Joseph Amberg, a 41-year-old Russian-born mobster, met a violent end on September 30, 1935, in a Brownsville, Brooklyn auto repair garage. Alongside his chauffeur, Morris Kessler, Amberg was ambushed in a meticulously planned execution. The duo was cornered by assailants and forced to line up against a wall before being gunned down. This brutal end came after years of immersion in the criminal underworld of New York, where Amberg and his brothers, Hyman and Louis, had carved out a notorious
reputation in labor racketeering, bootlegging, and robbery.
The hit was carried out by members of the notorious assassination syndicate known as Murder, Inc. Amberg and his associate were caught completely by surprise in the garage. Their executioners, reportedly dressed as mechanics, carried out the killings with ruthless efficiency, leaving both men dead on the grease-stained floor. The double murder was a clear message in the ongoing power struggles that defined the city's organized crime landscape.
The assassination of Joseph Amberg was not an isolated incident but rather a consequence of a bitter gang war. The Amberg brothers had been in a long-standing conflict with rivals, including Louis 'Lepke' Buchalter and Jacob 'Gurrah' Shapiro, key figures in Murder, Inc. The immediate catalyst for Joseph's murder was reportedly an unsanctioned killing he had carried out, which violated the syndicate's code and led to a contract being placed on his life. Less than a month after Joseph's death, his brother Louis 'Pretty' Amberg was also murdered, effectively ending the reign of the Amberg gang. While the crime officially remains unsolved, it is widely attributed to Murder, Inc., with some sources identifying the hitmen as 'Happy' Maione, Phil Mangano, and a man known as “Red” Pulvino. Following the assassinations, the car used by the killers was discovered by police, but no formal convictions were ever secured for the murders of Joseph Amberg and Morris Kessler.
