The Making of The Mob

Previously, on "The Making of the Mob New York"...

At the turn of the century,

hundreds of thousands of immigrants

pour into New York City.

And as ruthless gangs carve out their turf,

a new class of mobster emerges.

Charles Luciano, Meyer Lansky,

Bugsy Siegel, Frank Costello, and Vito Genovese

climb their up the ranks of the New York underworld,

working under ruthless Mob boss,

Joe Masseria.

The street level group of thugs who shook people down

organized into a large number of thugs

who were shaking people down,

taking bets, even sellin' drugs.

After Masseria's heroin racket lands Luciano in prison,

he joins forces with Jewish criminal mastermind,

Arnold Rothstein.

There's safety in no one knowing who you are .

And decides it's time for a change.

But, to make it to the top,

Luciano and his crew will have to make a bold move...

If I don't kill him, we're all dead.

... and take out the one man standing in their way,

Joe Masseria.

You got some big balls comin' over here like this.

You do this... There's no goin' back.

I know.

In less than two decades,

30-year-old Charles Luciano and his gang

have gone from poor immigrants

to successful New York criminals,

poised to eliminate the most powerful gangster in New York,

Joe Masseria.

Thanks to the guidance of his trusted advisor,

notorious Jewish gangster, Arnold Rothstein.

Arnold Rothstein was a mentor to Lucky Luciano.

He was under his wing .

They showed 'em how to-- how to run this business.

There was an alliance,

and that stuck in his heart.

To Luciano,

Rothstein is a father figure,

and everything he aspires to be.

Who does he report to?

He reports to (Indistinct).

Rothstein is the epitome of sophistication

and self-control...

...but every man has a weakness.

And for Rothstein, it's high stakes gambling.

Without a doubt,

the Mob will eat away at your personality and at your soul.

You have this weight that you're carrying around with you.

Now, some guys are able to shed it with alcohol.

They shed it with sex. They shed it with drugs.

But, eventually, it's gonna wear on you.

For most of his life,

Rothstein has been a compulsive gambler,

from betting on horses,

to being the man believed to have fixed

the 1919 world series.

But Rothstein's addiction has finally caught up with him.

How bad is it, Arnold? What happened?

It's fine. Don't--

it's fine.

In September 1928,

Arnold Rothstein's luck is starting to run bad.

He's been losing at the track.

He's been losing at cards.

His marriage is also deteriorating badly.

When does he quit?

When does he have enough money?

I'll raise you 500.

He's invited to a big game .

The big out of town guys are there.

Rothstein goes on, and on, and on,

for three days, losing steadily.

Jacks over nines.

He makes a couple of bets at the end and he says,

"okay, it's fixed, and I'm not paying."

Yeah.

Okay.

What?

Rothstein's dead.

News of the first assassination of a New York kingpin

makes headlines across the country.

On November 4th, 1928,

Arnold Rothstein was gunned down in the streets.

And dozens of big name gangsters arrive in New York

to attend Rothstein's orthodox Jewish funeral.

Arnold Rothstein taught other people.

He was sort of an equal opportunity, uh, mentor thief.

He didn't mind helping Italian,

or Irish, or Jewish gangsters.

So, he had this cloud of appreciation around him

that he was such an important guy.

For Luciano,

the murder of Arnold Rothstein is a crushing blow.

With his trusted advisor gone...

He decides to put his plans to take out Joe Masseria on hold.

But while Luciano questions his next move,

an even bigger problem is brewing.

The Federal Government begins to crack down on gang activity

across the country,

and for the first time in years,

New York City's mobsters are under fire.

In the spring of 1929,

special Government task forces raid speakeasies

and Mob headquarters throughout New York.

It's part of a sweeping effort to take down mobsters...

Triggered by the actions of a notorious gangster

over 800 miles away named Al Capone.

Al Capone is a Brooklyn gangster

who fled to Chicago,

and Chicago was a much rougher city than New York.

Huh?

And he operated very well in that environment...

But, he didn't have the tempering influence

of a Meyer Lansky , who could say to Luciano,

"this is stupid."

He would do things very much out in the public.

Very much in the face of law enforcement.

But on February 14th, 1929,

Capone goes too far,

ordering the brutal execution of rival Chicago gangsters.

More than 150 shots are fired,

in what becomes known as one of the bloodiest days

in Mafia history,

the Saint Valentine's day massacre.

The Saint Valentine's Day massacre is so incredible,

it gets attention.

There is more unhappiness in the public

that there is this stuff going on.

The Mob tried to fly under the radar.

And when they got people's attention,

it could be very bad for them.

With the Feds sweeping the country,

New York Mob boss, Joe Masseria,

has to act fast to take the heat off of his operation.

He knows he needs to get Capone under control.

It's a shame about your friend.

He picked a bad time to get sloppy.

Knowing Al Capone and Luciano ran

in the same New York gangs as teenagers,

Masseria is convinced that Luciano is the only one

in his organization that can get close enough to Capone.

Luciano must now do something

that no one has been able to do before...

Reign in Al Capone.

With the Feds cracking down on the Mob's activities

in the wake of the Saint Valentine's day massacre,

Joe Masseria orders Charles Luciano

to take care of the most violent gangster in the country,

Al Capone.

In may of 1929,

Luciano organizes a top secret Mob conference

at the Ritz-Carlton, in Atlantic city...

Owned by the Mob boss of New Jersey,

Enoch "Nucky" Johnson.

Up-and-coming Jewish, Irish, and Italian gangsters

from across the country are invited,

including Capone.

All right... I wanna get this started.

Take your seats.

The way I see it,

al's made it impossible for us to do business.

Thanks to you, my gambling is down.

My rackets are down.

Every one of my clubs has been raided, twice!

You're a popular guy.

I think I speak for all of us,

when I say, uh, you're not.

We all know what needs to happen.

Al's gotta give himself up.

I'm not gonna be a sacrificial lamb.

'Cause Christ almighty can come down,

walk across the water,

and ask me to turn myself in,

and I'd still say "no."

Gentlemen, excuse us. Let's go for a walk.

Lucky Luciano had a variety of ways

of winning people over.

It might be fear.

It-it might be good business techniques.

It might be a willingness to work with other people.

He's a threat.

Uh, he has muscle behind him,

and he's willing to put the muscle to work.