. If so, it was gutsy as hell. But Bobby assumed Mr. Graff wasn't faking it. And if Graff was having real trouble, then it wasn't a good idea to handcuff him

and put him in with the other hostages. Bobby and Ali Ben, who was losing patience by the second, gently lifted Mr. Graff out of the chair and slowly walked him to a small alcove behind the front desk. They sat him in a chair and Bobby instructed Ali Ben to keep an eye on Mr. Graff. With Graff's condition, Bobby added one more item to his to-do list before the end of the heist. He would call 911 right before they left. By the time the police and the ambulance arrived, the robbers would be long gone, and hopefully Mr. Graff would be a long gone.

all right. Before Bobby went back to the front desk, he saw another positive sign. Graff was feeling well enough to ask what was going on. Bobby explained in his most calm voice that the hotel was being robbed, but no one would be hurt. Graff and the other hostages just had to hang in there for another 45 minutes. It was almost 6 a.m., and the robbers had scheduled their departure for 6.45. The darkness outside that had covered them up to this point was fading as the sun rose. After the annoyance with the Brazilians, the crisis with Mr. Graff, and the potentially devious behavior of Sammy Nalo with the necklace, Bobby Comfort was feeling the pressure to leave quickly.

But that was going to be easier said than done. In the vault, unbeknownst to Bobby, Sammy Nalo was succumbing to a kind of modern-day gold fever. It was possible that he had already pocketed. a diamond necklace instead of throwing it in with the other loot to share with the group, now he was about to find another prize that would make his eyes light up with the dollar signs. As Bobby thought about ending the robbery and getting out before it was fully daylight, his partner Sammy was opening the box that contained the mother load for a guy like him. Sammy didn't recognize the name of the box's owner,

but the man had treasure that very few people alive have ever seen. When Sammy Pride opened the box, he found stacks and stacks of $500 bills. The portrait of President William McKinley was in the center of each, and they were incredibly rare. At various times in America's history, the government issued individual bills of $500, $1,000, $5,000, and even $10,000. Everything over $100 is now out of circulation, and the $500 bill went out in 1969, three years before the heist. But any official United States currency that was issued after 1861 is still usable. Now, if Sammy showed up at a bank or a casino with stacks of $500 bills, people would probably ask questions, but technically, they were still legal tender. and for a guy with Sammy's problems, that kind of cash was a windfall.

Questions be damned. Sammy dumped all the money into a suitcase, and he and Nick and Bobby G. high-fived each other as if they'd just won the lottery. They had now ransacked more than 40 boxes and filled three Louis Vuitton suitcases with loot. Sammy and his crowbar were still going strong, and about that time was when Bobby Comfort ran back to the vault to tell Sammy it was time to start wrapping it up. Sammy wasn't having it. He had worked himself into a near frenzy after finding all that cash. Sammy was afraid of what they might be leaving behind if they left

ahead of schedule. Who knew what might be in the next box? It was a classic gambler's addiction. The next one could be the big one. The next one could be even bigger than the last one. And with Sammy Nalo, the addiction was real. He was a gambling addict. And the problem was he was both a bad gambler and an unlucky gambler. Bobby probably knew that his partner liked to gamble, but he didn't know that Sammy was into a loan shark for over $100,000, and he was past due on paying it back. Sammy had been warned that if he didn't come up with the money soon,

he was going to meet a very unpleasant end. Sammy's dire financial situation almost certainly pushed him to take the diamond necklace from Baroness von Langendorf's collection, and now it pushed him to keep going, even when his partner wanted to stop. Bobby tried to reason with Sammy, but there was no way he could convince Sammy to put down the crowbar. Sammy was determined to keep working until the very last minute, and that would prove to be very dangerous.

His reluctance to leave allowed for one more unexpected surprise before the heist was done. Next time on Infamous America, another uninvited guest arrives at the hotel to potentially create chaos. The crew finally succeeds in forcing Sammy to stop, and they have precious little time to get out before all hell breaks loose. That's next week on Infamous America. Members of our Black Barrel Plus program don't have to wait week to week for new episodes. They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials, and they also receive exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships begin at just $5 per month.

This series was researched and written by Michael Byrne, original music by Rob Valier. I'm your host and producer, Chris Wimmer. Find us at our website, blackbarrelmedia.com or on our social media channels. We're Black Barrel Media on Facebook and Instagram and B-Barrell media on Twitter. And you can stream all our episodes on YouTube. Just search for Infamous America Podcast. Thanks for listening.