"The Combination" Was Dubbed "Murder Incorporated" By the Press
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...