For their help in the research and production of this book, I would like to thank the following:
Leonora A. Gidlund, director of the Municipal Archives, and her helpful staff at Chambers Street, New York; Mary M. Huth of the Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester, New York; Tamar Evangelestia-Dougherty of the Herbert H. Lehman Suite and Papers, Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York; Eric van Slander and Timothy K. Nenninger at the National Archives and Record Administration, College Park, Maryland; David M. Hardy and David P. Sobonya of FBI Records Management Division; Richard L. Baker of the U.S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Michael E. Gonzales of the 45th Infantry Division Museum; Edward Dojutrek and Carl Q. Topie of the 3rd Infantry Division Society; Charles T. Pinck of the OSS Society; Charles Radcliffe Haffenden Jr.; in London, the staff of the National Archives,Kew, and the British Library; in Sicily, Giada Platania, Salvatore Cabasino, Maia Mancuso, and the staff of the Biblioteca Centrale della Regione Siciliana; Charles McCall, for IRS advice; Peter Newark, for his extensive crime archive; Lucy Wildman, for research assistance; Robert Miller, for lunch at Patsys; Vicky Newark, for her good company on research trips; crime historians Richard Hammer, John Dickie, John Follain, James Morton, David Critchley, and Robert A. Rockaway, for their advice and help; and my excellent editor, Peter Joseph, and my first-class agent, Andrew Lownie.
INTRODUCTION
My lunch with Richard Hammer on April 3, 2009. Quotes from T. Scaduto, Lucky Luciano, London: Sphere Books, 1976, and Lacey, R., Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life, London: Century, 1991. For a thorough analysis of The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano, see Rick Porellos AmericanMafia.com, Web site article in two parts in issues 8-26-02 and 9-2-02, and the final chapter of this book
CHAPTER 1: LUCKY IN NAZI GERMANY
Diamonds failed trip to Germany is covered extensively in contemporary newspapers. The reference to Lucania accompanying him is in Ireland Will Refuse Landing to Diamond, New York Times, August 30, 1930. The reference to Del Grazio appears in Seized in Germany on Narcotic Charge, New York Times, December 6, 1931. The Kefauver Del Grazio reference comes from E. Kefauver, Crime in America, London: Victor Gollancz, 1952. The FBI memorandum that quotes Federal Bureau of Narcotics information on Diamond and Luciano visiting Germany is dated August 28, 1935; and is kept in FBI files 39-2141 section 1.
An early description of the dangers of drug addiction in New York appears in C. B. Towns, Habits that Handicap, New York: The Century Company, 1915. Luciano quote about smoking opium is from Scaduto. Brewstertestimony is in Hearings before the Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives on HR7079, a Bill Prohibiting the Importation of Crude Opium for the Purpose of Manufacturing Heroin, April 3, 1924, Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office. Russell Pashas report on the international drug trade appears in Illicit Drug TradePoison Factories, London Times, January 23, 1930. For junkie derivation see M. Booth, Opium: A History, London: Simon & Schuster, 1996. Booth also makes the point that opium was referred to as junk at the turn of the twentieth century and hop, derived from Chinese slang, in the late nineteenth century, hence
hophead. British Ministry of Health report on European meeting on heroin, dated November 21, 1923, London National Archives: HO 45/24817.
CHAPTER 2: HOW TO BECOME A GANGSTER
Dates for Lucianos arrival in New York vary. The FBI files claim both 1905 and 1907 as dates for his entry. Accounts of the Lower East Side and the crime associated with it appear in contemporary newspapers, especially The Bands of Criminals of New Yorks East Side by Frank Marshall White, New York Times, November 8, 1908, and Black Hand Crimes Doubled in Year Just Ended, New York Times, December 31, 1911. The Dopey Benny quote comes from H. Asbury, The Gangs of New York, New York: Garden City Publishing, 1927. The Jewish quote about living in a tenement block comes from H. Roskolenko, The Time That Was Then, New York: The Dial Press, 1971. For an impression of life in a typical tenement block, visit the Lower East Side Tenement Museum at 97 Orchard Street, New York, and see their associated publications.
Luciano quotes from Scaduto; Lansky quotes from D. Eisenberg, U. Dan, and E. Landau, Meyer Lansky: Mogul of the Mob, New York and London: Paddington Press, 1979. For failed Masseria shooting, see Gunmen Who Shot Down 8 Elude Police, New York Tribune, August 9, 1922. The shooting of Valenti is reported in Gang Kills Gunman, 2 Bystanders Hit, New York Times, August 12, 1922, and Mystery in Rum Street Battle Near Solution, New York Tribune, August 12, 1922. Several anecdotes relating to Lucianos early life come from Siragusa letter to Anslinger, January 5, 1954, cited in detail in chapter 15.
CHAPTER 3: UPTOWN GAMBLER
L. Katchers The Big Bankroll, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958, still stands as a good account of Rothsteins life, as he claimed to have spoken to many principals involved with Rothstein, including his widow and Luciano while in prison, although he does not attribute any quotes directly to him. The Rothstein Case: An Underworld Tale, New York Times, October 6, 1929, is an interesting feature-length profile.
Luciano quotes from Scaduto; Lansky quotes from Eisenberg et al. The Bendix jewelry fencing story comes from trial testimony dated June 2, 1936, in the New York City Department of Records, Luciano closed-case files, box 13,file 9; Joseph Corbo hijack case in box 11, file 5. Secret Canadian police reports on narcotics smuggling into Canada and the United States. by Howe and Deleglise in 1923 and 1924 are contained in Metropolitan Police file in British National Archives: MEPO 3/425. Big Six informant quote from FBI report on Longy Zwillman, dated June 7, 1950.
CHAPTER 4: SURVIVING THE RIDE
J. Bonannos A Man of Honour: The Autobiography of a Godfather, London: Andre Deutsch, 1983, is a good source for quotes on Maranzano and Castellammarese War; Lansky quotes from Eisenberg et al. Transcript and digest of Lucianos testimony at Richmond County Court on October 29, 1929, police memorandum on the ride, May 27, 1936, and memorandum on pheasant shooting, June 2, 1936, all are in the New York City Department of Records, Luciano closed-case files, box 11, file 5; 1931 police photograph in box 11, file 4. Costellos version of the ride is quoted in G. Wolf, with Dimona, J., Frank Costello: Prime Minister of the Underworld, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1975; Vizzinis account of the ride is in S. Vizzini, Vizzini: The Secret Lives of Americas Most Successful Undercover Agent, London: Futura, 1974.
It has been claimed that it was in the early 1920s, as Lucania worked for Rothstein, Diamond, and Masseria, that he first acquired his famous nickname: Lucky. Biographer L. Katz quotes Frank Costello as saying it was Lucania himself who adopted it: He felt that people are attracted to a guy when hes lucky. Everyone wants to be with a winner. It was Lucania who pushed others to use it, he says, and had Lucky tattooed on his arm. But this flies in the face of other accounts. People close to him say he hated it, claiming there was no luck in what he did. I never heard nobody call him Lucky, said Frank Costello to his attorney, not even behind his back. This directly contradicts Katzs quote. Generally, it is believed the moniker came later after he survived a terrible beating in 1929. In the light of seeing the actual court transcript of Lucianos statement just two weeks after the ride, and the New York Times article the day after, this all now seems wrong. Luciano was already known as Lucky and was happy to use the name. See Ride Victim Wakes on Staten Island, New York Times, October 18, 1929, and Katz, L., Uncle Frank: The Biography of Frank Costello, London: W.H. Allen, 1974.
