E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
A wall of images of mobsters is displayed Feb. 13 at The Mob Museum in Las Vegas. The museum, also known as the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, opens on Feb. 14. The museum chronicles the history of organized crime in America and the efforts of law enforcement to combat it.
The promoters of Las Vegas’ newest museum would like you to say hello to their little friends. Opening on Feb. 14, The Mob Museum chronicles the lives — and often gruesome deaths — of Al Capone, “Bugsy” Siegel and a rogue’s gallery of crooks, hoods and Mafioso.
“You can’t tell the story of Las Vegas without talking about organized crime,” said Jonathan Ullman, the museum’s executive director. “It’s part of the genesis of the city as the destination that it became.”
Or, as three-time mayor and former “mob attorney” Oscar Goodman puts it: “Las Vegas is unique. Our founding fathers were alleged mobsters.”
Capone, Gotti, Luciano - all infamous, and all now part of a notorious collection. TODAY's Amy Robach got an offer she couldn't refuse to visit the first-ever mob museum.
Goodman, in fact, had a seminal role in the development of the downtown museum, proposing the idea 10 years ago when, as mayor, he oversaw the transfer of Las Vegas’ federal courthouse and post office to the city. The building, it turns out, had been one of the sites for the landmark Kefauver hearings, a U.S. Senate investigation of organized crime in the early 1950s.
The museum, which operates under the full name of the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, features 17,000 square feet of exhibit space, which, according to Ullman, is fairly evenly split between a history of the mob and the efforts of the G-men, police and elected officials who fought it.
Isaac Brekken / AP
Former "mob attorney" and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is pictured Feb. 13 at The Mob Museum in Las Vegas.
Among the former, exhibits tell the stories of Siegel, Meyer Lansky and other early Vegas operators, along with those of latter-day thugs, including Sam Giancana, John “the Teflon Don” Gotti and Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, the role model for casino owner Sam “Ace” Rothstein, aka Robert De Niro, in “Casino.”
Signature exhibits include the wall from the infamous St. Valentine’s Day massacre in 1929, the barber’s chair in which Albert Anastasia met his gruesome end in 1957 and a film that explores Hollywood’s ongoing fascination with wiseguys, goodfellas and other made men. Given the subject matter, it should come as no surprise that some exhibits include graphic images depicting violence, prostitution and other illicit activities, and while there are cautionary signs throughout the museum, it may not be appropriate for small children.
On the other side of the law, visitors can explore the efforts of famous mob-busters, including Eliot Ness, J. Edgar Hoover and Joe Pistone, who is perhaps better known by the name he adopted during six years undercover in the Bonanno and Colombo crime families: Donnie Brasco.
According to Michael Green, a history professor at the College of Southern Nevada and a consultant to the museum, the goal is not to glamorize gangsters but to tell both sides of a story that encompasses immigration, Prohibition, the criminal justice system and the influence of popular culture.
“History is sometimes beautiful and oftentimes ugly,” he told msnbc.com. “If we can tell the truth, people will come out not feeling that we glamorized it but that we informed them.”
As for Goodman, he, as is his wont, clearly hopes people will also be entertained. When asked if he’d contributed any of his (alleged) mob-related memorabilia, he mentioned one item in particular, the briefcase he used while defending the likes of Lansky, Rosenthal and Tony “The Ant” Spilotro.
“I used to leave Las Vegas with it empty,” he said, “and come back with it full of Mr. Green.”
Ethan Miller / Getty Images
Sin City is a major entertainment center and business travel destination, known for its carefully cultivated image, gambling and nightlife.
More on Itineraries
- High stakes for dueling Vegas observation wheels
- Where to stay in Vegas with the kids
- Don't worry, be happy ... in Tucson?
Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.
Leave a Comment:
A fictitious museum at best. There is no such thing as the Mafia, Cosanostra, etc. These are made up by people who are against immigrants.
Really?????? Read some history books, U.S. and Italian.
@Matt,
If that's the case go Troll elsewhere..
Why put these people on a pedestal? They are killers, drug dealers, money launderers, and a million other illegal "ers".... Teach youth about them in history so they know how punishing they were on our constituion and Americans. But don't display these people as if they deserve a freaking mueseum becuase they beat our systems!
Shucks, pack up the museum and send it to either Chicago or Washington D.C. Those are the two places where the crooks are currently located. However, Nevada and Louisiana would probably fit in that category.
Waiting on Obama's "Truth Team" mercenaries to attack my post.
Sorry, but organized crime is as American as credit cards and apple pie
WOW MATT 2631617... Read a book. This is not folklore to the thing of legends, the mafia is absolutely real and probably for all intents and purposes still functioning in Vegas.
Thank you for the update Mr. Hoover
We should not worry about voter id laws - we should worry about people like Matt being able to vote...
Matt-2631617: No, I'm pretty damn sure the museum exists.
I thought this was just a "CSI" script.
Another case of life imitating art - Goodman better watch out, considering what happened in that episode.
No such thing as Mafia, Cosa nostra? Have you ever lived in Nevada or just all your life in Nebraska? The Mafia still operates very much in Sicily and still in the U.S. Almost all immigrants who came to the U.S. had their gangs including Jewish gangs, Irish gangs. Chinese gangs, Italian/Sicilian gangs. Later came the Black gangs and Mexican or Chicano gangs. The best organized and most influencial was the Italian/Siciican Mafia. They probably prospered because they were able to maintain connections back to Sicily. The others had little connection with their home countries. This has been the weakness of the Chicano gangs. They simply do not seem to be able to connect with the Mexican narcos. The Mexican Narcos simply do not trust them. It is very hard today to judge the influence and size of the Mafia in the U.S. and in Nevada. Just when it seems they are on their last leg, they pop up again. As long as some kind of connection is made back and forth between the U.S. and Italy, the Mafia will likely be around for a long time.
The Italian American mafia is on it's last legs. The reason is recruiting. They used to have close Italian neighborhoods in NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc. Italians were the working poor of that era. It was easy to find smart kids who idolized the made men in their neighborhoods. Now Italians have assimiliated into the rest of our society and have spread out to the suburbs. Kids are not subjected to the same kind of neighborhood's. Italian Americans are now upper middle class and their kids go to college. The smart ones have no reason to become criminals where one mistake can lead to death or a lifetime behind bars. The kids of Italian decent who might want to join the mafia are doing it because they are uneducated and have no other options. These people will not out-smart the FBI.
Had it not been for J E Hover the mofia would not have gotten so entrenched in this country, probably John f Kennedy would not have been killed. Hover was so worried about not being exposed as a fairy that he turned on the whole country, plus he was a raciest of the highest caliber, and a blackmailer. He should have his stain on builds and such erased.
Sauve, Hoover has two o's. You're correct that that he turned a blind eye towards the mafia, probably for the reason you state. The mafia started it's downward path after Hoover's death.
thats true, they did, but not before a lot of mayhem, including a dead president.
Well ya gotta remember with posts like Matt above, these Younger Generation under 30 somethings are totally clueless and uneducated about history and most facts of life they get their education from TV and music video's and generalize life . Funny theres no such thing as the mob huh? tell that to the FBI & Dept of Justice and those who were close to some of the associates in the mob from the early days , or the syndicate or mafia, or our thing , whatever you choose to call it. No such thing as the Mob, where do they get idiots like matt above, must be about 15 yrs.old and clueless.
Jett,
Matt sounds like the old mob lawyers who used to proclaim the mafia was a fiction. Matt sounds like a flat earther.
NOW, Can we get ALL of CONGRESS in this MUSEUM? It fits all them OLD GEEZERS in the HOUSE just perfectly !!!!
All REPUKEALINS and CRAP BAGGERS should be signing up and giving MAFIA DONATIONS to a great CAUSE.
ROB THE USA and ALL in it !!!
The MOB MAYOR of Las Vegas!!!
Does that not TELL AMERICA where our POLITICIANS COME FROM !!!!!
OUR GOVERNMENT IS and HAS BEEN NOW MAFIA SLUGS for over fifty years.
You cant compare our IDIOT polititions with the MAFIA! The MAFIA takes care of its people,the polititions are only concerned about themselves and taking care of the world!!
That was the thing about Chicago, this is the Mob Museum and like Chicago it's a part of the Outfit, you don't got to be a nobody dat is da ting, they will work with you. Da boys will visit you on Valentine's Day if they have to but if you want to give them what they need they will let you make what you can. Unlike da people in New York they got a good thing going here just some don't understand and they need some remindin, ya know.
Crap, I was just in Vegas. Guess I gotta back now. I love Mob stuff.
I lived in Vegas for 3 years when the Mob ran things. There was very little street crime. People dressed up to go out on the town. The place had what we used to call "Class" . It was a far cry from the tourist DisneyLand that it is today.
@joncar. That is strange but I guess true. When I was in Vegas a few years ago someone won quite a bit of money and was mugged in the Mirage parking lot. Several people commented that that would never have happened when the mob ran things.
I agree with Joncar , I started to visiting Vegas at the end of the Mob , and is was very SAFE , CLASSY , with Great Service , it was exactly what is was meant to be "A Grown's-UP's Candy Store". No petty crimes- the mob had one Law- No one screws with our customers and their money , (we will it get nicely , and everybody is happy). Customers dressed up and paid well for the services they received , -tips were very good , and that kept the service people happy. Over the years I visited with all of the changes- IT IS NOT VEGAS- to bad no one can understand what they missed , The Good Times Did Roll.
Joncar, that last line is out of the movie Casino at the end. Noobs on history that want to learn about the mob in Vegas...watch the movie. Its close to the story line how things really worked for years until it all crumbled. One of the best movies ever made...4 stars easy.
Here in Pennsylvania we have the Amish Mafia! I think every state has its own version of the Mafia one way or the other. Maybe they will start a Mafia Museum Franchise like Starbucks. A chain of stores called Gangstas are Us. Who knows how far it coud go?
Mikencyb -
"will not"? They continue to outsmart the FBI. That's why they still exist. There's a big difference between education (book smarts) and street smarts. One can acquire all their knowledge through education but if they can't apply it (common sense)? My father never got past the 8th grade and yet worked his way up to superintendent of utilities for a city. By passed all the college educated. Think before you write.
Compassion, I did not mean to insult people who are less educated. I'm sure your father did well. I'm just pointing out that many years ago the mafia managed to attract some smart men to to be members. That is over. Due to the avalanche of members turing states witnesses, the men still involved can't trust anyone. They have lost most of their rackets to Russian and other ethnic mobs. The fact that the Italian American mob is on it's way out is a good sign for Americans of Italian descent. They are making smarter decisions regarding their professions.
It is not because the mob is smart, it is because the cops try and follow the law, and that costs them.
Do not forget the Mafia that helped turn Cuba into a Communist State.The Bastards almost got us into a Nuc War. I believe it was called the 17 Day War in 1962,When Kruschev got his Butt kicked by the Kennedys.
Cuba is still paying the price today,hell Castro out lived them all. Of course now you have the Miami Cuban Mafia still trying to get control of Cuba.
I recall seeing recently how our presidents re-election campaign had to return $200,000 to a known Mexican narcotics trafficer. So it appears if criminals are buying our politicians then how is this opening a museum in their honor a surprise?
Or, as three-time mayor and former “mob attorney” Oscar Goodman puts it: “Las Vegas is unique. Our founding fathers were alleged mobsters.”
I stopped reading the article after that comment to make this comment : ALLEGED??? = STUF
ugh - S T F U !!!
Matt
Watch the Godfather parts 1 and 2, it is not all fiction. Part 3 I believe is mostly fiction. It has always been speculated that Jonny Fontain is Frank Sinatra, you do know Frank was connected right?
Dos Locos
At least Oscar helped keep LV on the go.Legally and profitably.
Actually I like that picture of him in the Museum
They should make a statue of him for the place.Perhaps out of( Silver Dollars)
Highlights or honors? More likely the latter. Organized crime should not be provided a platform for self-aggrandizement, a reward for criminal behavior that will undoubtedly reinforce future criminality.
exactly
Basil....good post!
All it will ever be is a failed monument to the self centered narcissistic ex mayor (thank heavens for term limits)... spent 42 million and almost immediately it will need more government tax dollars to stay afloat ...
He calls any critics "stupid" .. .the only stupid ones were those who got buffaloed into supporting this white elephant.
Thank YOU Harry Reid!
Yep this was pork project!
I think it is awesome. Would love to go and see it for myself. Lived near Las Vegas for three years in the early 80's and every so often they would find a body in Lake Mead or the desert, execution style murders and cement overshoes. You always knew when the mob made a hit. The mob may be a bunch of thugs, but they are a part of our history.
I Moved to Las Vegas in 77. Took over a Casino in 78. It was right at the time the Mob was being exposed by a few talkative local folks. I knew some of the more notorious members of the local Boys ( Tony , and Frank to name a few), So, I speak from experience. Yes, the town was much safer for the tourist, but not so for the local who may have flirted with one of the "Ant's" private stock. As far as being smart, the one truth was , if there would have been an I.Q. test given, not one of them would have scored over a 65. All things evolve , even crime. Now the Mob dress allot better. They also do not belive in giving anything away for free.
Im going back and forth on this....I DONT want a shrine dedicated to the MOB. (They can call it what they want, but lets be honest thats what it really is!) But the MAFIA, MOB, COSA NOSTRA...call it what you want, WAS a part of American history, and a HUGE part of Las Vegas!!
A museum for another criminal element, bankers and inside traders, would need a much larger facility to accomodate what has and is occurring. A side show should include the display of accommodating politicians.