ours and chapped hands still didn't put enough food on the family dinner table (Nichols 1). The Lucianos looked at their bleak surroundings and knew they had to find a better way of life for their child. They heard about the promised land of America from friends and were told about plentiful work and good schools (Rayleigh 3). They would soon realize that this simply was not true.
             The Lucianos set sail for America in 1906 and arrived at New York harbor in November of that year (Olson 227). Mischief and mayhem began within less than a year for young Charles as he logged his first arrest in 1907 for shoplifting. During the same year, he started his first racket. For a penny or two a day, Luciano offered younger and smaller Jewish kids his personal protection against beatings on the way to school; if they didn't pay, he beat them up. One runty kid refused to pay Charles. This thin little youngster from Poland went by the name Meyer Lansky. Luciano fought him one day and was amazed at how hard Lansky fought back (Sabiona 2). They became bosom buddies afterwards; a relationship that would continue throughout Luciano's career.
             In his teens, Luciano became skillful at various practices, most notably narcotics. At age eighteen he was convicted of selling heroin and morphine and was committed to a reformatory for six months. Upon his release he resumed narcotics dealing and even hired his own workers (Borwick 198). By 1916, Luciano was a leading member of the notorious Five Points Gang and named by police as the prime suspect in a number of murders (Sabiona 3). His life was now established as a major criminal.
             Luciano's notoriety grew, as did his circle of underworld friends. By 1920, Luciano was a power in bootlegging rackets with the help of his old friend Meyer Lansky and Lansky's partner Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (Nichols 3). Luciano also had become familiar with Joe Adonis, Vito Genovese, and most im...