What's interesting about Meyer Lansky II is he's just a regular dude.
That is, he's a regular dude who remains such even as his grandfather was one of the more prominent figures in the history of organized crime.
The exceedingly moderate Lansky II met the Las Vegas media, formally, for the first time Monday afternoon as the featured attraction in the opening of the Las Vegas Mob Experience Preview Center at Tropicana. As organizers helped explain to the uninitiated, the "big news" was actually the little trinket Lansky brought with him to the event — his grandfather's Congressional Medal of Freedom.
Items belonging to Tony "The Ant" Spilotro are displayed at the Las Vegas Mob Experience preview center at the Tropicana, Aug. 2, 2010.
The elder Lansky was a longtime friend and business partner of Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, an investor in the Flamingo in its infancy and the financial brains behind what was known as the "national syndicate" for his skills with financial figures. "Mob Accountant," was one nickname for Lansky, who was also a decorated citizen for his role in helping police New York ports during World War II.
As Lansky II explained of his grandfather's award, "Harry Truman implemented it in 1945, I believe. ... My grandfather's contribution was that he ran the docks in New York City, and they were having problems with sabotage (of incoming cargo). Basically, the story goes that they went to (Lucky) Luciano, who was in Dannemora Prison. My grandfather went to him and asked if he could help, and the Office of Naval Intelligence met with him, too, to help solve the problem." The result was that some individuals who could not be identified by dock workers were simply disposed of.
"That's how they solved the problem," Lansky II said, providing a sample of some of the mob-themed yarn-spinning visitors to the attraction can expect. Also on display for the first was the Mob Experience's floor plan, an exhibit of the 3-D hologram effects — the "immersive" displays that organizers are particularly excited about — and paintings by hired-gun artist Marcus Suarez.
Mob Experience Managing Partner Jay Bloom said the attraction will be open in December, spread over 25,000 square feet in the Trop's Pavilion Center. Eschewing guarded expectations, Bloom describes the walking indoor theme park as, "an attraction of unprecedented quality."
Update: I was remiss in this post in forgetting to note the business relationship between the Mob Experience and the Las Vegas Sun. The Sun has been paid by the Mob Experience to provide photos from our files and to also conduct video interviews of the family members involved in the project, which are to be made available for the Mob Experience's website and for the attraction itself.
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