| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
Rothstein was a son of Jewish immigrants in New York. He proved to be good with mathematics but apparently used it mainly for gambling. By 1910 he had moved to Tenderloin in New York where he took over an important gambling casino, and soon purchased number of nightclubs. His various nicknames among the New York underworld were Mr. Big, The Fixer, The Man Uptown, The Big Bankroll and The Brain. Rothstein mediated differences between New York gangs and often reputedly charged a hefty fee for his services. His favorite "office" was the corner of Broadway and the 49th Street, where he would stand on the corner surrounded by his bodyguards and do business on the street. He made bets and collected debts from those who had lost the previous day.
Rothstein's primary enterprises were bootlegging, prostitution, narcotics, but his greatest love and his surest source of "The Big Bankroll" was gambling - especially horse racing. It was widely reputed that he "fixed" many of the races that he won most of the time. In fact, Rothstein had a wide network of informants and very deep pockets when it came to paying for good information, regardless of how unscrupulous the sources were.
Rothstein's legacy is that he consolidated organized crime, later to be known as the Mafia due to his influence with such figures as Lucky LucianoCharles Luciano ( 11 November, 1896- 26 January, 1962), better known as Lucky Luciano was a legendary mobster with a long criminal history. He is also a somewhat unlikely American patriot and hero of WWII. Luciano was born as Salvatore Lucania in the vill, Meyer LanskyMeyer Lansky (born Majer Suchowlinski ( July 4, 1902 January 15, 1983), was a Polish born gangster of Jewish parents. He was instrumental in the development of the American mafia. Lansky was born in Grodno in 1902. His family moved to the United States in, and Buggsy Siegel , the men who inherited Rothstein's various "enterprises" after he was shot to death. Ironically, Rothstein's death is also attributed to the rise of Fiorello LaGuardia political power in New York, according to his former law clerk, in his biography on the former Mayor of New York City.
Rothstein was shot to death on November 11November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 50 days remaining. Events 1215 The fourth lateran council meets, adopting the doctrine of transubstantiation, meaning that bread and wine are transformed into t, 1928 following a spectacular three-day pokerTrump Taj Mahal Poker is a card game, the most popular of a class of games called vying games in which players with fully or partially concealed cards make wagers into a central pot after which the pot is awarded to the remaining player or players with th game in ManhattanFor other uses, see Manhattan (disambiguation . Manhattan is the name of an island alongside the lower Hudson River and also of one of the five boroughs that form the City of New York. The borough is coterminous with New York County and includes the Islan. At the end of the game Rothstein owed $320,000 and refused to pay, claiming the game had been fixed. Gambler George McManus was arrested for murder but was later acquitted for lack of evidence. While his murder was attributed to McManus, no one will ever really know the real reason why Rothstein was shot and killed.
Arnold Rothstein's estate was finally declared bankrupt ten years after his death by his only surviving brother. But his true legacy was the mark that he left on the underworld, and how it shaped America in the 20th century.