QUIZ New York and Murder Inc.

Origins of Murder Inc.

• New York and Murder grew hand in hand as Murder Inc. emerged in the 1920s in New York City. Murder Inc. was an enforcement arm for the National Crime Syndicate, specializing in contract killings and intimidation.
• Key figures in its establishment included Louis “Lepke” Buchalter and Albert “Mad Hatter” Anastasia, along with early collaborators like Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel.
• In New York Murder Inc. was born from alliances between Jewish and Italian-American mobsters seeking to consolidate and “corporatize” organized crime.

Structure and Operations

• Murder Inc. recruited members primarily from working-class Italian and Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Manhattan, such as Brownsville and the Lower East Side.
• They operated from unassuming locations, for example, a candy store in Brooklyn, and were responsible for hundreds of contract killings nationwide.
• Killers received salaries and bonuses for each hit, with their families receiving benefits if they were jailed or killed.
• The organization lacked an official name; “Murder Inc.” was a label coined by journalists in the late 1930s.

Recruitment and Alliances

• The recruitment of Jewish and Italian gangsters was due to their dominance in New York’s organized crime scene and established networks in marginalized communities.
• Leaders like Lucky Luciano (Italian) and Meyer Lansky (Jewish) formed cross-ethnic alliances, setting a precedent for cooperation within the National Crime Syndicate.
• Prohibition fueled this cooperation, as bootlegging created massive profits that required unified efforts between ethnic gangs to control markets and minimize conflict.
• The National Crime Syndicate created a “Commission” to resolve disputes and allocate territories, with Murder Inc. serving as its enforcement body.

Notable Incidents and Figures

• Louis “Lepke” Buchalter and Albert “Mad Hatter” Anastasia were central leaders, making Murder Inc. a powerful component of the National Crime Syndicate.
• Abe “Kid Twist” Reles was a significant hitman for Murder Inc. who later turned informant, providing crucial testimony against the organization.
• Murder Inc. was responsible for major crimes, including the 1935 assassination of mobster Dutch Schultz, who was targeted for planning to kill a prosecutor.

Downfall and Legacy

• The exposure of Murder Inc. began in 1941 when Abe “Kid Twist” Reles became a police informant, leading to numerous convictions and executions.
• Louis “Lepke” Buchalter was captured in 1939 and executed following trials in the 1940s, significantly weakening organized crime in New York.
• The dismantling of Murder Inc. demonstrated that powerful criminal groups could be defeated, leading to changes in how the Mafia operated.
• The Havana Conference of 1946, organized by Luciano and Lansky, helped reaffirm Luciano’s leadership and formalized syndicate-wide business strategies post-Murder Inc.
• Murder Inc. stands as a prototype of organized, corporate-style mob enforcement in American criminal history.