George Morton Levy

George Morton Levy (June 26, 1888 – July 19, 1977) was an American lawyer and harness racing executive who founded the Roosevelt Raceway. He was inducted into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1967.

Early life and education George Morton Levy was born in 1888 in Seaford, New York, United States. He was the son of Adolph Levy and Anna Katz.

When he was one year old, his family moved to Freeport, New York in 1889. At Freeport High School, he excelled as a shortstop in baseball. He also joined the Freeport High School football team and, despite his size, became the team's star quarterback and captain. He went on to graduate cum laude from New York University. Levy, who partnered with S. Dimon Smith and spent a period associated with George Wallace in Jamaica, Queens, organized a law firm in 1911 with Elvin N. Edwards of Brooklyn. His first legal office opened in Freeport in 1912. Impatient from the lack of clients, he entered real estate, then tried his hand at criminal law in the Nassau County courthouses.

He entered a partnership with Supreme Court Justice Townsend Scudder in 1921 under the firm name of Townsend Scudder and George Morton Levy with offices in Freeport and Manhattan. He spent five years at the firm. continuing as Levy & Fishel until 1933 and later with Elvin N. Edwards in late 1934.

During the early 1930s, Levy worked with Samuel Seabury on a probe into the Tammany Hall administration, ultimately targeting Mayor Jimmy Walker.

Serving as Lucky Luciano's lead trial lawyer in 1936, Levy, together with Francis W. H. Adams, challenged the high-profile forced prostitution case brought by Thomas E. Dewey, the future Governor of New York.

Levy entered into a law partnership with former District Attorney Martin W. Littleton known as Littleton & Levy by 1937. Under Littleton & Levy in 1938, he served as counsel for Midget Speedways, Inc., which leased a racetrack once part of the Roosevelt Field.

Roosevelt Raceway He soon took on a venture outside the field of law following passage of an enabling act for parimutuel betting he supported in Albany, New York. Together with a group of investors (Old Country Trotting Association), he leased the abandoned Roosevelt Field track in 1939 and hired Al Saunders, then secretary of the Hambletonian Stakes. In September 1940, he opened Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York. He came to be regarded as the father of modern harness racing. He was a founding trustee of the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, formed in July 1949.

He led the raceway through an era highlighted by success and scandals involving politicians and racketeers. By the mid-1940s, the New York State Racing Commission threatened that if the track were not cleared of bookmakers, its license would be withdrawn. From 1946 to 1949, Levy asked for the assistance of Frank Costello, paying $15,000 annually for four years, to have Costello keep rival bookies away from his Long Island trotting track. On March 12, 1951, Levy was summoned before the United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce. The inquiry, televised across the country, was led by the late Senator Estes Kefauver. Even with a formal exoneration and apologies from all committee members recorded in the Congressional Record, Levy's reputation suffered for years after his testimony.

Levy transferred his remaining stake in Roosevelt Raceway to the San Juan Racing Association for $3.5 million in 1966. He served in a position as the track's president until his death.

He was a member of the Freeport Elks Lodge in the 1940s.

Death Following a heart attack, George Morton Levy died at age 89 at the Nassau Hospital in Mineola, New York, on July 19, 1977.

He was honored by the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) in May 1949, winning the association's first-ever "Headliner Award" for his contribution to the development of harness racing. The award was presented by sportswriter Grantland Rice. He received the USHWA Proximity Award in 1962. On July 5, 1967, he was inducted into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame. The honor was voted on by the United States Harness Writers Association.

The George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series, a major race launched in 1978, was named in his honor.