Russian Spymaster Rudolph Abel – Covername Goldfus

After establishing himself in the New York neighborhood, Goldfus began to locate various places in the New York city area such as isolated park benches, that could be used to leave messages (dead-drops) and to use as potential meeting sites for future spy activities. Among the many places Colonel Abel found for exchange of information was a bridge over a footpath in Central Park, a lamppost in Fort Tyron Park and a hole in a wall on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. Also, the theater called Symphony Space, one of the neighborhood favorites for plays and musicals, was designated a drop point by Abel. Messages were placed upstairs in the balcony on the east side under the carpet. He also used a waste basket in Central Park, at Tavern on the Green.

Russian spy Rudolph Abel, covername – “Goldfus”

One signal point for a drop/pickup indication (where a green thumbtack was placed) was a sign on the parkside entrance to Tavern on the Green and another sign point was under the hand rail at an elevated train stop in Queens. After all these years, many of these dead drops and signal points can still be identified in the New York area.

Then, in December, 1952, he rented the studio space in the Brooklyn warehouse, called the Ovington building, on Fulton street. He pretended to be a retired photo finisher, which gave him a perfect cover for the photo equipment he used to prepare the microfilm of documents and messages.

Page 61 from “SECRET CODE BREAKER III – A Cryptanalyst’s Handbook “