Ed Reid, (c1915 - 1977) was an author and investigative journalist who exposed organized crime in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Early life

He was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and grew up in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Reid started as a reporter in 1935 and used his writing to fight corruption.

Career

An eight-part series starting in 1949 exposed the activities of bookmaker Harry Gross and corrupt members of the

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

. This exposé led to an investigation by Brooklyn District Attorney Miles McDonald, and resulted in the eventual resignation of

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

William O'Dwyer William O'Dwyer (July 11, 1890November 24, 1964) was an Irish-American politician and diplomat who served as the 100th Mayor of New York City, holding that office from 1946 to 1950. Life and career O'Dwyer was born in Bohola, County Mayo, Ire ...

. His article in ''True Magazine'' ''I Broke the Brooklyn Graft Scandal'' was the basis for the 1958 movie

The Case Against Brooklyn ''The Case Against Brooklyn'' is a 1958 film noir crime film directed by Paul Wendkos, starring Darren McGavin and Margaret Hayes, and based on the '' True Magazine'' article "I Broke the Brooklyn Graft Scandal" by crime reporter Ed Reid. The ...

. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Reid worked at the

Las Vegas Sun The ''Las Vegas Sun'' is one of the Las Vegas Valley's two daily Subscription business model, subscription newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group. The paper published afternoons on weekdays ...

. His investigative reporting exposed the hidden ownership interest of mobsters Jake and

Meyer Lansky Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the ...

in the

Thunderbird Hotel The El Rancho Hotel and Casino (formerly known as the Thunderbird and Silver Bird) was a hotel and casino that operated on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It originally opened on September 2, 1948, as the Navajo-themed Thunderbird. At ...

. Reid, with

Ovid Demaris Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

, co-authored

The Green Felt Jungle ''The Green Felt Jungle'' is a 1963 book by Ovid Demaris and Ed Reid. It exposes Las Vegas's dark underbelly, discussing the role of mobsters, prostitution, and political influence peddling in control of the city. It was a ''New York Times'' Be ...

, a New York Times Best Seller for 23 weeks in 1964, that exposed greed and depravity in Las Vegas. The book connected then Senator

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

to labor racketeer Willy Bioff. Goldwater threatened a libel suit against the publisher. Reid and Demaris were invited to join a panel on

David Susskind David Howard Susskind (December 19, 1920 – February 22, 1987) was an American producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a TV talk show host. His talk shows were innovative in the genre and addressed timely, controversial topics beyond th ...

's show "

Open End ''The David Susskind Show'' is an American television talk show hosted by David Susskind which was broadcast from 1958 to 1986. The program began locally in New York City in 1958 as ''Open End,'' which referred to the fact that the program was open ...

" for a discussion of organized crime. Reid was dismissed from the Las Vegas Sun by publisher

Hank Greenspun Herman Milton "Hank" Greenspun (August 27, 1909 – July 23, 1989) was the publisher of the ''Las Vegas Sun'' newspaper. He purchased the ''Sun'' in 1949, and served as its editor and publisher until his death. Greenspun was also a promine ...

after he wrote ''The Green Felt Jungle''.

Recognition

His reporting for the ''

Brooklyn Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

'' earned the public service

1951 Pulitzer Prize The following are the Pulitzer Prizes for 1951. Journalism awards *Public Service: **''The Miami Herald'' and the ''Brooklyn Eagle'', for their reporting on organized crime during the year. * Local Reporting: ** Edward S. Montgomery of the ''Sa ...

and numerous other awards.

Family

He was married to Natalie (Borokhovich) Reid and had two children.

Works

*Reid, Ed. Mafia. New York: Random House, 1952. *Reid, Edward. The Shame of New York. n Account of Crime and Corruption in the City of New York. Victor Gollancz: London, 1954. *Reid, Ed. Las Vegas: City Without Clocks. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1961. *Reid, Ed, and Ovid Demaris. The Green Felt Jungle. New York: Trident Press, 1963. *Reid, Ed. The Grim Reapers: The Anatomy of Organized Crime in America. New York: Bantam, 1970. *Reid, Ed. The Mistress and the Mafia (The Virginia Hill Story). Bantam, 1972. *Reid, Ed. Mickey Cohen: Mobster. Pinnacle Books, 1973.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Ed Year of birth missing American investigative journalists American male journalists Non-fiction writers about organized crime in the United States 1977 deaths