Harlem Shuffle: Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

Freddie describes the heist to Carney, beginning by describing Miami Joe, a straightforward criminal who arrived in New York City fleeing another job in Miami. In his five years of living in New York, Joe has made a name for himself in the criminal world. He initially recruited Freddie as a getaway driver for the Theresa heist. Miami Joe and Freddie met two other accomplices—a middle-aged safecracker named Arthur and a mysterious man called Pepper—at a strip club to discuss the robbery. Miami Joe frequents the Hotel Theresa’s bar. His relationship with a maid named Betty (through whom he acquires insider knowledge) and his disdain for uppity Black New Yorkers inspired the robbery.

As Freddie tells it, based on the patterns of the hotel’s staff and clientele, Miami Joe decides to conduct the heist early Tuesday morning. Taking 20 minutes, the crew will take over the lobby and raid the guests’ safe-deposit boxes. Pepper asks about guns. Arthur persuades Joe to move Freddie into the lobby with the rest of them. At this point, Freddie mentions Carney as a possible middleman for stolen goods.

The night of the robbery, Arthur disguises himself as a guest so the night man will let him in, then pulls a gun on the man. He lets Freddie and Pepper inside, the latter wearing a stolen bellhop uniform. Freddie and Miami Joe—who is already inside—wear rubber Howdy Doody masks. Miami Joe subdues the hotel clerk before he can raise the alarm.

Noting the elevator is descending, Miami Joe quickly apprehends the switchboard operator and her lover, while Arthur leads the elevator operator and his passenger into the manager’s office with the other captives. Miami Joe notes the pleasure he experiences while thieving. The clerk, a young man named Rickie, who will feel cursed by the robbery, shows them where the deposit cards are kept. Arthur is displeased that the deposit boxes are stronger than anticipated, requiring more hits with the crowbar. Pepper mans the front desk, taking phone calls from guests complaining about the banging.

Arthur and Miami Joe continue to break boxes while Freddie nervously keeps an eye on the captives. The elevator passenger has walked into other robberies before and is unconcerned. The elevator operator has served time for car theft, and he will tell detectives he saw nothing. Arthur, too, was recently imprisoned, and he fantasizes about the farmland he’s purchased in Pennsylvania, planning to retire to the countryside. Pepper leads two more guests into the office, who have entered the lobby at the wrong time. Miami Joe pushes their luck, keeping them past the agreed-upon 20 minutes. Finally, at Pepper’s insistence, they leave with two valises of goods, cut the police alarm, and threaten the captives before absconding from the hotel.