Joe Bruno on the the Mob – Bugsy SiegelBenjamin “Bugsy” Siegel is the man most responsible for the re-birth of the city of Las Vegas,as the gambling capitol of the world.Siegel was born Benjamin Siegelbaum on February 28, 1906, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. As a teenager, he crossed the bridge to Manhattan and started a gang on Lafayette Street,which skirted the boarder of Little Italy, with another thug named Moe Sedway. Their main racket wasshaking down pushcart owners for protection money, and if they weren't paid quickly, they burnt downthe poor owner's pushcart.Soon Siegel teamed up with Meyer Lansky, the man who would shape his life, and eventually,his death. Together they formed the “Bugs and Meyer Gang,” which started out in auto theft, andended up handling hit contracts for bootleggers, who were having their shipments hijacked. This tidylittle killing business was the forerunner to the infamous Murder Incorporated, which handledhundreds of contract murders during the 1930's.In the late 1920's, Siegel and Lansky hooked up with ambitious Italian mobsters LuckyLuciano, Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia and Tommy Lucchese. Together they formed a National Crime Commission, which controlled all organized crime in America for manyyears to come. Siegel was the main hit man for the group, and he led the four-man team, who riddledJoe “The Boss” Masseria's body with bullets in a Coney Island Restaurant. Siegel developed thereputation as a man who not only killed frequently, but enjoy killing, with a glee of a schoolboy on hisfirst date.In the late 1930's, The Commission sent Siegel to California to take over their West Coastrackets, including the lucrative racing wire, which ran horse race results to thousands of bookie jointsthroughout the country. Siegel pushed aside West Coast mob boss Jack Dragna, who was told byLansky and Luciano, if he didn't step down and hand the reins over to Siegel, bad things would happento him quick. Dragna did as he was told.While in Hollywood, Siegel, who was movie-star-good-looking, was renowned ladies-man,who sometimes bedding down three or four starlets at a time. He hung around with such movie hunksas Clark Cable, Gary Cooper, George Raft and Cary Grant. The girls he bedded included Jean Harlow,Wendy Barry, Marie McDonald, Virginia Hill and Italian Countess Dorothy diFrasso. Even thoughSiegel was busy with the broads, he always found the time to do a little killing on the side. In 1939, onorders from New York City Jewish mob boss Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, Siegel whacked Harry "BigGreenie" Greenberg, who was singing like a canary to the feds. Siegel was arrested for murder, butafter a witness conveniently disappeared, he was acquitted of all charges.The bad publicity from the Greenberg trial ruined Siegel's man-about-town reputation inHollywood, so The Commission sent Siegel to Las Vegas, to scout locations for a hotel/casino theywanted to build. Siegel found the perfect place, and he convinced the boys from New York City,including his pal Lansky, to invest millions in a opulent night club he dubbed The Flamingo. The building of the The Flamingo was a disaster from the start. His insistence on only the best of everything skyrocketed the costs to a staggering $6 million, which annoyed his partners in New York City more than just a little. Plus, there were concerns that maybe Siegel was skimming a littleconstruction money off the top, to fund his actions with the ladies.Opening night in December, 1946, was an unmitigated disaster. Siegel had moved up the
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Joe Bruno on the the Mob – Bugsy Siegel
Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel is the man most responsible for the re-birth of the city of Las Vegas, as the gambling capitol of the world.
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