The Bugs and Meyer Mob
| Founded | 1920s |
|---|---|
| Founded by | Ben Siegel and Meyer Lansky |
| Founding location |
New York, NY USA |
| Years active | 1920s — 1930s |
| Territory | Manhattan |
| Criminal activities | Murder, gambling, bootlegging, theft, racketeering, extortion |
| Allies | Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Frank Costello, Joe Adonis |
| Rivals | Waxey Gordon, Joe Masseria, Salvatore Maranzano |
The Bugs (Bugsy) and Meyer Mob was a Jewish-American street gang in Manhattan, New York City's Lower East Side. It was formed and headed by mobsters Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky during their teenage years shortly after the start of Prohibition. The Bugs and Meyer mob acted as a predecessor to Murder, Inc.
Lansky and his friends organized a protective society in order to defend against the Italian and Irish gangs. Lansky and his younger brother Jake, were joined by Meyer "Mike" Wassell, Samuel "Red" Levine, Irving "Tabbo" Sandler, Joseph "Doc" Stacher, and several others.
Some accounts are varied about Lansky meeting Siegel: one account claims that Lansky met Siegel and Charles Luciano the same day when Lansky intervened in an altercation between Siegel and Luciano over a prostitute that Luciano was pandering. However, this story has not been corroborated in Lansky's authorized biographies.
According to Lansky, Siegel and Lansky met on the street corner in the poverty-stricken Lower East Side of Manhattan when they were both teenagers. Returning home from school one day, Lansky witnessed a street craps game break out into a fight when police whistles were heard. As the law drew near, Lansky forced Siegel to drop a gun that Siegel was trying to brandish. Siegel was angered with Lansky about losing the gun. Despite the confrontation, Siegel and Lansky became close friends.
In the outfit, Lansky was considered the "brains", while Siegel was the "brawn". Siegel, the youngest of the gang, was known around his neighborhood as chaye; a Yiddish word meaning "untamed" or "animal". He had a reputation for having a short-temper and people described him as being "crazier than a bedbug," which gave him the nickname "Bugsy" that he came to hate.
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