Meyer (The Little Man) Lansky

Meyer (The Little Man) Lansky was the underworld’s financial genius, with mob investments stretching from Las Vegas to Cuba. Despite his massive influence, the true size of his fortune remains one of organized crime’s greatest mysteries. Was he a billionaire mastermind or broke by the end? Please see the Meyer Lansky Syndicate Chart for more information on Meyer Lansky.

Meyer (The Little Man) Lansky -- aka Bugs Meyer, Bugsy Meyer, and Meyer the Bug -- was born July 4, 1902, as Meier Suchowlanski (TN) in Grodno, Poland. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1911.

Meyer lived in exclusive sections of the Bronx and midtown Manhattan for many years before permanently relocating down to Miami and eventually the Hallandale section of Florida. He resided for years at 612 Hibiscus Drive in Hallandale. He had a brother named Jake who worked with him in the rackets.

He was identified for decades as a top “associate member” in the Luciano/Genovese Family of LCN.

FBI # 791783, NYCPD # B-70258

Since 1918, Meyer had nine arrests for disorderly conduct, narcotics, felonious assault, violation of the National Prohibition Act, conspiracy, common gambling, forgery, and murder.

He had only one minor conviction for conspiracy-common gambling and was sentenced to serve 30 days and pay a $2,500 fine.

A young Meyer Lansky

As evidenced by his criminal record for felony assault and murder, back in his youth, Lansky, although small in stature, was believed to be a tough hood and ready with a gun. He and his partner Bugsy Siegel headed the “Bugs and Meyer Mob.”

The Jewish Mob had different divisions of operation, and the names below were of hoodlums who, for the most part, ran the “street rackets” in New York City.

They ranged from policy racketeers, bookmakers, loansharks, extortionists, narcotics dealers, and strong-arm killers to the more “white collar” mob figures who specialized in business frauds and garment rackets.

One journalist had dubbed them “The Gang Nobody Knows” because they typically operated in such a low-key fashion that, for the most part, the public never knew who most of them were!

Considered their leader, Lansky’s top associates in the loosely organized “Jewish Mob,” originally based off the Delaney Street area on New York’s Lower East Side, included:

Jacob (Jake) Lansky

Louis (Max the Jew) Schrager

Nicholas (Bobby Blanch) Belang i

Jack Grill

Benjamin (Benny) Levine

Hyman (Red) Martin

Philip (Little Farvel) Kovolick

Joe Flax

Samuel (Red) Levine

Tom Cutty

Hyman (Red Hymie) Siegel

Samuel Jacobson

Daniel Jacobson

Ralph (The Beak) Jacobson

Solomon (Solly) Bloom

Harry (Little Lefty) Strasser

Milton (Milty) Wekar

Benjamin (Benny the Bug) Levine

Willie Alter

Marty Kahn

Solomon (Crew Cut) Margolies

Bennie Fine

Murray Shebert

Danny Danzis

Babe Mann

Irving (Chink) Sherman

Joe Miller

There were hundreds of others in NYC and thousands throughout the country.

Slowly but surely, Lansky became their “de facto” overall leader or “boss” as a direct result of his close recognized friendship and affiliation with Charlie Luciano and the Luciano/Genovese Family -- who were also the dominant force on the Mafia’s National Commission.

Between the power they gave him and his uncanny natural business acumen in dominating the garment industry, other labor unions, and eventually the legal casino industry, making his underworld partners untold millions, Meyer became the big “Mahoff” (or boss) as Jewish people say and their undisputed leader!

The Big Mahoff

Bobby Blanch was identified as an inducted Genovese soldier who “worked” under Meyer. He was in Vincent Alo’s crew and had been assigned to help Lansky as needed. Alo was the mob’s lifelong “watchdog” over Meyer and was believed to be Lansky’s main partner and very close friend.

A sampling of the power Lansky and his “Jewish Mafia” wielded within the underworld is listed below.

Hidden ownership and interests in:

Legal gambling casinos in Las Vegas, Cuba, Nassau-Bahamas, and later Puerto Rico. For a time, they were also active in operating casinos in London, England.

Garment district rackets -- They had top control for decades in every facet of the apparel manufacturing industry.

Lansky allegedly controlled David Dubinsky -- president of the entire ILGWU -- as his minion. It was said that Meyer would secretly pass messages and orders through his longtime attorney Moses Polakoff.

Labor/union racketeering -- They had extensive control over varied unions in many industries, installing the elected union leadership and giving them huge power over the marketplace.

They were major players in many street racket operations, such as all facets of illegal gambling , narcotics, shylocking, liquor smuggling, extortion rackets, etc., working in unison with their Italian friends and counterparts throughout NY, Miami, and the rest of the country.

Starting with Luciano, Lansky was lifetime “partners” with the top bosses of the original Luciano/Costello/Genovese Family.

Staying close with Lucky and Frank Costello and continuing with Vito Genovese and Jerry Catena, Lansky was considered a prized associate -- ”the goose that lays the golden eggs” and one to be “coveted and protected!

Lucky Luciano

Of the many, many top mafiosi and varied underworld leaders he was close with throughout his life, the men listed below were paramount:

Salvatore (Lucky) Luciano

Francesco (Frank Costello) Castiglia

Joseph (Joe Adonis) Doto

Gerardo (Jerry) Catena

Vincent (Jimmy Blue Eyes) Alo

Abner (Longy) Zwillman

Abraham (Abe) Chait

Joseph (Doc) Stracher

Charlie (The Blade) Tourine

Lansky, Chait, and Zwillman were believed to be the only leading mobsters with Jewish backgrounds who were in a position to act as peacemakers between the Jewish Mob and the powerful Italian underworld, both locally and nationally.

He also developed and controlled a race-wire news service operating since the 1940s to facilitate race track information to all the bookmakers throughout the country.

Lansky, Las Vegas, Cuba, and Beyond

Lansky was a long-standing partner of Jerry Catena in nationwide gambling in the United States, and it was believed that Catena was second only to Lansky in “owning points” in Las Vegas Casino operations.

Meyer had connections and did business worldwide. He operated throughout the country, but his primary areas of activity were New York, Florida, Nevada, Cuba, Bahamas, and Arkansas.

Jake Lansky

Lansky also operated in Switzerland, where he helped facilitate the numbered bank accounts alleged to hold the mob's untold millions.

Almost all major Las Vegas casinos took orders from Lansky and his associate “Doc” Stacher.

Authorities suspected Lansky’s gambling casino investments in Las Vegas, Nevada, to have included, among many others:

The Fremont

The Sands

The Flamingo

The Thunderbird Hotel

The Horseshoe

The Stardust (he had the Cleveland mob and Moe Dalitz leading).

Investments in Cuba included:

Hotel Nacional & Casino

Montmartre Nightclub & Casino

The Habana-Riviera

Orientale Park Race Track & Casino

The Deauville

The San Souci

Varadere International Hotel-Casino

Savilla-Biltmore

Among the casino mob overseers, floor managers, pit bosses, and croupiers included many hoods who originated from the NY area but had been designated to other outposts by Lansky and his Cosa Nostra partners.

Vegas, Florida, Bahamas, and Cuba key casino associates included:

Benjamin (Bugsy) Siegel

Dino Cellini

Eddie Cellini

Morris Rosen

Moey Sedwa

Nathan (Nate) Green

Charlie Kandel

Gilbert (Doc Apples) Seider

Sam Garfield

Sandford (Sandy) Waterman

Richard Kornick

Mike Wassell

Moses (Moe) Polakoff

Benjamin Siegelbaum

Lester Siegelbaum

Morris (Moe) Lewis

Allie Harris

Max Courtney

Charlie Brudner

Frank Reed

Dave Glass

George Sadlow

Hickey Kamm

Harry (Spinach) Coopersmith

Al Jacobs

Clarence Smith

"Toots” Smith

Lou Chesler

Hyman Abrams

Jack Entratter

Julie Levitt

Sam Cohen

Chester Sims

In Miami, Florida, Lansky was thought to have also invested through millionaire financier Morris Lansburgh in several major hotels, properties, and businesses along famed Collins Avenue including the Singapore Motel, Carlsbad Spa and Resort, Windrift Hotel, Plantation Restaurant in Hallandale. Jake Lansky owned the property.

The End of the Line

Meyer Lansky died on January 15, 1983, at 80 years old.

There has been much controversy over how much money Lansky made in his lifetime and how much money he left behind after his death. The FBI believed Lansk had more than $300 million at the time of his death. But his official estate registered only $57,000 cash.

Meyer Lansky

Later in his life, when questioned about his massive financial losses after Castro kicked him out of Cuba, seizing all his assets, Meyer said, “I crapped out!”

Over the next 25 years, although he lived well, Meyer was said never to have again gained the power and finances he once had. But his true financial portfolio and assets seem to have died with him!

Until next time..."The Other Guy!"

Meyer (The Little Man) Lansky

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