Early Years
Born in Odessa (Russian Empire) in 1899. While confined in Protectory in Brooklyn he became friends with Joe Valachi and Jimmy "The Shiv" DeStefano (who got his nickname while confined in the protectory). Jack "Legs" Diamond was also there but kept his distance from the feared threesome. During this period, Shapiro encountered his future partner, Louis Buchalter; both boys were attempting to rob the same pushcart. Instead of fighting over the spoils, Shapiro and Buchalter agreed on a partnership. Buchalter served as the brains and Shapiro provided the muscle in an alliance that lasted for decades. Shapiro and Buchalter soon become acquainted with future mobsters Meyer Lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano, both of whom were protégés of mobster Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein.
Read more about this topic: Jacob Shapiro
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or years:
“With boys you always know where you stand. Right in the path of a hurricane. It’s all there. The fruit flies hovering over their waste can, the hamster trying to escape to cleaner air, the bedrooms decorated in Early Bus Station Restroom.”
—Erma Bombeck (20th century)
“Three years she grew in sun and shower,
Then Nature said, ‘A lovelier flower
On earth was never sown;
This Child I to myself will take;”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)