![]() These interests were protected in part through the establishment of another joint Italian-Jewish endeavour – the no-nonsense, hitmen-for-hire outfit known as Murder, Inc. The mobs’ activities included racketeering, robbery, extortion, loan sharking, gambling, prostitution and – bearing in mind this was the very lucrative Prohibition era – bootlegging and speakeasy ownership. Evading the attention and clutches of federal investigators was certainly a mutual goal. Territory was shared between the Italian-American Mafia and Jewish mobs, all aiming to fulfil the American dream of prosperity, albeit through foul means.Īn uneasy peace was largely observed between the various gangs, helped by the founding of the multi-ethnic National Crime Syndicate, which advocated cooperation and the pursuit of common aims. How much organised crime was there in New York?ĭuring the decade that Murder, Inc operated, organised crime in New York City was rife across all its boroughs. Until then, it had been all-out civil war in the city’s criminal community, with its hierarchy decided by the Darwinian principles of ‘survival of the fittest’ – or, rather, survival of the most heavily armed. Luciano was effectively the head of the syndicate, a figure powerful enough in the New York underworld to convince the bosses of rival mobs that cooperation was mutually beneficial when it came to protecting their interests. Wet vs Dry: how prohibition fractured Americaīy taking their corner of Brooklyn, Reles and his associates greatly improved their reputation within the National Crime Syndicate, another Jewish-Italian pact that included the likes of legendary crime bosses ‘Lucky’ Luciano and ‘Bugsy’ Siegel.The Shapiros’ empire quickly crumbled – the Brownsville Boys were the new bosses. Acting on a tip-off, they abducted him from a Manhattan speakeasy before executing him in a Lower East Side basement Reles himself fired the fatal bullet. Meyer Shapiro survived a full 20 assassination attempts before Reles’s crew targeted his brother, Irving.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |