This video provides a real insiders account of how New York City's Jewish mob actually operated, how powerful they really were, and just how accomplished some of their members were...with Sammy Jacobson being a first among equals.
It is a measure of Meyer Lansky's influence that so many gangsters have been identified as his "right hand man." You'd think Little Meyer was an octopus with all those right hands.
My vote for Lansky's top Jewish right hand man goes to Joseph (Doc) Stacher, like Lansky born in Ukraine, who was with him when both were kids. Stacher was high up in Longy Zwillman's organization, and was influential with the Mafia, helping to arrange Lansky's alliances with top Mob leaders. Later he helped Lansky with his gaming interests in the Caribbean and in Nevada.
Interesting sidelight: Stacher was indicted for tax evasion in '64. Since he was a naturalized US citizen, the Feds wanted to deport him to his country of birth. But, since Ukraine was behind the Iron Curtain and this was the Cold War era, he couldn't be deported to a Commie country. He applied to Israel under their "Law of Return," was accepted, and lived out his days there. Lansky also tried to live in Israel several years later, but the Justice Dept. had a huge target on his back. They convinced the Israelis he'd be a "threat to national security" under Israeli law. Lansky was deported from Israel while his old pal Stacher soaked up the sun.
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
It is a measure of Meyer Lansky's influence that so many gangsters have been identified as his "right hand man." You'd think Little Meyer was an octopus with all those right hands.
My vote for Lansky's top Jewish right hand man goes to Joseph (Doc) Stacher, like Lansky born in Ukraine, who was with him when both were kids. Stacher was high up in Longy Zwillman's organization, and was influential with the Mafia, helping to arrange Lansky's alliances with top Mob leaders. Later he helped Lansky with his gaming interests in the Caribbean and in Nevada.
Interesting sidelight: Stacher was indicted for tax evasion in '64. Since he was a naturalized US citizen, the Feds wanted to deport him to his country of birth. But, since Ukraine was behind the Iron Curtain and this was the Cold War era, he couldn't be deported to a Commie country. He applied to Israel under their "Law of Return," was accepted, and lived out his days there. Lansky also tried to live in Israel several years later, but the Justice Dept. had a huge target on his back. They convinced the Israelis he'd be a "threat to national security" under Israeli law. Lansky was deported from Israel while his old pal Stacher soaked up the sun.
100% Stacher was at the top for so many years. Doc Stacher, Frank Sinatra and Ed Sullivan at the Eden Roc hotel enjoying themselves
It is a measure of Meyer Lansky's influence that so many gangsters have been identified as his "right hand man." You'd think Little Meyer was an octopus with all those right hands.
My vote for Lansky's top Jewish right hand man goes to Joseph (Doc) Stacher, like Lansky born in Ukraine, who was with him when both were kids. Stacher was high up in Longy Zwillman's organization, and was influential with the Mafia, helping to arrange Lansky's alliances with top Mob leaders. Later he helped Lansky with his gaming interests in the Caribbean and in Nevada.
Interesting sidelight: Stacher was indicted for tax evasion in '64. Since he was a naturalized US citizen, the Feds wanted to deport him to his country of birth. But, since Ukraine was behind the Iron Curtain and this was the Cold War era, he couldn't be deported to a Commie country. He applied to Israel under their "Law of Return," was accepted, and lived out his days there. Lansky also tried to live in Israel several years later, but the Justice Dept. had a huge target on his back. They convinced the Israelis he'd be a "threat to national security" under Israeli law. Lansky was deported from Israel while his old pal Stacher soaked up the sun.
I agree, Turnbull. Over the decades, Lansky was so diversified in his illicit rackets and semi-legit business interests, which were so far-flung across the entire United States, the Caribbean, and in other countries such as London, England, etc., that it necessitated him having more than a just few "right hand men." The complex nature and logistics involved in overseeing such wide-spread operations demanded it.
Remember too, that Samuel Jacobson was considered a youngster by Lansky's standard. After all, Lansky was born in 1902, if memory serves me. Jacobson was born in 1927. So Lansky came from a completely different generation, literally. There was a 25-year difference, in both age, and mentality. So, really, Jacobson was still just a baby, a wet-behind-the-ears kid, when Meyer and his core men first cut their teeth on the streets of NYC.
By the time Sammy and his brothers because active in the rackets, many of Lansky's former associates and right-hand men were either dead or long retired.
So, in essence, although Sammy did, in-fact, become the "right hand man" to Lansky, it wasn't until many years later. I'd estimate around the early 1960s.
To your point, throughout his long underworld career, Meyer Lansky must have had many so-called, "right hand" men.
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