Talk:Meyer Lansky

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[edit] Inconsistancy

The statement "Around this period, Lansky ordered the execution of his longtime associate Siegel for stealing from the syndicate." is inconsistant with the paragraph:

"Siegel's projects in Las Vegas were failing miserably and all mafia bosses, Lansky included, were summoned to a secret meeting in Havana. While everyone else wanted Siegel killed, Lansky begged for a second chance for his friend. He was able to persuade the bosses to give Siegel a second chance, but Siegel's casino kept on losing money and a second meeting was called. This time the casino was able to turn in a small profit during the month of their second meeting, and that, together with Lansky's pleading and Luciano's hopes their old friend could still do good in Vegas, convinced them to give Siegel a third chance. That small profit turned out to be only a small hurrah, and, leading to a third meeting in Cuba. Despite Lansky's insistence they give Siegel another chance, he was killed in 1947."

24.254.232.33 04:43, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Agreed, there is something wrong here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.127.128.2 (talk • contribs)

[edit] Edit

This line:

Meyer Lansky is also mentioned in Raekwon's "Glaciers of Ice" from the album "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx".

Means nothing to the article. I am deleting it. If someone can re insert it with some sort of reason or meaning for being mentioned, put it back in. I also put headers on this page to clear the separate topics.

L.A.F.

[edit] Criticism

Dear Sir or Madam: If you would please refrain form the profanity and just simply state, with some sort of proof, what you are saying, someone may be willing to speak with you. Please clearly and rationally expand on your issue with the article. Thanks. L.A.F.

Ahhh the eternal persecution complex of Jews today. Lansky was a vey rich gangster, I think he and Gambino were the only 2 American gangsters to die of old age. Get over it - he was JEWISH and he was a BAD GUY. They are not mutually exclusive occurances. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.35.34.24 (talk • contribs)
  • I think he and Gambino were the only 2 American gangsters to die of old age.-- This statement here has got to be a joke. Hundreds, if not thousands, of gangsters have died of old age. Some may have died of old age in prison, but it no way conceivable were Lansky and Carlo Gambino the only gangsters to ever die of old age. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.182.147.30 (talk • contribs)
Where's your proof that it's more than a coincidence and that being Jewish and a Bad Guy is linked? Every ethnicity has their heroes and criminals idiot.--Exander 07:14, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question

I'm not very well educated on this issue, but I have noticed an inconsistancy between what's on this page and what's on the Lucky Luciano page. Here it mentions that Meyer only met "Bugsie" in 1920 and on Lucky's page it says something about the Five Points Gang being formed before 1916. My only knowledge on the subjects comes from a movie I saw, Mobsters, in which Meyer and Bugsie were best friends by 1917 (the year in which the first scene in the movie is set), and met Lucky and Frank Costello that same year. I just thought I'd bring this to everyone's attention so somebody Who's well informed on the issue could fix it up. :) -Lara

  • Like most so-called "true crime" movies, the 1991 movie Mobsters was more fiction than fact, and actually not a very well made movie anyway. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.182.147.30 (talk • contribs)
    • Actually, regarding the mob history and not specificly the events that take place in the movie, its fairly historicly accurate. Bugsie, Luciano, and Lansky were working together in the bootlegging industry in 1920. The exact date they met isn't very clear to me but this page: http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/lansky/mob_3.html says its between 1914 and 1920 Jesta510 19:51, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

The 5 Points gang was an italian gang in the late 1890's and early 1900's. I doubt Luciano was ever a member. Frank Costello lived in East Harlem, a long way from 5 points/Little Italy, and Bugsy and Meyer were jewish and they ran the Bug and Meyer Mob. These guys were never in the same gang. They were partners in many rackets but Luciano and Costello were with the Mafia. They never belonged to the 5 points gang

[edit] Ethnicity?

Guys.... It says that lansky was a russian jew but I've read in crime books that his parents were polish... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.26.24.218 (talk • contribs)

During the time Lansky's family would have been there Poland was occupied by Russia, ethnically they were Polish, but legally they would be Russian. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.12.116.197 (talk • contribs)

[edit] Meyer Lansky - Truly crucial to the Italian - American mafia

Meyer Lansky and Charles Luciano are the founders of the La Cosa Nostra. Luciano was the brawn and Lansky was the brain. If it were not for Lansky, The Italian - American mafia as we knew it would not have become what it was, without his crucial and definitely structuring influence. This man is not given the full credit he deserves. Without Lansky, Luciano would have definitely not risen to the heigth where he was, and would have definitely not amassed the fortune he had, before going to prison and after being deported to Italy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.188.186.214 (talk • contribs)

No i'm calling BS on you here my friend. La Cosa Nostra is a Sicilian organisation, not a Jewish one. It originated around Palermo in the 19th century, check the Mafia article out to learn more. The Sicilian Mafia is infinitely more powerful, and wealthier than its American offshoot organisation, which today is a shadow of its former self. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.35.34.24 (talk • contribs)
REFERRING TO THE FIRST PARAGRAPH ABOVE: Who the hell writes this shit - fourteen year old boys? I'm glad it gets filtered out through moderation before it actually gets published! The spelling mistakes are atrocious. I mean, open a fuckin' dictionary before you put your little booger picking fingers to the keys. The word is spelled HEIGHT AND PRONOUNCED "HITE", NOT HEIGTH AND NOT PRONOUNCED "HEITH", as many ignoramuses are fond of proliferating these illiterate days.
In closing, PLEASE, HAVE SOME INTEGRITY HERE BOYS AND GIRLS: POLICE YOURSELVES, READ A FUCKIN' BOOK OR TWO (THE ENGLISH DICTIONARY WOULD HELP, WHILE WRITING AND USING ENGLISH!) AND PLEASE, OH PLEASE DON'T RUIN THIS GREAT SITE BY DISSEMINATING/PERPETUATING IGNORANCE!
  • Nobody can take your comments seriously when they are written in a SHOUTING style, and peppered with expletives which only convey seeming immaturity and anger to the reader. Perhaps you will become a serious and thoughtful Wikipedian. Then, your ideas will merit consideration. It's up to you. T.E. Goodwin 05:02, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
Thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.206.242.200 (talk • contribs)
Yeah La Cosa Nostra definitly wasn't founded by Lansky. I think your thinking of the Five Families and The Commission.

[edit] Lansky was Polish

Meyer Lansky was born in Grodno, Poland which back then was considered a part of Russia. This is the only reason he is referred to as a Russian Jew. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.188.186.214 (talk • contribs)

Yes, Lansky was Polish, but I think it's slightly more confusing than this. He was originally of Russian nationality since he was born within the Russian empire - he was born in Grodno, now in Belarus - so it would not be unfair to call him originally a Russian of Polish Jewish extraction. But all that tied him to Russia was nationality, and once that was lost, there is no real association. Grodno had in the past belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but it lay in the Lithuanian, not Polish, part. However, his parents were ethnically/culturally Polish, so even after emigration it makes sense to call him Polish as well as Jewish. Since he was not born in Poland, nor in a location which historically belonged to Poland, nor did an independent Poland exist until after he had emigrated anyway, I linked to Polish Jews rather than to Poland. VivaEmilyDavies 17:36, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Arms to Israel

Did he smuggle weapons for the Haganah in 1948? -- Error 02:00, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I believe so - will research this & incorporate into the article as necessary Lewvalton 14:39, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Being Polish myself I can tell you that no Pole in his right mind would ever call himself Russian during the Partition of Poland. When the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth collapsed in 1796 the Poles fell under Prussian, Austrian, and Russian occupation. During that time period Poles developed a fierce sense of nationalism. There is no way that a Pole or a Polish Jew would ever call himself Russian. Matter of fact doing so was considered treasonous. "Russian on paper, Pole by blood". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.228.25.68 (talk) 02:39, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What is this?

[edit] Not Polish or Russian

Lansky was Jewish by ethnicity because his native language was Yiddish, not Russian or Polish, which were both foreign languages for Jews in the Russian empire. Jews were considered an ethnic/national designation not just a religious one in the Russian empire. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.126.179.30 (talk) 16:59, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

"was a gangster born in Grodno, then part of Belarus occupied by the Russian Empire but now in Belarus". This is really funny, what Belarus? There was no Belarus untill present times, there was only an occupation of Poland/PLC. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.68.232.103 (talk • contribs)

Exactly, Belarus is a nation created by the Soviets. It is entirely made up of lands that were stolen from Poland and Lithuania. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.84.126.146 (talk) 05:06, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] His birth name

I have heard his birth name was Maier Suchowljansky. Searching on Google by Maier Suchowljansky, I get 711 hits - Which name should be correct? --1523 01:01, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

  • Yes, whomever cited his birth name as such in the article was wrong, and may have actually be spelling it phonetically. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.182.147.30 (talk • contribs)

[edit] Inconsistancy

Meyer Lanksy didn't order the hit on Bugsy. He got him a second and third chance and after the casino made a profit Bugsy's girlfriend Virginia Hill stole the money Bugsy owed the mobsters and fled to Europe. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.224.192.143 (talk • contribs)

  • It sounds like someone is takin the movie Bugsy way too literally. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.182.147.30 (talk • contribs)


Agreed, read some history man. And Lansky didn't get him a third chance. He tried, but bugsy died. Jesta510 19:59, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tags

I took off the "disputed" tag as I didn't think this article was more or less disputed than other OC articles. However I did add an "unsourced" tag, as it cited zero sources. I think this article is generally not bad but it needs to cite its sources.--Mantanmoreland 17:31, 24 November 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Straitened vs. strained

I don't feel strongly enough on the subject to dispute it, but I think "straitened" is correct, and maybe a little more precise.--Mantanmoreland 15:22, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm no expert on Myer Lansky, but the tone, presentation, and lack of referenes makes this article one of the poorest presentations I've come across. Handicapper 20:09, 26 March 2007 (UTC)


I met a man named Harry Teifer, aka, "Harry the Hat" who claimed, credibly, to have been a protege of Meyer Lansky and, among other services, chauffeured a "business" guest to me with Lansky and "Mom Novak" in Miami every month for several years. The business guest, Harry told me, was Walt Disney and that Lansky in underwriting development of Disneyland wanted it designed to cultivate a casino mentality in American young people. It seems to me that Americans now live in a virtual reality and this suggestion of maniacal intent in Disney enterprises is congruent with that perception . Can anyone confirm, support or deny the allegation that Lansky was financial backer of Disneyland and interested in use it to pollute the American culture and mind?- Larry Ward Editor@CreativeSedition.com

[edit] CUBAN CASINOS

In the article it says that Meyer joined Lucky in cuba and that Luciano founded cuba before lansky. It also says that by 1936 he had gambling operations in Miami, New Orleans, and Cuba. Luciano was in jail in 1936. Luciano didn't go or have any buisness in cuba for years after 1936. And Lansky definitely discovered cuba and luciano had nothing to do with it some one needs to research this and change this error in the article

[edit] Lacey Biography/300 Million?

There has been a tremendous amount written about Lansky but as far as I know, only one writer actually interviewed people who knew Lansky first hand so extensively. In particular, Lacey interviewed all three of his children (or at least, both of his sons) and Buddy, the oldest and who had some form of cerebral palsy, seems to have provided a large amount of information.

I think Lacey did not set out to write any sort of sensationalist book. It seems to me that he manages to dispel the one big rumor, the 300 million dollar hidden fortune. It would not only have been hard to accumulate that sort of money doing what he did, but his son Buddy died in a charity care facility -- hard to accept that anyone with great wealth would allow this to happen. I think Lansky owned casinos, cheated on his taxes fairly significantly, and lost a lot when Castro nationalized the Cuban casinos. Maybe at one point Lansky was worth in the low tens of millions and perhaps had he managed to hold on to his Vegas ownership of various places, he could have done really well. But even then, 300 mill is hard to swallow and one wonders if anyone who was not Lansky could have come up with an accurate figure.

300 million does not sound like so much nowadays with all the internet billionaires, but in the 1960s when he would have probably been at his peak, there were few in the world with that kind of money.--Jrm2007 (talk) 09:25, 23 January 2008 (UTC)