Kin give Mob Experience the family touch

The Las Vegas Mob Experience will have talking holograms and other flashy uses of modern technology, backers boasted Tuesday, as well as artifacts and stories from relatives of some of the most notorious organized crime figures in U.S. history.

The attraction is scheduled to open in December at the Tropicana, several months ahead of the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement at the former federal courthouse and post office building downtown.

The project is backed by the city of Las Vegas and its mayor, Oscar Goodman.

"I don't feel a competitive threat," said Jay Bloom, the attraction's managing partner. "Our official position is that all the city project will do is create more awareness and benefit everybody. ... They'll certainly benefit from the awareness that we're going to create."

So, Bloom was asked, is this town big enough for the two museums?

"Sure," he said. "We'll go with that."

Most of Tuesday's media event was dedicated to trotting out relatives of famous organized crime figures who are cooperating with the Mob Experience.

Millicent Rosen, daughter of Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, was there, as were Meyer Lansky II and Cynthia Duncan, grandchildren of Meyer Lansky. Sam Giancana's daughter, Antionette, was on stage, as were Tony Spilotro's wife and son and Janice Sachs, wife of former Stardust head Allan Sachs.

The family members did not speak. They were chauffeured into the Tropicana's cavernous Pavilion, where the Mob Experience will be built, and posed for pictures before being shuttled away in limousines.

Thanks to the family members, the museum has photos, home movies, letters and other memorabilia that show "a whole other side to these guys that's never been told," Bloom said, such as the notorious Tony Spilotro at Disneyland with his family or dressed up as Santa Claus with his children at Christmas.

There's even a handwritten diary kept by Meyer Lansky, a key figure in national organized crime in his day.

"Sure, some of them lost their moral compass and did things that were absolutely atrocious," Bloom said. "But then they would go home, and they were regular dads and loving husbands.

"There was a true dichotomy. They would kill, but they'd be deeply religious. They would steal, but they'd be extraordinarily generous. We're going to show both sides."

The Mob Experience also promises a technological experience that will immerse visitors in the organized crime world.

The technology will include "virtual gangster ghost guides" and radio-frequency chips to track visitors progress through the attraction.

Visitors will have a chance to participate in the crime world by making choices along the way, snitch to the cops or help the mob, for example.

"The experience can be unique, even with a return visitation," said Johnny Davis, art director for Plainjoe Studios, which is working on the project.