1929 Atlantic City Organized Crime Convention

Originally published in the Boardwalk Journal - October 2010
ACConsig: 1929 Mob Convention / Boardwalk Journal 10/2010

The 1929 Atlantic City Convention of Organized Crime – Bill Kelly

Atlantic City has been known as a convention town for a long time, but the most significant convention the city has ever hosted didn’t meet at Convention Hall or even conventionally, and certainly didn’t abide by Roberts Rules of Order.

The May, 1929 meeting of organized crime bosses in Atlantic City was probably the most significant ever held, not only because of it’s effect on the future development of the town, but because of the national impact the decisions made there had on society, not only then, but over time, up to and including today.

At the time Atlantic City was considered “wide open,” a place where gangsters could go to make private, if sometimes illegal investments and for sit-down mob meetings, as were a few other cities – Miami, Las Vegas and Old Havana. Atlantic City was run however, by one man – Enoch “Nuckey” Johnson , the local political boss who ran the town as his private domain. Like “Commodore” Lou Kinley had before him. Nuckey got a percentage of practically every business in Atlantic City, especially illegal businesses, and as it was during Prohibition, the most lucrative business at the time was the importation of smuggled liquor.

Lonnie Zwillman of North Jersey controlled most of the bootleg market once the cases of booze from the Caribbean and Canada were transferred at sea from mother ship transports to small Chirs Craft speedboats. Once brought ashore the booze was put on waiting trucks to be transported the goods throughout the rest of the country. It was later estimated, by the Kefauver Committee that Zwillman’s outfit had a 65% market share of all illegal booze in North America.

But there were also illegal casinos in Atlantic City at the time, all operating openly and open to the public. And Big Time confidence men like Charlie Gondorff (of The Sting fame) were allowed to run Big Store Con games, as long as long as they only hit on transients and didn’t take any local citizens for Marks.

Booze, casino gambling, the boardwalk and beach, it didn’t even seem like there was a Depression going on. Things appeared quite normal on May 12th, 1929 when newlyweds Meyer and Anna Citron Lansky checked into one of the city’s finer boardwalk hotels. They were assigned the Honeymoon Penthouse with it’s panoramic view of the ocean and boardwalk.

Which hotel they checked into is not recorded for history, but you can be sure it was one owned by Jewish businessmen, as all the first class hotels at the time were owned by Jews or Quakers, and each served a different clientele. That’s a fact that came into play the very next day when Alphonese “Scarface” Capone stepped off a train and took a cab to one of the city’s classier hotels. Although he entered town unnoticed, and he signed into the hotel under an assumed name, his cover would soon be blown, the city of Atlantic City would be shaken upside down and the nation would rattle with the aftereffects for decades.

Snickering to his lieutenants as he signed the fictitious name to the register, Capone got a smile from Frank Nitti, Murry Humphries, Jake Guzik and Frank Rioi, but the joke quickly turned sour when the somewhat naive and strictly formal desk clerk looked at the name and politely informed Capone that, “I’m sorry sir, but this hotel does not serve those of your persuasion. My I suggest you try the hotel just down the street.”

This was Atlantic City, New Jersey, probably the only place in America where “Scarface” Al Capone could mingle with the masses and go unrecognized. He did however, have a friend in his old pal Nuckey Johnson. Capone had been Johnson’s gracious host two years earlier when Nuckey went to Chicago and was supplied with ringside seats to the Jack Dempsy-Gene Tunney heavyweight fight – the famous battle of the “long count’ bout.

Now Capone was in Atlantic City to meet with Meyer Lansky and other mob bosses. They came to Atlantic City because Nuckey Johnson controlled the town and they were assured they wouldn’t be subjected to the police hassles the Sicilian Mafia guys were subjected to in Cleveland a few weeks earlier.

Although Nuckey Johnson couldn’t protect Capone from some ethnic embarrassment, he did have such tight control over all facets of the city’s operations that, unless they robbed a bank or made a scene, known gangsters from out of town didn’t have to worry about being picked up for questioning by the police. Capone made a scene.

Told by a hotel clerk that he couldn’t check in because he signed his name under a wrong ethnic persuasion, Capone’s famous temper flared, and after a burst of obscenities and the trashing of some lobby furniture, Nuckey Johnson quickly learned that Al Capone was in town. Moving quickly to meet him, Capone and his entourage were heading south on Pacific Avenue when they were intercepted by Johnson’s convoy of dull, black limos heading the other way. They met in the middle of the street, blocked traffic for a few minutes as Capone emerged from his cab, cigar in hand, and gave Nuckey an obscenity laced public verbal lashing, letting off steam from the hotel desk incident.

Once appeased by Johnson, always the gracious host, they hugged and patted each other on the back and adjourned to the back of Nuckey’s limo. After seeing that Capone and his people had proper accommodations at the right hotel, Johnson and Capone were later seen taking in the tourists sights together and strolling down the world famous boardwalk.

Johnson and Capone then had dinner in the Italian “Ducktown” neighborhood, not far from the recently completed Convention Hall – the new auditorium which was then the largest of its kind in the world, with the biggest stage and the largest pipe organ as well. While it established Atlantic City as a major convention town on the East Coast, it’s facilities were not to be used by the guys who started checking in behind Lansky and Capone.

From Cleveland came Al “the Owl” Polizzi, one of the Sicilians hassled by cops at the earlier regional sit-down a few weeks earlier. Also from Cleveland was Moe Dalitz of the Mayfield Road Gang and his bootleg companions, Morris Kleinman, Sam Tucker and Louis Rothkopft. Other gangsters who have been identified as having attended the Atlantic City meeting include Charles “King” Solomon from Boston, Joe Bernstein from Detroit, and Joe Lanza from Kansas City, all of whom came with their henchmen in tow.

From North Jersey there was Abner “Longie” Zwillman, who controlled most of the New Jersey bootleg shipments. Philadelphia was well represented by Harry “Nig Rosen” Stromberg, Max “Boo Boo” Huff, Sam Lezar and Charles Schwarts. By far, the biggest delegation came down from New York, and consisted of Frank Costello, Author “Dutch Schultz” Flegenheimer, Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, Joe Adonis, Salvadore “Lucky” Luciano and Meyer Lansky.

Anne Citron Lansky got angry the next morning when she read in the morning newspaper that Al Capone was in town, and knew that it had to more than just a coincidence. Her new husband couldn’t even go on his honeymoon without having business to take care of.

Born Maier Suchowljansky in Grodno, Poland in 1902, young Meyer came to the United States in 1911 with his mother, sister and younger, but bigger brother Jake. Like so many other arrivals, his birthdate was noted by immigration officials as July 4th, and he took quickly to the American dream.

Later telling Israeli journalists Uri Dan that he took to gambling early, relating an incident that occurred when he was a young boy walking down Delancy Street in Manhatten on an errand for his mother. Coming across a sidewalk craps game he quickly lost his mother’s nickel, an event that had a profound affect on his life. “What troubled me more than anything else,” Lansky said, “was that I had been a loser, and that night….I swore to myself that one day I would be a winner.”

Going back to the sidewalk craps game young Lansky watched and studied the gamblers intently, and learned when to place his bet with a sure winner. “Then I began to notice,” he said, “that the men who actually ran the dice games were only pawns…of other well dressed and prosperous men,” who he also noticed seemed to be all Italians who in turn were “servant” who were “collecting the money for somebody bigger. So it must be a very big business, gambling with nickels and dimes on the sidewalks of the Lower East Side.”

After graduating from Public School #34 in 1917, Lansky worked as an auto mechanic, and first came to the attention of the police when he was arrested for fighting with Charles Luciana and Benjamen Siegel. That was the first time he was known to have officially used the name Lansky, and after the judge listened to their story, he decided that the boys had “bugs in their heads,” which temporarily gave Lansky the nickname “Meyer the Bug,” but Siegel could never shake the name “Bugsy.”

The three boys became fast friends and developed business associations, while Luciana rose in the ranks of the Italian Mafia allied under Joe “the Boss” Masseria. They were perennially at war with another New York gang run by Salvatore Maranzano, whose henchmen picked up Luciano and took him for a ride to Statin Island where they shot him a number of times and left for dead. Luciano miraculously survived, earning him the nickname “Lucky” Luciano.

Lansky, Siegel and Luciano formed a life-long alliance with each other and established themselves on the Lower East Side as a competent and efficient guns-for-hire entrepreneurs that became known as “The Bugs and Meyer Mob,” which also included Joseph “Doc” Stacher, Joe Adonis, Abner “Longie” Zwillmen and Arthur “Dutch Schultz” Flegenheimer. They either escorted Zwillmen’s bootleg liquor or they hijacked any competitors who tried to muscle in on their rackets in their territory.

Philadelphia gangster “Waxy” Gordon was especially upset at the Bug and Meyer Mob for hijacking some of his truck shipments and, as with the Capone-Moran feud in Chicago, there was tension between gangs. Since Capone actually controlled only certain sections of Chicago, other Chicago gangsters also came in to the Atlantic City meeting, including Joe “Polock” Saltis and Frank “Machine Gun” McEarlane, complete with violin cases under their arms.

Other than Capone, these were mostly new names and faces in the underworld of 1929, but before long they would make their mark and become household names. The old-guard “Mustache Petes” who ran the big city rackets for the previous few decades, referred to these new, young gangsters as “The Young Turks,” but they in turn, were considered too old fashioned, narrow-minded and set in their ways to mingle with the gangsters of other nationalities and neighborhoods. The “Petes” were not even invited to this meeting.

To some, Luciano was thought to represent the New York capo de capi Guseppi “Joe the Boss” Masseria, but in retrospect, Luciano had Masseria murdered and replaced him after the protracted war that was wagged between Masseria and the other New York rackets boss Salvadore Maranzano. Masseria and Maranzano were from the Old Order and were on the way out, and The Young Turks knew it.

One member of the old school who was invited and did attend the Atlantic City conclave was John Torrio, who was born in Naples and was one of the first immigrants to leave the notorious “Five Points” section of Brooklyn to go to Chicago, where he ran his uncle’s whorehouse. After killing his uncle and setting up his own numbers racket, Torrio brought in Al Capone from the old neighborhood to be his enforcer.

Torrio, who didn’t drink or smoke, was Capone’s mentor and one of the oldest and wisest of the delegates at the Atlantic City convention. He would play a significant role by making key policy decisions concerning the promotion of other vices, most notably gambling.

While there would be other, more notorious meetings of mobsters – Havana, 1946, the 1957 Apalachin, New York meeting that was broken up by local police, a New York restaurant sit down that was also busted by the cops, the 1929 meeting in Atlantic City was most significant because it established a new policy of inter-city-gang cooperation on a nationwide basis.

It was not a question of who was at Atlantic City, but who was not there. Besides the Mustache Petes from the Old Order of things, Bugs Moran was the most notable big name absentee. He was left back in Chicago to lick his wounds and regroup his forces after the disastrous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

As the most blatant gangland mass murder in history, the massacre called attention to the mobsters and put pressure on them from the public, the press, politicians and the police. It became the most influential factor in persuading the factional mob leaders of the necessity for a meeting to hash things out. Rather than let the situation get completely out of hand and reach a level of violence that would force the authorities to take action, the gangsters decided to sit down at the same table for the first time, discuss their mutual problems and arrange for an agreeable solution like normal businessmen.

Although most of the published sources place the main gathering of gangsters at the President Hotel on the Boardwalk, the large number of delegates made it necessary for them to meet in smaller caucus to discuss the topics on the agenda. Pushed along the boardwalk in wicker-rolling chairs, they didn’t talk in front of the push cart operators, but at the end of the boardwalk, like other tourists in from the big city, they took off their shoes and socks, rolled up the cuffs of their pants and waded in the shallow surf like any normal day-tripper. With their conversations muffled by the sounds of the surf breaking, the mobsters plotted strategy and began the long term planning that would control organized crime activities for the next fifty years.

Since minutes of the meetings were not transcribed for posterity, legend has it that the order of business was basically two fold. For one, they had to agree on an amiable solution to the conflicts that erupted into mob warfare, primarily geographic turf battles. Secondly, since by then it was obvious that Prohibition would not last forever, they had to get involved in legitimate businesses as well as devise an alternative source of illegal income once Prohibition ended.

As for mob warfare, since such violence hurt everyone’s business, they decided to end such conflicts by adhering strictly to the territorial spheres of influence, with each gang controlling particular rackets in each area. They also agreed to work together in setting prices, sharing warehouse space and coordinating the wholesale distribution of liquor.

The Atlantic City accords were a radical departure from pervious mob practices because they also agreed to form an executive committee to oversee and arbitrate all disputes, denote the degree of punishment to all violators and to set policy for the governing of all future illegal operations.

The creation of the Board of Directors of the National Syndicate of Organized Crime was as big as the founding of the United Nations. Although it’s very existence would be kept hidden from the public for decades, and spy novelist Ian Fleming would ridicule them with his fictional Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion – SPECTRE, it would become generally known as “The Commission.”

As for the second item on the agenda, they decided to explore gambling as a replacement for the lucrative illegal liquor profits after prohibition. With the repeal of the Volstead Act in 1933, gambling became the main preoccupation of the local mobs until 1946, when, after the Havana meeting, the French Connection became the primary source of the drugs and narcotics that would become the Syndicate’s primary source of revenue other than gambling.

The Federal Bureau of Narcotics concluded, from information provided from undercover informants, that the Atlantic City convention established the basis for the Syndicate that carved the nation into specific territories, developed a system of kangaroo courts that provided the gangsters with their own quasi-judicial system, and protected the hierarchy of the local mafia families.

Arrangements were also made to invest in a multi-million dollar slush fund to bribe law enforcement officials, ensure the election of certain politicians, hire the best attorneys and pay for the educational development of promising young men who could serve their interests in the future.

The hallmark of the meeting in Atlantic City was the centralizing of particular powers with an executive committee, like the board of directors of a blue chip industry, an exceptional and extraordinary concept that was not immediately acceptable to many of the ethnic oriented gangsters like Massaria and Marrassano, who were dinosaurs that had to go the way of the buffalo.

The dissentions of the still primarily ethnically Italian gangsters was overcome in a power-play move when Lansky nominated the Mafia’s own Johnny Torrio as Chairman of the Board, a motion that quickly won the endorsement of most of the mobsters present. Torrio was also the only one who could take care of Capone, whose violent ways were causing problems for all of them.

With the Commission in charge, Torrio at the helm and business completed, the final item on the agenda was Capone, and what to do with him. While the Chicago rackets were combined, and Capone was the nominal boss, he had to take a vacation, or he was going to be thrown to the wolves. He was given the option of dieing right then, or taking a sabbatical from the business for a while. The newspapers had all reported that Capone was in town and one of the William Randolph Hurst newspapers even ran a faked composite photograph of Capone, Knucky Johnson and Meyer Lansky walking down the boardwalk, all of which had the pubic clamoring for Capone to be busted for something.

Although they put an APB – All Points Bulletin out for the man who was seen all over town – throwing chairs in a hotel lobby, screaming obscenities on Pacific Avenue, having dinner in Ducktown, riding in a wicker-walker and strolling down the boardwalk with Johnson, suddenly, Capone couldn’t be found anywhere.

According to local legend, when the heat was turned on, Capone slipped out of Atlantic City and retreated to a local private country club, either the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield or Seaview in Absecon, where he played bad golf and good cards until the heat was off a few days later.

On May 16, 1929, a week after Lansky’s wedding, Capone showed up at the train station but missed the train by minutes. With a police motorcycle escort to the edge of town, Capone’s entourage drove to Philadelphia, where he again just missed a train to Chicago. Going to a movie on Market Street with his bodyguard Frank Rio, Capone emerged from the theater to be confronted by Philadelphia Police Detective James “Shooey” Malone.

Malone flashed his badge, they talked quietly for a moment and Capone calmly volunteered his .38 caliber revolver and was promptly arrested by Malone. Rio momentarily balked, but Capone smiled and urged him to surrender his weapon too.

Philadelphia’s Director of Public Safety Major Lemel B. Schoefield accepted praise for the arrest of the nation’s number one crime czar, though it later became apparent that Det. Malone had met Capone the year before at Hialeah racetrack in Florida, and Capone had arranged for his own arrest. Besides taking the heat off the rest of the Syndicate, in the secure hands of the law he also acquired sanctuary from a vengeful Bugs Moran.

In the custody of the Philadelphia authorities, Capone was forthcoming about the Atlantic City Sit Down, emphasizing the decision to end mob warfare. “I told them,” Capone said, reciting a line from one of Lansky’s lectures, “there is enough business to make us all rich, and it’s time to stop the killing and look on our own business as other men look on theirs.”

When asked about the purpose of the meeting, Capone said, “It is with the idea of making peace among the gangsters that I spent the week in Atlantic City and got the word of each leader that there will be no more shooting.”

But Capone also told them he, “…had to hide from the rest of the racketeers,” who weren’t at the meeting. They had a vendetta against him. It seems that there comes a point in every gangster’s career when, despite all the power and money they have accumulated, life is suddenly vulnerable to one professional contract killer. John Torrio thought that prison was the safest place, Sam Giancana, who would later take over the Chicago mob, fled to Mexico and South America, Joe Bonnano had himself kidnapped. Capone chose jail.

Philadelphia Criminal Court Judge John E. Wash sentenced Capone harshly for such a petty crime of being a suspicious person and carrying a concealed deadly weapon, the maximum of one year at Holmesburg Penitentiary. After a short stint there however, Capone was transferred to the more relaxed confines of Eastern Pen, where he served out the duration of his sentence under the lenient warden Herbert B. Smith, who furnished Capone’s cell with lamps, a library, radio console and lounge chair and gave him access to his private office telephone.

With Capone in jail, the Syndicate began the process of getting rid of the old Mustache Petes and preparing to engage in Big Time gambling activities on a very large scale.

In Hoboken, New Jersey, Lansky’s new father-in-law permitted him to use his Molaska Inc. as a front for a number of his illegal businesses, one of which was the largest distillery in the state. Molaska took its name from molasses chips, a necessary ingredient for the making of rum, which became more profitable than smuggling it.

Molaska rum business took Lansky to Cuba, where he met with Sgt. Fugencio Batista, the strong-arm coup leader who twice took over the reins of Cuba. The first time he was in power Lansky made a deal with Batista to allow him to open a legal casino in Cuba, much like the illegal casinos he operated in Florida, New York and New Jersey. In order for the Syndicate to control casinos in Havana, it was arranged for casinos to operate in hotels with 500 rooms or more, and since the Syndicate controlled Hotel National was the only hotel in Havana with 500 rooms, the Lansky mob owned the only casino in Cuba.

The second Havana hotel to qualify for a casino was owned by Santo Traficante, who hired Atlantic City native John Martino to run his electronics and security operations.

Two weeks before Castro came to power Lansky and the Syndicate sold the National Hotel-Casino to Mike McLaney and Carroll Rosenbloom, both of whom would loose their shirts in the deal. While Mike McLaney’s brother William owned the land near New Orleans where anti-Castro Cuban commandos trained – and reportedly the Magazine Street house where Lee Harvey Oswald lived, Lyndon Baines Johnson would be Rossenbloom’s houseguest in Atlantic City during the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

In 1976 New Jersey law allowed for legal casinos in Atlantic City hotels that had 500 rooms or more, – the Havana model, with only one hotel in the entire city that qualified – Resorts International, a Lansky-Syndicate controlled company. The second and third Atlantic City casinos – Bally and Caesars, were also Syndicate controlled companies, following the policies, delineating the strategies and continuing the traditions laid out at the 1929 Convention.

The federal government did not officially recognize the existence of the syndicate until May 1, 1951 when Estes Kefauver, Chairman of the Senate Crim Investigating Committee, visited Atlantic City, New Orleans, Chicago and New York before determining and reporting that, “a nationwide crime syndicate does exist in the United States,…and behind the local mobs which make up the national crime syndicate is a shadowy, international criminal organization known as the Mafia.”

Even after that, the FBI refused to place a priority on the Mafia or organized crime until years later, when local police broke up a major mob meeting in upstate New York.

The records of Kefauver’s investigation were then promptly and routinely locked away for 50 years as “Congressional Records,” which are exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests.

In 1998, the Assassination Records Review Board refused to release the records of the Kefauver Committee investigation by declaring them “assassination records” because they claimed they were not related to or considered relevant to the assassination of President Kennedy, even though the second chief counsel to the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) believes that the President may have been the victim of a mob hit.

The Kefauver Committee records were scheduled for release in 2001, but are being systematically released after being reviewed by request.

More recently the HBO TV production of “Boardwalk Empire” has called attention to Nucky Johnson and his control of the rackets in Atlantic City and how he helped fuel the nation during prohibition.

Super Ferries AC to NYC?

Super Ferries - an Australian - Down Under thing - were brought in to work among the Hawaiian Islands but were stopped because of environmental reasons. They are being purchased for $5 million each by the Dept. of Defense for use in Haiti.

Although these are designed to hold compact cars as well as people, they can be reconfigured to hold only walk on passengers - and can travel up to 60 or more miles per house, meaning a trip from Atlantic City inlet to Manhattan, New York City could be made in about an hour and a half.

The current state of the art models can be environmentally safe and economically efficient. They could deliver thousands of people every day to the three inlet casinos - and jitneys waiting at the dock to take them to other destinations.

HSC Alakai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the locality on Kauaʻi, see Alakai Wilderness Area.

The Alakai docked in Nawiliwili Harbor

Career

Name:Alakai

Owner:Hawaii Superferry (2007-2009)
U.S. Maritime Administration (2009-present)

Operator:Hawaii Superferry (2007-2009)
U.S. Maritime Administration (2009-present)

Port of registry:Honolulu, Hawaii, United States[1]

Builder:Austal USA

Cost: US$88M
Yard number: 615
Way number: 1
Laid down: June 3, 2004
Launched: January 18, 2007
Christened: April 14, 2007
Maiden voyage: August, 2007
In service: 2007
Status: In Service
General characteristics
Type: Ferry

Displacement: 1646 Tons
Length: 349 ft (106 m)
Beam: 78 ft (24 m)
Draft: 12 ft (3.7 m)
Decks: 4
Deck clearance: 14 ft (4.3 m)
Ramps: NO
Ice class: NO
Installed power: 4 x MTU-8000 diesel engines
Propulsion: 4 x Rolls-Royce KaMeWa 125MkII waterjets
Speed: 35 kn (65 km/h; 40 mph)

Capacity: 866 passengers, 282 cars
Crew: 21
The Alakai is a vessel currently owned by the U.S. Maritime Administration. It was originally the Hawaii Superferry's first high-speed ferry. In the Hawaiian language, alakai means "sea path." It should not be confused with the similar word alakaʻi, which means "leader."

Alakai is a 349-foot (106 m) long high-speed roll-on / roll-off (Ro/Ro) passenger and vehicle ferry formerly operated by Hawaii Superferry. It used to operate a daily service at a speed of 35 knots (65 km/h) between the islands of Oahu and Maui. Alakai has a capacity of 866 passengers and up to 282 subcompact cars . Alternately, its vehicle decks can be reconfigured in 5 minutes to carry up to 20 large trucks and 90 cars.

Like its sistership Huakai, the vessel features environmentally friendly technologies including non-toxic bottom paint, zero wastewater discharge and clean diesel engines.

Hawaii Superferry’s vessels are designed and built by Austal USA, a subsidiary of Austal, an Australian company that is the world's largest builder of fast ferries. Construction on the Alakai began in June 2004 in Mobile, Alabama. The ship was launched in January 2007, christened in April 2007 and sea trials went smoothly.

The Alakai during sea trials in 2007

The Alakai arrived in Honolulu on June 30, 2007 with a celebration,after a smooth 17 day delivery voyage.[5] The ship's maiden voyage was on August 26, 2007 and the trip to Maui was smooth. The voyage to Kauai was rougher and the Alakai was met by about a dozen protestors on surfboards blockading the entrance to Nawiliwili Harbor. The protestors were peacefully cleared by the Coast Guard.

On February 13, 2008 the Alakai went into dry dock in early 2008 to make repairs to its auxiliary rudders that were damaged in late January. The dry docking was extended due to hull damage caused when a tugboat moving the Alakai into dry dock lost power. Alakai returned to service in early April 2008 shortly after Aloha Airlines ended service.Before resuming service the ship went through sea trials and was re-certified by the Coast Guard.

On March 17, 2009 after about 11 months in service, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the legislation permitting Alakai to operate without an environmental review was unconstitutional. Hawaii Superferry made one last round trip to allow an orderly return of passengers who are not on their home island. They canceled existing reservations and did not take new reservations. The Superferry company intends to look for other work for the Alakai; it also left open the possibility of bringing the ferry back into service if and when Hawaii completes an environmental review, but the company decided to abandon the vessel ending all possibilities of returning to Hawaii.

In January 2010, the U.S. Maritime Administration announced that Huakai, and Alakai would be used to assist with relief in the 2010 Haiti earthquake...

On September 13 2010, the Huakai and Alakai were auctioned off, for $25 million each, by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and they were reportedly purchased by the United States Maritime Administration.

As of December 12 2011, the Huakai and Alakai are being considered for purchase by the United States Department of Defense.

Princeton Antique Books Atlantic City NJ

Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall Organ

Abandoned Atlantic City Masonic Temple

The Masonic temple, facing the beautiful Albany Avenue Park, is the home of the three Masonic Lodges of Atlantic City together with their affiliated bodies. It was erected in 1926 and is unique in that its cornerstone was transported from the ancient quarry of King Solomon to become a part of this stately edifice.

Masonic-Temple

May 2010 - Atlantic City, NJ

An old Masonic Temple on the corner of Hartford and Ventnor Aves in Atlantic City that was converted into the Old ACPD and then abandoned.

Las Vegas Mob Museum

The Las Vegas Mob Museum will open in the old Post Office and Court House on Valentine's Day 2012

The Mob Museum
300 Stewart Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89101

Mob Museum leads downtown development in Vegas

A museum dedicated to the history of organised crime is to open in Las Vegas as the city continues to develop its downtown area.

The Mob Museum will open on Valentine’s Day – February 14, 2012 - and will join other new downtown attractions including the Smith Centre for the Performing Arts.


Other new openings in the pipeline include the Link Project – an observation wheel which will be 100ft taller than the London Eye and is due to open in 2013.

The developments come as Las Vegas reported a 5% year-on-year increase in visitors in the first nine months of 2011, including a 16.2% increase from the UK to 385,000 on the back of the recently introduced twice-weekly Virgin Atlantic flights from Manchester.

Rossi Ralenkotter, chief executive of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said: “We are making improvements to infrastructure, including a new terminal at McCarran International Airport, and with increases in visitor counts over the past 18 months we are leading the Las Vegas economy out of recession.”

Carolyn Goodman, mayor of Las Vegas, added: “We are continually re-inventing ourselves as a destination and giving visitors a reason to come to Las Vegas. We are seeing direct flights from the UK arriving full, which shows that there is a real appetite to visit.”

Las Vegas to get two new Mob museums
By Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY

http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/dispatches/post/2011/02/las-vegas-to-get-two-new-mob-museums/144127/1

Las Vegas hopes to turn its mobster-filled history into a tourism jackpot.
Two museums dedicated to "made" men, their stories and artifacts are due to open this year.

First up is the Las Vegas Mob Experience, an interactive exhibit using technology from former Disney "Imagineers" to draw visitors into gangland. It's due March 1 in the revamped Tropicana Las Vegas resort and casino, which used to be a hangout for organized crime figures.

The exhibit will house "the largest collection of artifacts related to the Mob in the world," says Jay Bloom, Mob Experience managing partner. Among the more than 1,000: Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel's 1933 Packard, Meyer Lansky's diary, Tony Spilotro's gun (Spilotro was played by Joe Pesci in Casino), Giancana family photos, home movies and more.

Families sold or leased them to the museum, in part because they are tired of portrayals of mobsters in books and films and to show the world there was another side. They often were devoted family men, Bloom says, and insulated family members from what they did for a living.

Many Mob Experience visitors may not know that Meyer Lansky was awarded the Medal of Freedom by Harry Truman for helping protect ships in port in New York City and working with "Lucky" Luciano to solicit intelligence in Italy that helped topple Mussolini. The medal is part of the exhibit. "But we're not painting them as heroes," Bloom says. It's just that many don't have a full picture of mobsters, he says.

He tells a story gleaned from Sam Giancana's family. Giancana used to say, "If I'm looking out the back window, I'm daydreaming. If I'm looking out the front, I'm looking for the FBI,' " Bloom says.

The Mob Experience will use theme-park technologies such as life-size holograms of gangsters who talk to visitors and radio-frequency transmitters containing visitors' names and the languages they speak. Visitors will be addressed by name and can masquerade as mobsters, making decisions about whether to kill or cooperate with police. Depending on a visitor's nationality, Mob Experience signage will change to the appropriate language. Bloom says there will be more than a half-dozen languages, from French to Mandarin Chinese. In addition, actors including James Caan (Sonny in The Godfather) and Mickey Rourke have taped commentary.

Visitors " could order someone whacked or let them off the hook, decide to talk or not to talk to the police, steal or not steal from the Mob," says Experience spokesman Spence Johnston. "At the end, their final fate is determined. Guests can be whacked, made, arrested, go into witness protection, etc."

The Experience is what it would be like "if Disney took over the Smithsonian," Bloom sums up.

Meanwhile, away from The Strip, the downtown Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement -- also called "The Mob Museum" -- is under construction in a former post office and courthouse where 1950 hearings about Mob activity were held. It is a pet project of flamboyant Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman, a lawyer who used to defend mobsters including Giancana and who hopes the museum will draw more visitors downtown. It was expected to open earlier, but now is aiming for a December opening date, says museum chief administrative officer Jonathan Ullman. "It's a complicated project" because it involves historical restoration of a landmark building and building interactive exhibits, he says.

It is larger than the Mob Experience and also has some interactive tricks up its sleeve. Its creative director is Dennis Barrie, who has worked with Washington, D.C.'s popular Spy Museum and with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. It has the wall from Chicago's St. Valentine's Day massacre, the only gun found at the scene of that bloodbath and the barber chair that hitman Albert Anastasia was murdered in at a hotel in New York. "We have these artifacts that are significant, but this is very much a museum in which visitors will be engaged in experiences," he says, such as trying their hand at law-enforcement techniques, a tommy gun simulator and a police lineup.

Do the two museums have a beef with each other?

"I'd be lying if I weren't concerned about any brand confusion," Ullman says. "That's certainly a challenge."

"My sense is we're going to be good for each other," says Bloom, turning Vegas into a mecca for those interested in knowing more about Mob history.

Readers, what do you think? Are you likely to visit one or both of these attractions?

http://themobmuseum.org/contact/

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Group Sales & Special Events

The Mob Museum will be a three-dimensional history book ideal for captivating groups of all sizes, as well as a fun and unique setting for special events. Every detail of The Mob Museum is being developed with our visitors in mind.

As we prepare for our February 2012 opening, we’re taking steps to create a dynamic space that is ideal for special and private events. Once completed, the museum will serve as one of Las Vegas’ most exciting destinations for any occasion.

More information will be available online soon. In the meantime, please contactsales@themobmuseum.org for more details on our exciting venue.

Donations of Artifacts
It’s the nature of evidence, sometimes it’s found in unlikely places. As the museum looks for artifacts for its permanent collection, we’re calling out to anyone in Las Vegas and beyond for relics, documents and recordings of organized crime as well as law enforcement’s efforts to bring them down. If you believe you are in possession of a possible artifact, or if you’re interested in making a financial contribution, please contact: 702-229-6581 or contributions@themobmuseum.org.

Human Resources Info
To inquire about jobs at The Mob Museum, please check the list of open positions on our Jobs page. For other Human Resources inquiries, please contact us at HR@themobmuseum.org.

General Contact Info
For all other inquiries regarding The Mob Museum, including reservations and donations, please contact us at 702-229-2734 or info@themobmuseum.org.

OPENING FEBRUARY 14, 2012

The Mob Museum, a 501-c-3 nonprofit, is an interactive Museum dedicated to the history of organized crime and law enforcement. The Museum presents a bold and authentic view of organized crime’s impact on Las Vegas history, as well as, its unique imprint on America and the world. The Museum presents the real stories and actual events of mob history via interactive and engaging exhibits that reveal all sides of the story about the role of organized crime in the U.S. The Mob Museum offers multiple perspectives and provides a contemporary, engaging, challenging and educational experience.

LOCATION

The Mob Museum is located at 300 Stewart Avenue in the heart of the downtown Las Vegas. It is under construction inside an historic former federal courthouse and United States Post Office. This building is one of the last remaining historically significant buildings in Las Vegas and is included on both the Nevada and National Registers of Historic Places. It is the city’s only historic building designated as significant at a national level. In 1950-51, the Kefauver Committee hearings on organized crime were held in 14 cities. In Las Vegas, the hearings were held in a courtroom in this very building. The courtroom is being recreated to appear as it did in 1950. The building is an important remaining example of the Depression-era neoclassical architecture built by the federal government during the 1920s and 1930s.

HOURS
Sundays through Thursdays: 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m
Fridays and Saturdays 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
TICKET PRICES
General Admission: $18
Seniors, Military, Law Enforcement & Teachers: $14
Children (5-17), Students (18-23): $12
Nevada Residents: $10

WHY LAS VEGAS?

Las Vegas is a particularly fitting location for The Mob Museum given the city’s unique and colorful history. The vision of a glitzy destination with luxury hotels, restaurants, shows and adult indulgences was realized early by such noted mob figures as Bugsy Siegel, whose hotel and hospitality helped to set the tone for modern-day Vegas. The mob’s influence continued to shape the city for decades and played a role in its ultimate evolution as the Entertainment Capital of the World. While there are many U.S. cities where the mob had a higher profile, Las Vegas is an ideal choice for the Museum given the city’s annual visitation of 37 million tourists seeking interesting attractions and experiences.

DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION

The Mob Museum is an important component of the city’s downtown redevelopment now underway. Once complete, the Museum is expected to generate annual visitation of hundreds of thousands to the Museum and downtown Las Vegas. The redevelopment area includes the Museum and such significant projects as the new City Hall; a five-block office complex; a new transportation center; a proposed 12-acre entertainment, arena and gaming site to be developed as Las Vegas Live by The Cordish Company; the Lady Luck renovation by the CIM Group; and proposed hotel-casino projects at Symphony Park, a mixed-use downtown neighborhood now under active development and anchored by the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. Within this area, more than 13,000 jobs within the city’s core are expected to be created from these new projects.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
The 41,000-square-foot Mob Museum includes approximately 16,800 square feet of exhibition space on three floors within the historic United States Post Office and Federal Courthouse at 300 Stewart Avenue in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to exhibition space, it includes a specialty retail store, special event areas, educational areas and office space.

WORLD-CLASS ATTRACTION

The Mob Museum is being designed by a world-class team known for other successful Museums that serve to reinvigorate communities and neighborhoods, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. Given the intrigue and world-wide interest in the mob, the Museum will become one of the city’s major attractions – a must-see for millions of tourists and locals alike.

OWNERSHIP/OPERATION

The city of Las Vegas, which is currently overseeing the Museum’s early development, owns the building and the land on which it sits. A non-profit organization, 300 Stewart Avenue Corporation, was formed to oversee the Museum’s development and operations and is scheduled to assume management of the Museum in spring 2010. Currently, representatives from the city’s Office of Business and Economic Development and Department of Cultural Affairs are working with the non-profit’s board of directors to develop the Museum as an important historic destination and tourist attraction.

LEADERSHIP

300 Stewart Avenue Corporation is headed by President Ellen Knowlton, former FBI Special Agent in Charge, Las Vegas Division, and a 24-year FBI veteran. Members of the board of directors include highly respected professionals from local and state government, law enforcement, the judicial system, media and the Southern Nevada business community. Many of these individuals have first-hand knowledge of organized crime and its impact on Las Vegas.

FUNDING

The Mob Museum is expected to cost approximately $42 million to construct and is being funded through local, state and federal grants. Of the total amount, approximately $12.4 million is from general fund sources and $8.3 million is from matching local, state and federal grants that were awarded following the city’s financial commitment from its general fund, as well as a Redevelopment Agency funding source that can only be spent on projects located in the city’s redevelopment area. General funds were allocated for the Museum in 2004. Grants of note include a Save America’s Treasures grant from the National Park Service, multi-year grants from the Nevada Commission for Cultural Affairs and local grants from the Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau.

THE INSIDE STORY

The Museum features a variety of interactive exhibits, films and high-tech audio visual displays that will be updated to reflect new information and acquisitions. Exhibits incorporate the following topics:

THE LEGACY OF THE MOB

How the mob persists today despite high profile victories by law enforcement.

BRINGING DOWN THE MOB

How the battle against the mob was won with focus on important historic and law enforcement victories, including hearings, raids, arrests, and indictments for such illicit activities as money laundering, human trafficking, drug cartels, kidnappings, wiretapping, murder and more.

NOTABLE NAMES IN MOB HISTORY
Al Capone, Anthony Spilotro, Sam Giancana, Carlo Gambino, Bugsy Siegel, Joseph Bonanno, Joe Pistone, Moe Dalitz, John Gotti, Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal and others.

MOB BUSTERS
J. Edgar Hoover, Estes Kefauver, Eliot Ness, Harry Anslinger and others.

ORGANIZED CRIME AROUND THE WORLD
A look at current local and global mob activities and discussion on its future.

MEMORIES OF THE MOB
A look at “old” mobsters when they retire, go into exile, enter the witness protection
program or die.

MYTH OF THE MOB
How the Mob has been portrayed in movies, books and pop culture and discussion on its accuracy.

SIN CITY

An in-depth look at Las Vegas as the ultimate “open city” that attracted mobsters following the Kefauver Hearings; a tough little town that became haven and playground for American organized crime in the 1950s.

THE GAME CONTINUES

Las Vegas from the 1950s to the present with focus on the Black Book, scamming and skimming, Gaming Control Board activities and Howard Hughes.

WEB OF DECEIT

A fascinating look at mob violence, corruption, conspiracy and murder.

THE MOB THROUGH HISTORY

A timeline that includes the birth of the mob, its geographic “families” around the globe, the impact of prohibition, drugs and prostitution on the mob’s bottom line; how organized crime is evolving.

AMERICA FIGHTS BACK

A key feature of the Museum is a recreation of the very courtroom where the proceedings of the Kefauver Committee hearings occurred. The hearings, led by U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver, were held in 14 cities in 1950-51 and sought to expose and control organized crime.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

The Mob Museum preserves a fascinating chapter of Las Vegas and American history and reflects actual events as they occurred. It is located in an historic building that is being restored and preserved; the building is home to the courtroom where, in 1950, the Kefauver Hearings on Organized Crime were held.

The Museum is significant for Las Vegas where older buildings are generally destroyed to make room for new development – not preserved. The Museum will accurately depict mob history, dispel the legendary “myth of the mob,” and provide detail on the significant role of law enforcement in ending the mob’s reign in Las Vegas and elsewhere in America. The Museum’s intent is to accurately recount and share the history of organized crime. Considerable focus is on those in law enforcement who played major roles in defeating the mob. Museum exhibits will be updated to reflect new findings, information and acquisitions.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

According to findings In a November 2009 study by Applied Analysis of Las Vegas, The Mob Museum is expected to:

Generate a combined economic output of more than $62.3 million during construction
Employ approximately 227 direct and indirect workers during construction
Generate annual revenues ranging from $8.5 million to $13.9 million during a ten-year study period

Generate a total economic output of approximately $20.2 million during the same ten-year study period. Stated otherwise, for every dollar generated by the Museum, a total of $1.95 will be generated throughout the regional economy.

Permanently employ approximately 92 people; 52 jobs are directly attributable to its operations and 40 additional jobs throughout the local economy.

Generate public revenues from two primary sources once completed: sales and use taxes and modified business taxes. Over a ten-year period, these taxes are expected to total more than $2.6 million.

Generate annual visitation of hundreds of thousands to the Museum and downtown Las Vegas.

Serve as a key component to the $4 billion downtown redevelopment that is expected to create more than 13,000 jobs in the area.


THE MOB MUSEUM SETS HOURS AND TICKET PRICES

National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement to open in Las Vegas February 14, 2012

LAS VEGAS, NV — There are two sides to every story — and then there’s the truth. Uncover the real life battle between organized crime and law enforcement when The Mob Museum opens to the public on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2012. The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, is a world-class destination in downtown Las Vegas. It presents an exciting and authentic view of the mob’s impact on Las Vegas history and its unique imprint on the world.

The Museum, which has already acquired one of the most iconic artifacts in mob history – the brick wall from the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, will open on the 83rd anniversary of the infamous Massacre, considered one of the most significant days in Mob history. Admission is $18 plus tax for adults ages 18-plus; $12 plus tax for children ages 5 to 17 and students ages 18 to 23 with ID; $14 plus tax for seniors, military, law enforcement and teachers; and $10 plus tax for Nevada residents of all ages. Museum hours will be Sundays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Fridays and Saturdays 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.

With tales so intriguing they need no embellishment, The Mob Museum reveals an insider’s look at the events and people on both sides of this continuing battle between organized crime and law enforcement. True stories of mob history are brought to life in a bold and contemporary style via engaging exhibits and multi-sensory experiences. The Mob Museum puts the visitor in the middle of the action through high-tech theater presentations, iconic one-of-a-kind artifacts and interactive, themed environments.

The Museum’s board of directors is headed by Ellen Knowlton, former FBI Special Agent in Charge, Las Vegas Division, and a 24-year FBI veteran. The Mob Museum boasts a highly respected board including professionals from local and state government, law enforcement, the judicial system, media and the business community. A key visionary for the project and current board member is former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman, a previous go-to defense attorney who made a name for himself representing such reputed mobsters as Meyer Lansky, Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal and Anthony Spilotro, among others.

Artifacts to be integrated throughout the Museum’s interactive exhibits provide an insider’s look into many of organized crime’s biggest names, including, Alphonse Capone, Dion O’Bannion, George Moran, Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Ben Siegel, Sam Giancana, Joe Bonanno, Frank Rosenthal, Mickey Cohen, Tony Cornero and Tony Spilotro to name just a few. The Museum is located in what many consider the ultimate artifact, the former federal courthouse and United States Post Office. Completed in 1933 and listed on the Nevada and National Registers of Historic Places, it housed the very courtroom where, in 1950, one of 14 national Kefauver hearings was held to expose and control organized crime in America. Meticulously rehabilitated for The Mob Museum, the building is significant not only for its neo-classical architecture reminiscent of the period in which it was built, but also for the historic events that unfolded inside of it.

The Museum is also working with the FBI and many famous undercover agents who made a career of fighting the Mob, including legendary agents Joe Pistone who infiltrated the Mob posing as a small time jewel thief, Donnie Brasco; and Cuban-bornJack Garcia who successfully ingrained himself into the Gambino family.

In addition, many items relating to historic eras and specific industries, such as prohibition, money laundering and gaming, will help to tell the story of the mob’s influence on these areas. Items and artifacts relating to law enforcement’s role in helping to eradicate and control the Mob, such as weapons, wiretapping tools and tactics and crime scene photos, will also be part of The Museum experience.

Three major exhibits in The Museum include Mob Mayhem, The Skim and Bringing Down the Mob. Mob Mayhem furthers the understanding of violence as a way of life within the world of organized crime. This exhibit is the setting for the Museum’s iconic artifact—the wall from Chicago’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre – and sets the stage for law enforcement strategies that will combat it.

The Skim, yet another exhibit within The Museum, dissects the illegal skimming of profits off the top of a casino’s earnings, which was commonplace in Las Vegas for decades and supplied money to the hidden ownership of some casinos – ownership that was most often hidden from regulators.

Bringing Down the Mob is a highly interactive exhibit that focuses on wiretapping – one of the most important tools used to effectively investigate and prosecute organized crime cases beginning in the late 1960s. Visitors will learn about the technology, listen in on the mob, learn to interpret coded conversations, examine photos and surveillance footage, take part in a weapons training exercise and learn about living a new life in witness protections programs.

The Mob Museum, a $42 million construction project funded by the city of Las Vegas and nearly $9 million in historic preservation grants – including federal, state and local – is under construction at 300 Stewart Avenue in downtown Las Vegas. The building was dedicated on November 27, 1933 as the City’s first federal building. As part of the construction and rehabilitation of the building, the courtroom is being restored to appear as it did in 1950 during the famed Kefauver hearings, named for Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver.

The 41,000-square-foot Mob Museum includes approximately 16,800 square feet of exhibition space on three floors in addition to a specialty retail store, special event areas, educational areas and office space. It is being designed by a world-class team known for other successful museums that serve to reinvigorate communities and neighborhoods, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio and the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. This highly experienced team of staff, board members and consultants are working together to create one of the city’s major attractions and a must-see for millions of tourists and locals alike.
About The Mob Museum

The Mob Museum is a world-class destination in downtown Las Vegas dedicated to the thrilling story of organized crime and law enforcement. It presents an exciting and authentic view of the mob’s impact on Las Vegas history and its unique imprint on the world. With tales so intriguing they need no embellishment, The Museum reveals an insider’s look at the events and people on both sides of this continuing battle. True stories of mob history are brought to life in a bold and contemporary style via engaging exhibits and multi-sensory experiences. The Mob Museum puts the visitor in the middle of the action through high-tech theater presentations, iconic one-of-a-kind artifacts and interactive, themed environments. For more information and photos, visit www.themobmuseum.org.

Connect with us on Facebook:www.facebook.com/themobmuseum and on Twitter: @TheMobMuseum.

LEGENDARY UNDERCOVER AGENT JOE PISTONE TO BE FEATURED IN THE MOB MUSEU

Interactive Museum Will Present Original Content from the Battle Between Organized Crime and Law Enforcement

LAS VEGAS, NV — He spent six years undercover and surrounded himself with rough characters and dangerous criminals instead of his family. Joe Pistone was considered one of the most legendary undercover agents of all time and lived a double life as Donnie Brasco amidst members of the Italian mafia in New Jersey from 1976 to 1981. Pistone’s better than fiction, true life story is one of the many accounts of law enforcement and organized crime that will be featured in The Mob Museum when it opens to the public on February 2012, in downtown Las Vegas.

INSIDE THE MOB MUSEUM

Topics covered by the The Mob Museum to reveal full story of organized crime and law enforcement

LAS VEGAS, NV — The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, will open to the public on February 14, 2012. The Mob Museum is a world-class destination in downtown Las Vegas dedicated to the thrilling story of organized crime and law enforcement. It presents an exciting and authentic view of the mob’s impact on Las Vegas history and its unique imprint on the world.

THE MOB MUSEUM FACTS AT-A-GLANCE

National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement housed in one of Las Vegas’ most historic buildings

LAS VEGAS, NV — The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, will open to the public on February 14, 2012. The Mob Museum is a world-class destination in downtown Las Vegas dedicated to the thrilling story of organized crime and law enforcement. It presents an exciting and authentic view of the mob’s impact on Las Vegas history and its unique imprint on the world.

HISTORIC COURTROOM THE CENTERPIECE OF NEW MOB MUSEUM

Courtroom the location of the famed Kefauver hearings (1950-51) that exposed organized crime

LAS VEGAS, NV — The most historic courtroom in Las Vegas is the centerpiece of The Mob Museum that will open on February 14, 2012. Located within the city’s first federal building, a courthouse and post office built by the Hoover Administration in 1933, the courtroom made history on Nov. 15, 1950 when the Senate Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, led by U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver (Democrat-Tennessee), held the seventh in a series of 14 nationwide hearings there.

THE MOB MUSEUM ACQUIRES HISTORICAL “ST. VALENTINE’S DAY” COLT DETECTIVE SPECIAL REVOLVER

Las Vegas, NV – The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, announces the acquisition of an historic 38 caliber Colt Detective special revolver that was recovered February 14, 1929 in the garage at 2122 North Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois – the scene of the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The historic event involved two powerful criminal gangs in Chicago – the South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone and the North Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran. During the prohibition-era massacre, seven men affiliated with the Moran gang were murdered.

THE MOB MUSEUM MARKS REPEAL DAY WITH PROHIBITION-ERA ARTIFACT

(LAS VEGAS, NV) — Creators of The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, today announced a special prohibition-era artifact in honor of the 77th anniversary of Repeal Day – Dec. 5, 1933 – the day the day the 21stamendment was ratified, repealing Prohibition and restoring the American right to celebratory drink.

Abercrombie & Fitch leather valise that dates to the 1920s and features a false bottom in which flasks of liquor are cleverly hidden.

THE MOB MUSEUM UNVEILS STARTING LINE-UP OF NAMES AND ARTIFACTS

(LAS VEGAS, NV) — The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, features a strong starting line-up of the names associated with artifacts that will be displayed within The Museum when it opens on February 14. 2012, according to Dr. Dennis Barrie, creative director of The Mob Museum, and Kathleen Hickey Barrie, Museum curator.

The Mob Museum

SEVERAL MOB MUSEUM EXHIBIT DESIGNS UNVEILED

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ORGANIZED CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT TAKING SHAPE INSIDE HISTORIC DOWNTOWN POST OFFICE AND FEDERAL COURTHOUSE

(LAS VEGAS, NV) — Construction on The Mob Museum – the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, is progressing toward a 2012 opening, and for the first time, project leaders unveiled the design of a few key exhibits. Three exhibits within the museum include Mob Mayhem, The Skim and Bringing Down the Mob.

The Mob Museum
MOB MUSEUM UNVEILS HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT ARTIFACT, ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH MAJOR COLLECTOR

LAS VEGAS, NV — The Mob Museum – the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement – today unveils one of the most historically significant and fascinating artifacts in its growing repository: the barber chair, where on October 25, 1957, Albert Anastasia – aka “Lord High Executioner” – was murdered in New York City at the Park Sheraton Hotel (now Park Central Hotel).

Anastasia, then boss of the Gambino crime family, was known for running a gang of hit men, contract killers known as Murder, Inc. Estimates of those killed during the time period in which Murder, Inc. operated are between 400-700 people, and most of the cases were never solved, just like the murder of Anastasia.

Former Las Vegas Mayor, Oscar Goodman, shows the Barber Shop Chair where Albert Anastasia was shot to death in Manhattan in 1957. The chair will be exhibited in The Mob Museum early 2012.

THE MOB MUSEUM FACTS AT-A-GLANCE
Posted on September 1, 2011

National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement housed in one of Las Vegas’ most historic buildings

LAS VEGAS, NV — The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, will open to the public on February 14, 2012. The Mob Museum is a world-class destination in downtown Las Vegas dedicated to the thrilling story of organized crime and law enforcement. It presents an exciting and authentic view of the mob’s impact on Las Vegas history and its unique imprint on the world.

With tales so intriguing they need no embellishment, The Museum reveals an insider’s look at the events and people on both sides of this continuing battle. True stories of mob history are brought to life in a bold and contemporary style via engaging exhibits and multi-sensory experiences. The Mob Museum puts the visitor in the middle of the action through high-tech theater presentations, iconic one-of-a-kind artifacts and interactive, themed environments.

Here are some fun and unique facts about The Mob Museum, among the most anticipated new museums in the country:

The Mob Museum is being designed by a world-class creative team: the same people that created the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio and theInternational Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Mob Museum is housed within the historic United States Post Office and Federal Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas – the same building where, in 1950, federal hearings on organized crime were held. And, it’s the same courtroom, where in the 1960’s, former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who was then the mob’s go-to defense attorney, defended the likes of Meyer Lansky, Anthony “Tony The Ant” Spilotro and Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal

This building is one of the last remaining historically significant buildings in Las Vegas and is included on both the Nevada and National Registers of Historic Places.

The Kefauver Committee hearings on organized crime were held in 14 U.S. cities from 1950 to 1951. In Las Vegas, the hearing was held on November 15, 1950. The courtroom is being restored to appear exactly as it did in then.

The building is an important remaining example of the Depression-era neoclassical architecture, built by the federal government during the Hoover administration. It was completed in 1933.
Building features:

A hanging light fixture in the courtroom was carefully recreated by St. Louis Antique Lighting Company using extant examples from a courthouse in Duluth, MN. These fixtures were used in several federal buildings across the country in the 1930s, including Las Vegas.

The painted imitation travertine used in the Lobby and Courtroom was rejected during initial construction in the 1930s because of its poor quality.

Contractors working on the building in the 1930s promised to use at least 75 percent local labor from the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce unemployment list. This rarely happened, as evidenced by numerous written complaints about out-of-state labor during construction.

The original post office boxes, more than 1,000 in total, cost $5,074 to install in 1933.
Used throughout the building, Mt. Nebo Gold marble from a Utah quarry in the Wasatch Mountains was supplied and finished by the Long Beach Marble & Tile Company of Long Beach, CA.

Delivery of the marble to the construction site was delayed due to the Long Beach earthquake on March 10, 1933, which damaged the stone as it was being cut. This marble is no longer available because a 1983 landslide, caused by heavy rainfall, buried the quarry under hundreds of feet of debris.

In the courtroom, original paint in red and blue colors was uncovered on two decorative column capitals. These colors were also noted in the original interior elevation drawings.
The Otis elevator retains all of its original parts, although the interior has been altered. In the days before electronics, each elevator car required an operator, whose job was to open and close the doors, control the direction and speed of movement, take requests from elevator passengers, and announce what might be found at each stop. This elevator probably had a hand operator through the 1930s and 40s until it was replaced by an automated system in the 1950s.

Factoids About Organized Crime:

The first special police task forces to combat organized crime were formed over 100 years ago. One of the earliest was the NYPD squad established in 1908 and headed by Joseph Petrosino. Petrosino was murdered a year later while investigating organized crime links in Sicily. More than 250,000 people attended his funeral.

While the mob is best known for violent internal struggles over territory, organized crime syndicates have been known to cooperate together. In 1931 the mob’s most prominent families formed a union called the Commission, in which they held meetings to determine boundaries and to establish rules.

Prohibition, a national ban on the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol enacted by constitutional amendment in 1920, actually helped to legitimize organize crime during the 1920s. Mob groups moved quickly to seize control of alcohol smuggling, and many mainstream Americans found themselves socializing with gangsters every time they had a drink.

Prohibition agents Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith arrested almost 5,000 bartenders, bootleggers and speakeasy owners and seized over 5 million bottles of illicit booze. To infiltrate bootlegging operations they often used elaborate disguises, including posing as streetcar conductors, fishermen, icemen, ivy league college boys, opera singers, and even gravediggers.

Being a gangster doesn’t always run in the family. James Vincenzo Capone, the brother of celebrated public enemy Al Capone, ran away from home in Brooklyn and joined a circus. He traveled all over the United States and Central America before settling in Homer, Nebraska, serving as town marshal for two years and a state sheriff for a year before eventually becoming a prohibition enforcement officer.

In the late 1950s, the 5 New York mob families and their satellite associates imported and supplied more than 90% of the heroin in the United States.

The June 17, 1933, ambush of an FBI agent and three police officers who were escorting bank robber Frank “Jelly” Nash to prison, was nicknamed the “Kansas City Massacre.” It prompted Congress to allow FBI agents to carry weapons and make arrests.

J. Edgar Hoover, the longtime head of the FBI, maintained that there was no such thing as organized crime and that the idea of a national crime syndicate was “baloney.” It was not until 1961, with the arrival of Robert Kennedy as attorney general, that the FBI began paying serious attention to the threat of organized crime.

Roy Olmstead – Seattle’s ex-police lieutenant and top bootlegger - owned a radio station and one of KFOX’s most popular programs featured his wife reading children’s stories at bedtime. Local lawmen believed the reading contained messages to her husband’s bootlegging employees.

Since its founding in 1970, the US Marshals Witness Program has sheltered more than 18,000 witnesses and their family members. It is one of law enforcement’s most powerful tools in the fight against organized crime.

About The Mob Museum

A World class destination in downtown Las Vegas dedicated to the thrilling story of organized crime and law enforcement. It presents an exciting and authentic view of the mob’s impact on Las Vegas history and its unique imprint on the world. With tales so intriguing they need no embellishment, The Museum reveals an insider’s look at the events and people on both sides of this continuing battle. True stories of mob history are brought to life in a bold and contemporary style via engaging exhibits and multi-sensory experiences. The Mob Museum puts the visitor in the middle of the action through high-tech theater presentations, iconic one-of-a-kind artifacts and interactive, themed environments. For more information, visit www.themobmuseum.org. Connect with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/themobmuseum and on Twitter

OPEN POSITIONS

DIRECTOR OF GUEST RELATIONS

The Director of Guest Relations is responsible for the cross-departmental collaboration that ensures continuous improvements in all aspects of the guest experience. The Director is charged with the direct oversight of staff who operate the public spaces, including the Box Office and Exhibit Floors. In addition, this individual leads the Director-on-Duty rotation and other efforts that position the Museum as an accessible, inclusive venue, with a reputation for exceptional service. Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director of Guest Relations is a key member of the senior executive team, providing strong leadership in support of the mission, vision
and values of the organization.

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
The Director of Education is charged with the oversight of all educational activities and programs at the Museum, including the creation and implementation of such initiatives. This individual will lead a dynamic programming effort that will enrich and supplement the onsite visitor experience. S/he will serve as the primary liaison for schools and oversee other forms of educational outreach. Additionally, the Director of Education is responsible for increasing interest in the Museum’s offerings by developing partnerships that positively impact the Museum’s credibility and prominence as an educational institution. Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director of Education is a key member of the senior executive team, providing strong leadership in support of the mission, vision and values of the organization.

ACCOUNTING COORDINATOR

The Mob Museum is seeking an Accounting Coordinator to harmonize the financial record-keeping of the organization by overseeing and updating accounting records, maintaining budgets, coordinating the accounts payable/ receivable process, and entering data into financial systems. The Accounting Coordinator will also aid in maintaining the internal controls and fiscal policies and procedures within the organization. Reporting to the Director of HR & Finance, the Accounting Coordinator will help the organization maintain financial integrity and play a pivotal role in advancing the mission, vision, and values of the organization.

TEAM

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jonathan D. Ullman, Executive Director
JONATHAN D. ULLMAN
Executive Director, The Mob Museum

Jonathan Ullman is Executive Director of the The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement. The Mob Museum will present the thrilling history and ongoing struggle between organized crime and law enforcement, putting the visitor in the middle of the action through high-tech theater presentations, iconic and one-of-a-kind artifacts, and interactive, themed environments. Reporting to a 20-member Board of Directors, Jonathan is responsible for leading the organization that will operate and grow this world class museum, opening in early 2012.

Prior to joining The Mob Museum, Jonathan spent over 17 years in a variety of management and leadership roles within the nonprofit museum industry. Most recently, Jonathan was the president and COO at the National Soccer Hall of Fame, a private institution sanctioned by the US Soccer Federation that included a 30,000 sq. ft. museum, four world class soccer fields, and multiple retail, concession, and meeting facilities. During his tenure, Jonathan facilitated a strategic plan that ensured the financial sustainability of the organization through a dramatic change to the operating model and relocation of the collections. This institutional “reinvention” was widely embraced by board members, donors, and key community and governmental stakeholders.

Jonathan’s museum career began at Liberty Science Center, where he was intimately involved in operationalizing the Center upon its opening in 1993. Over the years, Jonathan served in numerous capacities, with responsibilities ranging from intensive staff and program oversight to strategic planning and external relations. His purview included the comprehensive management of the public operation, as well as the implementation of educational programming through learning experiences that occurred onsite, offsite, and online. As a member of the eight-person Steering Committee, Jonathan’s contributions helped Liberty Science Center achieve the status of the most visited museum in the state of New Jersey, surpassing more than 9 million guests in a twelve-year period. Jonathan’s efforts also included extensive capital planning and business development. This culminated in 2007 with his coordination of reopening preparations following a $109MM renovation and expansion.

Jonathan earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Rutgers College and his Masters of Business Administration from Rutgers Business School. A believer in the importance of community, Jonathan has also served on a number of nonprofit boards. He currently resides in Las Vegas with his wife and three children.

DEVELOPMENT TEAM

DENNIS BARRIE, PHD
DIRECTOR OF CULTURAL AND INTERPRETIVE PLANNING, WESTLAKE REE LESKOSKY ARCHITECTS

Dr. Barrie is an internationally distinguished museum director, historian and expert in the development of cultural projects. Since 1993, he has focused much of his work on conceptualizing and developing projects, both non-profit and for-profit, that are designed to have a positive transformative impact on their surroundings. His museum career includes 11 years with the Smithsonian Institution as midwest director of the Archives of American Art. For eight years he served as director of the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, the second oldest museum of contemporary art in the United States. As the opening executive director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Dr. Barrie directed the project during its key phase. Today, The Rock Hall is recognized as one of the nation’s most innovative museums.

In 1996 Dr. Barrie formed Barrie Consulting, a firm that focused on the development of new museum and cultural projects for clients such as the Walt Disney Company, The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville and the Experience Music Project in Seattle. As president of The Malrite Company, which he joined in 1998, Dr. Barrie worked to develop new and creative concepts for cultural projects including the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. This pioneering integration of popular culture, new technology and serious history has won numerous awards, has been visited by over 5 million people during its first 7 years of operation and has played a critical role in the revitalization of downtown Washington.

In 2005, Dr Barrie left The Malrite Company to become director of cultural and interpretive planning for the architectural firm of Westlake Reed Leskosky (WRL), designers of cultural facilities across the country. At the same time, Barrie formed Barrie Projects with his wife and partner, Kathleen Barrie, to provide development services to museums,planning for cultural facilities and neighborhoods and the implementation of cultural projects designed to promote economic growth and development. Dr. Barrie leads the WRL team that is spearheading the creation of The Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement (The Mob Museum), a $42 million project that is part of the city’s current downtown redevelopment plan.
For more information, visit www.wrldesign.com or call 202.296.4344.

KATHLEEN HICKEY BARRIE

MUSEUM SPECIALIST, BARRIE PROJECTS
Kathleen Hickey Barrie, museum specialist, has a 30-year history of museum, civic, arts and cultural experiences in both for-profit and not-for-profit businesses. Since the creation of Barrie Projects in 2005, she has served as principal of the consulting firm which specializes in museum and cultural planning projects and their implementation.

Barrie previously served as vice president of exhibition development and design at The Malrite Company in Cleveland. Its major project was the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, which opened in 2002. Barrie led a talented team of diverse professionals and was responsible for research and content developed with a blue-ribbon committee of international intelligence experts, as well as acquisition of artifacts, text-writing, overall design integration of the Museum’s permanent exhibitions. She supervised design concepts and thematic integration of the Spy Museum retail components including the award-winning restaurant, Zola and Spy City Cafe. For the Museum Store, Barrie directed the merchandise line from existing products to new ones developed directly from museum content and ideas.

Barrie is the founding executive director of Cleveland Public Art (CPA) and served for 15 years there while the organization carried out its mission to convene artists and designers, civic leaders, decision-makers and interested citizens to plan and realize projects important to the livability of Northeast Ohio. This was a natural progression in Barrie’s career which began at the Cleveland Museum of Art where she worked for 15 years in museum education and exhibition development. Barrie is a recipient of a Loeb Fellowship in Advanced Environmental Design at Harvard University and numerous awards including the Cleveland Arts Prize for Distinguished Service to the Arts and Alumni Award of Excellence for the Arts and Humanities, Boston College.
For more information, visit www.barrieprojects.com or call 216.421.9750.

ROBERT J. CHATTEL, AIA
PRESIDENT, CHATTEL ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING & PRESERVATION, INC.

Robert Chattel has more than 25 years of experience in planning, design and construction with a focus in historic preservation. He is uniquely qualified to serve as consulting preservation architect on the project given his expertise in interpreting federal, state and local historic preservation law and regulations. For The Mob Museum, he co-authored the 2004 feasibility and adaptive use study, is responsible for ensuring conformance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and coordinating historic review with all governmental agencies.
For more information, visit www.chattel.us or call 818.788.7954.

MICHAEL S. DEVINE
PARTNER, ALGONQUIN ADVISORS, LLC
A partner at Algonquin Advisors, LLC, Devine is responsible for oversight of the museum program and implementation activities prior to opening. Algonquin Advisors, a highly specialized investment firm headquartered in Greenwich, CT, provides non-profit advisory services to museums and non-profit organizations throughout the country. The firm is serving as an independent financial advisor to 300 Stewart Avenue Corporation on the development of The Mob Museum. Devine’s role includes macro-economic insights, asset allocation, portfolio construction and manager selection. Previous projects include the International Spy Museum in Washginton, D.C., The Maltz Jupiter Theater in Jupiter, Florida and The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Beachwood, Ohio.
For more information, visit www.algonquinadvisors.com or call 203.629.211

PATRICK GALLAGHER
Principal, Gallagher & Associates

An interdisciplinary design firm that creates visitor experiences and graphic packages for public and private museums, Gallagher & Associates is headed by principal, Patrick Gallagher. The Bethesda, Maryland-based firm has created exhibits for the new Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History in Far Hills, New Jersey; the Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg, Virginia; and Normandy American Cemetery Visitor Center in Normandy, France; among others. The firm prepared master plans for the FDR Presidential Library in Hyde Part, New York and the National Postal Museum in Washington, D. C. Sports programmed facilities include the Carolina Basketball Museum in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and the Oklahoma University Football Hall of Fame in Norman, Oklahoma.
Gallagher & Associates specializes in the planning, design, and management for

PAUL E. WESTLAKE, JR., FAIA
Managing Principal & Lead Designer, Westlake Reed Leskosky (WRL)

Paul Westlake is managing principal and lead designer in the firm of Westlake Reed Leskosky (WRL), a nationally recognized integrated design and engineering firm headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, with a portfolio of more than 200 properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The firm is providing content planning, architecture, engineering, LEED/sustainable design consultation, museum operations and planning services, exhibit procurement and design for The Mob Museum. For more information, visit www.wrldesign.com or call 216.522.1350.

DIRECTORS

The Mob Museum, a 501-c-3 nonprofit, is an interactive Museum dedicated to the history of organized crime and law enforcement. The Museum presents a bold and authentic view of organized crime’s impact on Las Vegas history, as well as, its unique imprint on America and the world. The Museum presents the real stories and actual events of mob history via interactive and engaging exhibits that reveal all sides of the story about the role of organized crime in the U.S. The Mob Museum offers multiple perspectives and provides a contemporary, engaging, challenging and educational experience.

OFFICERS
Ellen B. Knowlton, President
Robert A. Stoldal, Vice President
James F. (Jim) Germain, Secretary
Jeffrey A. Silver, Esq., Treasurer

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Amy Ayoub
Honorable Richard H. Bryan
Keith Copher
Michael Cornthwaite
Kyle L. Edwards
Jerry Epstein
Alan M. Feldman
Sheriff Douglas Gillespie
Carolyn Goodman
Oscar B. Goodman
Christopher L. Kaempfer, Esq.
Kara J. Kelley
John H. Mowbray, Esq.
Edward J. (Ted) Quirk, Esq.
Thomas M. Roche
Danny L. Thompson

Las Vegas Mob Experience:

http://www.troplv.com/entertainment/las-vegas-mob-experience

The Museum at the Las Vegas Mob Experience
Hours: Open Daily | 10am - 6pm
Admission: GA - $15 per person
Contact: 702.739.2662 (2MOB)
Tickets: Call 702.739.2662 (2MOB)

While the Las Vegas Mob Experience is making upgrades to the attraction, guests are invited to visit the museum inside. The museum at the Las Vegas Mob Experience features a world-class collection of over 1,000 mob artifacts and memorabilia including personal items belonging to many famous mobsters such as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Sam Giancana, Tony Spilotro, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Mickey Cohen, and many others who help shape the Las Vegas of today. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission is only $15.

Mob Museum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mob Museum
Established February 2012
Location Las Vegas, Nevada
Director Dennis Barrie
President Ellen Knowlton
Website themobmuseum.org

The Las Vegas Post Office and Courthouse, home of the Mob Museum
The Mob Museum, officially called the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, is an under-construction museum in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, planned to open in February 2012. It is housed in the historic Las Vegas Post Office and Courthouse.

Under the creative direction of Dennis Barrie, co-creator of the International Spy Museumin Washington D.C., and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the museum is further being developed by a non-profit board, known as the "300 Stewart Avenue Corporation," in partnership with the City of Las Vegas. The museum will be dedicated to the contentious relationship between organized crime and law enforcement within the historical context of Las Vegas and the entire United States.

Featured in the museum will be the restored courtroom where the Kefauver Committeeon organized crime held one of its hearings in 1950, and the blood-stained wall in front of which the St. Valentine's Day massacre took place.[1] Other exhibits will focus on mob violence, casino money skimming operations, and wiretapping by law enforcement.[2]

History
In 2000, the federal government sold the former Las Vegas Post Office and Courthouse to the city for $1, with the stipulation that it be used for cultural purposes. Mayor Oscar Goodman, himself a former attorney for Mafia figures, had the idea for a mob museum in 2002. The idea faced early opposition from Italian-American groups, while being supported by the FBI, including the former head agent in Las Vegas, Ellen Knowlton, who joined as president of the museum's board.The project budget was estimated at $50 million, including $26 million for restoring the building. Funding included federal, state, and local grants. Goodman generated controversy by suggesting that federal stimulus money could be used for the museum.

Notes

Morrison, Jane Ann (27 March 2010). "What will be on Mob Museum's cutting room floor?". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
Friess, Steve (9 January 2009). "Stimulus Money for a Mob Museum. Got a Problem?". New York Times. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
Ayres, Chris (17 January 2009). "Mayor of Las Vegas Oscar Goodman plans museum to the Mob". The Times. Retrieved 22 September 2011.

Rackl, Lori (2 March 2011). "Vegas mayor bets new museum will be a hit". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/travel/3735909-502/vegas-mayor-bets-new-museum-will-be-a-hit.html

The Mafia is alive and well in Vegas. This week saw the opening of the new Mob Experience, and the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement — a k a the Mob Museum — is scheduled to debut in late 2011.

The latter is the $42 million pet project of the flamboyant Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

“When I was first elected, I looked out my window at city hall and saw this old courthouse where I tried my first case,” said Goodman, a former high-profile mob lawyer who played himself in the movie “Casino.”

Goodman wanted to preserve the historic building — an unusual concept in Vegas — and turn it into a museum. Maybe one devoted to art ... watercolors, perhaps.

“And then a light went on,” Goodman said. “I thought, ‘What distinguishes us from other places? How about a mob museum?’ ”

The setting makes sense. In 1950, the Senate Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime held the seventh of 14 nationwide hearings in the building’s second-floor courtroom. Led by U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver, the televised hearings had slack-jawed Americans glued to their TVs as they watched bookies, pimps, crime bosses and hit men get grilled by the government.

The ensuing crackdown on illegal gambling drove operators to Nevada, the only state where the practice was legal. Las Vegas cemented its reputation as the gaming capital of the country, and the town evolved into a haven and playground for organized crime.
The Mob Museum will re-create the Kefauver hearings courtroom so it appears as it did in 1950. Museum visitors will be able to see and hear testimony from the investigation and famous mob trials, as well as listen to authentic FBI wiretaps.

A high-tech display will show how mobsters used “the skim” to distribute money from the casinos to the national syndicate. Another exhibit identifies organized crime’s hot spots around the globe, while “Myth of the Mob” looks at inaccuracies surrounding the Mafia in entertainment.

“And we have a piece of Chicago out here: the wall of the St. Valentine’s Day massacre,” Goodman said. “You’ll see the bullet holes.”

You’ll also see Goodman’s meatball recipe in the museum. Actually, it’s reputed Chicago mob boss John “No Nose” DiFronzo’s recipe. Goodman says he jotted it down after DiFronzo, a former client, cooked them for him one night.

“Whenever we have a party in our home … my wife makes the ‘Mob Meatballs,’ ” Goodman said. “Now we call them the ‘Mayor’s Meatballs.’ ”

And we soon may be calling Goodman’s wife “mayor.” Carolyn Goodman is running for the city’s top post, which her husband has to vacate this summer because of term limits.
Goodman was hoping the Mob Museum would open before he left office. He blames the delays on the bureaucratic hoops that go along with renovating historic buildings.

Once the museum finally launches, Goodman expects it to attract between 600,000 and 800,000 visitors annually. Admission likely will cost $10 to $15.

As for competition from the new Mob Experience across town, fuggedaboudit.

“We have a real museum with a real connection to history,” Goodman said. “We’re treating ours very seriously.”

Las Vegas hits Mob Museum contractor with suit over missing grilles

http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/nov/04/las-vegas-hits-mob-museum-contractor-suit-over-mis/

The City of Las Vegas has sued a local contractor it says is "holding hostage’’ certain architectural elements for the Mob Museum under construction downtown.

In a suit filed in Clark County District Court on Wednesday, the city said J.L. Wallco Inc. dba Wallternatives, and an official there, Richard Nieto, because of a payment dispute with another contractor, refuse to return 14 city-owned steel window grilles that Wallternatives has been refurbishing.

The suit says that as part of the process of renovating the old downtown post office into the Mob Museum, the grilles valued at $22,000 were removed in December 2009.
Mob Museum contractor APCO Construction hired Wallternatives to remove lead paint from the grilles, prime them for painting and then return them to the museum, the suit says.

A dispute then arose between APCO and Wallternatives regarding the work and payment for it, the suit says.

"Defendants have wrongly retained the grilles since the dispute between APCO and Wallternatives arose," the suit says. "Wallternatives and/or Nieto are now holding the grilles hostage. Neither Wallternatives nor Nieto have any ownership interest in the grilles and they are improperly retaining the grilles."

The defendants couldn’t immediately be located for comment on the lawsuit.

Records show J.L. Wallco’s license with the State Contractors Board expired on Jan. 31, 2010, and has not been renewed. The phone number listed on that license was not in service on Friday.

Officials at the city couldn’t immediately be reached for comment for more information about the grilles such as where in the museum they will be installed.
A Mob Museum spokeswoman said Friday she didn’t have any information about the grilles, but said the museum is on track for its Feb. 14 opening.

The Mob Museum is not related to the bankrupt but still-operating Las Vegas Mob Experience at the Tropicana resort.