Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:52 pm
There are still rumors that the fire was started by the Mob to show the Navy that on the waterfront you dealt with them or things happened. It is also said that the fire was to get the Navy’s help getting Lucky Luciano out of prison.
Here is a piece on Lucky Luciano
World War II, freedom and deportation
During World War II, the U.S. government reportedly struck a secret deal with the imprisoned Luciano. United States Army Military Intelligence knew that Luciano maintained good connections in the Sicilian and Italian Mafia, which had been severely persecuted by Benito Mussolini. Luciano considered himself to be a loyal American who was devoted to Sicily, the Mafia, and the United States alike. His help was sought in providing Mafia assistance to counter possible Axis infiltration on U.S. waterfronts, during Operation Avalanche, and his connections in Italy and Sicily were tapped to furnish intelligence and ensure an easy passage for U.S. forces involved in the Italian Campaign. Albert Anastasia, who controlled the docks, promised that no dockworker strikes would arise. Both during and after the war, the U.S. military and intelligence agencies reputedly also used Luciano's Mafia connections to root out communist influence in labor groups and local governments. In return for his cooperation, Luciano was permitted to run his crime empire unhindered from his jail cell.
Luciano would later say that his contribution to the war effort had been a sham, designed purely to obtain his release from prison. The enemy threat to the docks, he said, had been manufactured by the sinking of the SS Normandie directed by Anastasia's brother, Anthony Anastasio. The Normandie, a captured French passenger vessel, was being refitted as a troop ship in New York harbor. Furthermore, said Luciano, he did next to nothing to help the war effort in Italy.[11]
In 1946, as a reward for his presumed wartime cooperation, Luciano was paroled on the condition that he depart the United States and return to Sicily. He accepted the deal, although he had maintained during his trial that he was a native of New York City and was therefore not subject to deportation. He was deeply hurt about having to leave the United States, a country he had considered his own ever since his arrival at age ten. During his exile, Luciano used to meet US military men during train trips throughout Italy, and he enjoyed being recognized by his countrymen and tourists, taking photos and even signing autographs for them.
Also:
After mob boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano was imprisoned for pandering, Anastasio allegedly organized the arson sabotage of the French luxury liner SS Normandie.[2] Early in 1942, a few months after the U.S. entered World War II, the brothers hit upon a clever scheme. The U.S. Navy at the time was concerned about the dangers of possible acts of sabotage against warships berthed at Brooklyn and Manhattan docks.[3] The brothers made a deal with the Navy to release Luciano, and in return the mob would guarantee the safety of the docks as far as the Navy's interests were concerned.[3] To get the Navy concerned they created a maritime disaster: Anastasio had been aware that over the last few months agents of naval intelligence had been scouting the Brooklyn and Manhattan waterfront looking for Italians and Germans who might be involved in a plot to sabotage Navy shipping.[3] A French luxury liner, the SS Normandie, was being hastily converted into a troop transport and was docked at a Hudson River pier. Anthony and his brother Albert decided to sabotage the Normandie.[3] The fire that broke out the afternoon of February 9, 1942, became one of the most spectacular in New York City's history. For hours the Normandie burned, until, listing heavily to port from all the water she had taken on, the ship finally capsized along the pier. The destruction of the Normandie prompted the Navy to approach the mob.[3] The Navy won a guarantee that there would be no sabotaging of shipping in New York Harbor.[3] As a reward for his "patriotic" support Charles Luciano was transferred from the maximum-security prison at Dannemora to Great Meadow prison, a minimum-security facility.[3]
Double Hose Regulators, It not just a Hobby, it’s a Disease