Cosa Nostra News

75 years ago today Abe Reles went out the window... The Writers of Wrong is the name of a blog I discovered today; I knew it was a more-than-credible source once I saw the names attached to it... Christian Cipollini. .. Thomas Hunt ... and Patrick Downey (who authored a book on Legs Diamond I am currently enjoying immensely. And speaking of books, Cip and Downey both contributed to a fictional short story compendium , Cocktail Noir: From Gangsters and Gin Joints to Gumshoes and Gimlets .) Mob historians are invited to contribute, as the blog notes : " Writers of crime history are encouraged to submit news releases; short book excerpts; event announcements; links to videos, images, websites, etc., for publication in this blog using the 'Contact Us' form at the bottom of the page ." On this date in 1941, informant Abe "Kid Twist" Reles fell to his death at the Half Moon Hotel, Coney Island. The thirty-five-year-old Reles, who had been coop...

Abe "Kid Twist" Reles Abe "Kid Twist" Reles is doubtlessly remembered best for being the proverbial canary who couldn't fly (but did indeed sing). In November 1941 the mob may have gotten to Kid Twist while he was under police protection at a hotel in Coney Island, New York. We say "may have gotten" because no one knows for certain who orchestrated what may have been a hit. We repeat "may have been a hit" because there's also the chance that Reles did indeed fall to his doom (the more or less "official" opinion on the matter) while attempting to climb down a twisted roll of bed sheets to get out of the hotel, either to escape or play a practical joke of some sort on his alleged protectors.

Abe "Kid Twist" Reles wanted to be a power in Brooklyn's Brownsville section once he'd committed himself to a life of crime. But in 1930, when America's economy slumbered in the Depression's depths, Brownsville already had a sitting criminal viceroy, a man standing in Reles's way. The underworld erupted into intense violence as Reles and his good pal Buggsy (no, that's not a typo; we don't refer to Benjamin "Bugsy" but to Martin "Buggsy" Goldstein) formed a gang and waged a war to establish their dominance over Brownsville's criminal activity. The canary who sang, but couldn't fly. Abe Reles's death, by the way, was never solved, despite different stories being told about Frank Costello and/or Albert Anastasia paying off cops, etc. Not true. This has been exhaustively researched and analyzed -- and don't believe any claims, at face value, regarding who was responsible. Because the fact is, t...