In the wake of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's apparent overdose, four suspected heroin dealers were arrested in Manhattan this week. Among them was Robert Vineberg, 57, a jazz musician and admitted heroin user who is currently incarcerated on Rikers. Vineberg spoke to the Post from there, calling Hoffman his friend and saying he was "devastated" by his death: "I could’ve saved him," Vineberg said. "If I knew he was in town, I would’ve said, 'Hey, let’s make an AA meeting.' If I was with him, it wouldn’t have happened. Not under my guard."
Vineberg, who says he's known Hoffman for about a year, denied that he sold Hoffman any of the heroin packets that were found in his apartment, although he declined to say whether he ever sold to him in the past. "When we got together, we talked about books. And art. He was a normal guy. You wouldn’t know he was an Oscar winner," he said. "He loved his kids. I offer my condolences to his family."
Vineberg said he and Hoffman supported each other in their struggles over drug use. "We’d text back and forth, 'Oh, I got one day on you!' 'No I’ve got one day on you,' " Vineberg recalled. The last time Vineberg saw him in person in October, he claims Hoffman was high. "When you’re clean for that long of a time, your body can’t take as much,” he said. "Your body doesn’t have the tolerance. He was using needles. He was a hard-core addict."
Hoffman's death has resonated throughout the AA community in NYC: "I’ve been to three meetings since it happened," a woman named Rita told the Times. "There hasn’t been one meeting where I haven’t heard about it. People in the public eye see it as 'We lost a great talent.' People in recovery see it as 'We lost a brother in arms.' "
Along with Vineberg, Thomas Kushman, 48, Max Rosenblum, 22, and Juliana Luchkiw, 22, have all been charged with felony drug possession.
