The era of mob rule had come to an end by the mid-1980s. Las Vegas was in the midst of a culture shift. When the Flamingo turned 50 in 1996, there was no celebration, no fanfare to mark the occasion, no public recognition of the resort’s origins and its ties to Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and the mob. (Review-Journal file)Īccepting the past can be difficult, especially when it involves murder and mobsters. The Flamingo hotel-casino pictured in 1952.
