Las Vegas Mob Museum in the Works

Travel Blog  •  Michael Yessis  •  12.11.07 | 11:47 AM ET

imageIt’s such a good idea I can’t believe the museum doesn’t already exist. But it looks like its creators are doing it up right, which makes sense since two of the drivers of the project are Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, a former mob attorney, and Ellen Knowlton, a former FBI agent in charge of Las Vegas. The FBI supports the museum because “you can’t tell the stories of Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel, his banker, [Meyer] Lansky, casino boss Frank ‘Lefty’ Rosenthal and others without telling the story of the lawmen who pursued them.”

Goodman says he wants to air the whole story about the history of Las Vegas. “Let’s be brutally honest, warts and all. This is more than legend. It’s fact,” he tells the AP. “This is something that differentiates us from other cities.”

The museum aims to have an oral-history component so anyone who moved in mobster circles can reveal a little of what they know, but the overall scope of the museum isn’t known yet. It’s set to open in 2010.

Until then, my suggestion for getting a taste for the mob’s Vegas heyday: Eat at Piero’s. It’ll feel like you walked into the set of a Scorsese movie, because it was. He filmed scenes for “Casino” at the Italian restaurant.

The food? It’s good. Damn good.

Related on World Hum:
* Writer on Las Vegas Coverage: Enough With the Sin City Clichés!
* Macau vs. Las Vegas: The Battle to be the ‘Capital of Excess’

Related on TravelChannel.com:
* Video: Must See Las Vegas
* Slide Show: Anthony Bourdain in Las Vegas

Photo of Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal: AP.

Tags: North America, United States, Nevada, Las Vegas


1 Comment for Las Vegas Mob Museum in the Works

A 12.12.07 | 1:24 AM ET

I wonder if it is the right way to go, the need to preserve ‘history’ notwithstanding. It’s likely the Mob exploits will attract visitors more than those of the Law.

I’ve seen it happen in Goa. The O’Coqueiro restaurant acieved overnight fame after Charles Shobraj was caught there.

Now the place is legendary, people marveling at the ingenuity of the criminal, a pilgrimage of sorts!

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