Mob money built the oldest operating resort on the Las Vegas Strip, the one in front of you, for a man who would be murdered in his girlfriend's living room six months after it opened. Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel — though nobody called him Bugsy to his face — opened the Flamingo on December 26, 1946. He had borrowed heavily from the National Crime Syndicate, the network of organized crime families that controlled American gambling, labor unions, and narcotics from coast to coast. They expected a return on their investment. The Flamingo lost money in its first weeks.
Siegel had a vision for what the Strip could be: not just gambling, but entertainment, dining, celebrity, glamour — a destination rather than a stop. He imported Hollywood stars for the opening. He insisted on quality that infuriated his mob backers watching costs spiral past $6 million. On June 20, 1947, someone shot him through the window of Virginia Hill's home in Beverly Hills. He was 41 years old. The mob immediately took over the Flamingo and began making the money Siegel had promised.
Today a small wildlife habitat behind the casino is home to actual flamingos, a living memorial to the man who named the place. They wade serenely in their enclosure, apparently untroubled by their complicated legacy.