The Murder of Felix Brinkmann

The intense competition for East Side patrons between Adam’s Apple and Mr. Laff’s, our close neighbor, drove Brinkmann and Joe Cavallaro to openly squabble on how to attract big-name customers. Mr. Laff’s opened in 1965, founded by a Yankee infielder, Phil Linz, who wooed teammates and players from the Knicks and Rangers. The police cordoned off the sidewalks to control overflow crowds waiting to enter his bar.

Joe Namath, the Jets star QB, frequented Mr. Laff’s but rarely showed at our place, surely not trendy enough for “Broadway Joe.” It caused a rift between our owners, who attracted an unsavory clientele, which I witnessed firsthand. Cavallaro was cool, but Brinkman, overly dour.

Felix never had a good word to say to the waiters, and certainly not to me. It didn’t surprise me when I learned of his murder decades later.